BOZEMAN — A group crowded into Montana State's Hall of Fame room inside Brick Breeden Fieldhouse on Wednesday afternoon for a watch party in anticipation to see where the Big Sky Conference individual golf champion, Maddie Montoya, would land for her NCAA Regional.
Toward the end of the show, it was announced Montoya would be headed to the Gold Canyon Regional in Arizona at the Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club.
"If we were going to pick a region, a spot, that’s probably one of the best," Montana State coach Brittany Basye explained. "We play there all the time. We just got back from playing in Arizona. And the funny thing is, three of the players, including Maddie, were out at Gold Canyon at this golf course practicing and hitting putts and practicing at their short game facility, so kind of divine intervention we’re going back."
Montoya also said that the familiarity with Arizona and its desert courses could be an advantage for her.
"I’m super excited to go back to Arizona. I mean, most of our spring season is down there," she said. "I’m used to how the weather is there, I guess, and the elevation, so I’m just really excited and pumped for it."
Montoya’s final round at the Big Sky championships was highlighted by a stellar back nine.
Even though the junior from Boise was three shots behind the leader heading into the 11th hole, she stayed the course. After back-to-back birdies on holes 14 and 15, she had a two-stroke lead and held on the rest of the round to capture a Big Sky individual championship.
"That momentum was an unreal feeling. I mean, it really got me going and just helped me feel that much more confident and helped me keep going and finish and keep playing," Montoya said about sinking the two consecutive birdies.
She finished with a career-best 2-under-par 69 on the final round to clinch the title.
"Nothing was going to mess with her game," Basye said. "Maddie was in the zone, and when Maddie gets in a zone, you know she’s in the zone because it’s game on."
There were more than 30 people in the room for the watch party, and Montoya’s teammates jumped out of their seats when her name was called. That support is a driving factor as she heads to regionals.
"This team, they're all my best friends," Montoya said. "It’s just amazing to see how happy we are for one another when we succeed and just cheering each other on."
Montoya is the first-ever golfer to represent Montana State at the NCAA Regionals and is just the third-ever Big Sky individual champion in program history.
"I am so excited to get the opportunity to represent Montana State, represent my team, my coaches, this program, everything about it," Montoya said. "Everything about Montana State’s awesome, and I’m just happy I can go to regionals and represent."
The Gold Canyon Regional takes place May 5-7 at Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club.
