By Ty Sparing EBS CONTRIBUTOR
If Montana State golf fans were worried that the program might see a downturn this year with the loss of All-Conference golfers Scarlet Weidig and Becca Tschetter, their fears were alleviated within the first few weeks of the collegiate season. Junior Eva Heinz has been on an absolute tear to bring in the new year, breaking records, winning tournaments and making a case for being the next Bobcat golfer to make the leap into the top tier of the Big Sky Conference. Along with Heinz, newcomers Norah Seidl, Sailor Graham, and Ashleigh Wilson are all making some noise thus far, each already with a top-10 finish at the recent Yellowstone Intercollegiate.
Hosted by MSU at Riverside Country Club in Bozeman, the Yellowstone Intercollegiate had 11 teams at the event, including the University of Montana Grizzlies and several others coming from the Big Sky Conference. As the only team under par throughout all three rounds of competition, Montana State once again put the rest of the conference on lookout as they cruised to a fifteen-stroke victory over CSU Northridge with a final cumulative score of -16 (848). Even more interesting was the fact that MSU had a different player lead the field through each individual round.
Eva Heinz was the big story of the tournament however, breaking a program and Big Sky Conference single round record for low score after posting a blistering first day performance of -10 (62). She had a whopping nine birdies on the day (holes 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 16, 17) and one eagle which was recorded on the final par-5 eighteenth hole. The score obliterates an MSU record of 66 that was previously held by Lauren Greeny and bested the Big Sky Conference record by two strokes, which was previously held by Northern Arizona’s Lizzie Neale.
Heinz wasn’t done quite yet either, posting ensuing rounds of +1 (73) and E (72), which gave her the easy victory by five strokes over California Baptists’ Samantha Dizon. Nobody even came particularly close throughout the three rounds as Heinz managed her emotions and continued to execute on the course, leaving her with an overall score of -9 (207).
Tied for third place was one of the Bobcat newcomers, Norah Seidl, who ended her three rounds with a final score of -3 (213). The Tulsa transfer vaulted up the leaderboard after recording the lowest third round score in the field, -4 (68).
Playing as an independent, incoming freshman Sailor Graham likewise led the field with a -2 (70) score in the second round, en route to a fifth-place finish at -2 (214).
Right behind Graham in sixth place at -1 (215) was last year’s Big Sky Conference and Montana State Match Play Champion, Maddie Montoya. Also in the top ten was another newcomer, Ashleigh Wilson who finished in a tie for eighth with an even par three round score of 216. Two-time Montana State Amateur winner, Lauren Greeny, meanwhile overcame a sluggish first round to end up in the top third of the field at +2 (218) in a tie for thirteenth place.
View the full results of the Yellowstone Intercollegiate.
Ty Sparing is a writer and historian for the Montana State Golf Association website and monthly magazine, 406Golf. Born and raised in Helena, he currently resides in Missoula with his wife and three kids.
