BOZEMAN — Lauren Nau took control early and raced past the field on the way to winning her first Montana state amateur title.
Nau, a incoming sophomore at Montana State University from Scottsdale, Ariz., shot 13-under-par 203 over three days to win the 109th Women's State Am on Thursday at Cottonwood Hills, topping the leaderboard by a staggering 15 strokes.
Nau started hot, shooting a 6-under 66 in Round 1 on Tuesday while making eagle on Nos. 7 and 12. She followed with a 2-under 70 in the second round Wednesday and closed with a 5-under 67 in Thursday's final round.
"I just got the putter rolling a lot," Nau said during an interview posted to social media by the Montana State Golf Association. "My last tournament I was kind of hesitant over my putting, so I just told myself (to) trust in my lines.
"I've always loved these greens, so trusting where I'm hitting it, leaving myself in the right spots ... you can't really be above the hole, so that was my main focus."
In all, Nau finished with two eagles, 12 birdies and just three bogeys. She shot bogey free in the final round.
It marked the eighth consecutive year in which an active collegiate golfer from either MSU or the University of Montana has won the tournament.
Nau's best finish during her freshman season at MSU last fall was 22nd at the Sun Mountain Intercollegiate at The Ranch Club in Missoula on Oct. 6.
"It's my best performance by far," Nau said. "It was just great. Everything felt good, fluid. Just very proud of it."
Nau was the only competitor to shoot a cumulative under-par score. Katie Lewis, a Frenchtown High School grad and current golfer at the University of Montana, finished in a tie as runner-up with Sailor Graham, an MSU golfer from Malibu, Calif., with a three-day score of 2-over 218.
Notably, Graham made a hole-in-one on No. 17 from 106 yards during the second round on Wednesday.
Defending champion Raina Ports, a player at UM from Oro Valley, Calif., placed in a tie for fourth with Montana State golfer and Goodyear, Ariz., product Eva Heinz, who each shot three-day scores of 4-over 220.
The tournament's Master 40 winner was Audrey Wooding of Bozeman, who finished 23-over at 239 over the three rounds. Wooding bested Sable Kerzmann of Busby by one stroke.
Meanwhile, Payton Tryan of Billings won the Carla Berg Trophy as the top-performing junior player. Tryan shot a three-day score of 233 (17-over), topping Livingston's Anna Lende by one stroke.
