GOLD CANYON, Ariz. — Maddie Montoya closed out the first-ever postseason appearance by a Montana State golfer with a magnificent 1-under-par 71 on Wednesday at the NCAA Gold Canyon Regional, ending her 54-hole tournament at Superstition Mountain Golf Club.
Montoya, the 2025 Big Sky Conference champion, recorded three birdies, 13 pars and only two bogeys on a sun-splashed, windy day in Gold Canyon, Ariz., to finish tied for 48th overall on the leaderboard with a 54-hole score of 14-over-par 230 (82-77-71).
It was a remarkable performance to end the year for the junior from Boise, Idaho, who had just one round under par this season before recording three straight rounds of 70 or better at the Big Sky championships in mid-April to earn her first career win and punch her ticket via the auto-qualifier to the NCAA Regional stage.
"Wow, we are so proud of Maddie," head coach Brittany Basye said. "To shoot under par in your final round of a championship at that golf course is incredible. From the first to the final hole she continued to play better and held herself very well. We stuck to our game plan each day, and her belief in her game grew with every hole she played. Maddie had one of the best rounds of the day — she can play and I hope she knows she can."
The round of 71 was tied for the sixth-best round of anyone in the field on Wednesday in Gold Canyon, an amazing accomplishment considering the 70-competitor tournament included the starters of No. 5 Oregon, No. 8 Arizona State, No. 17 Auburn, No. 20 Mississippi State, No. 29 Oklahoma State, No. 32 California, No. 44 Virginia Tech, No. 48 San Jose State and No. 53 Sacramento State, in addition to five other highly ranked individual qualifiers.
"Maddie is a joy to coach," Basye said. "Coach Joey [Lovell] and I had so much fun with her. I am so happy Maddie chose Montana State, our program is better because of it."
On Wednesday, Montoya started her round on the 10th hole and recorded three straight pars to begin the morning before a bogey on the 13th.
From there, it was all roses.
The junior birdied on three of the next five holes, including back-to-back on the 14th and 15th holes and adding one more on the 18th.
On the front nine after the turn, Montoya stayed steady with eight pars and only one bogey to end a historic week for the Montana State golf program.
Montana State now officially closes the book on the best golf season in program history, which included school records for four-player scoring average (295.92), individual scoring average (Lauren Greeny, 72.64), five individual tournament wins in nine stroke play tournaments, their third-ever Big Sky champion ever in Montoya, and their first-ever appearance in the NCAA postseason.
