@UNC_Bears_Golf Takes Eighth at Ptarmigan Ram Classic

Monday, September 12

Fort Collins, Colo.

All Day

University of Northern Colorado

Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic

9/13/2016 4:47:00 PM | Women's Golf

The Bears earned a Top 10 finish to open the fall season, and it was the best finish in Division I program history for the tournament.

By: UNCBears.com

FINAL RESULTS

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The UNC women's golf team completed the final round of the Ptarmigan Ram Classic on Tuesday. The Bears dropped one spot in the rankings, but still earned a Top 10 finish, coming in eighth overall after carding a 312 team score in the finale. It was the highest finish the team has ever had at the Classic in the Division I era.

How It Happened:
Overall, Northern Colorado finished with a 912 (303, 297, 312) and shot 48-over for the 54-hole tournament.

Rain and wind made for difficult course conditions on the day that hindered the Bears efforts.

Senior, Kala Keltz managed to overcome the adverse weather and finished her tournament with a 73 (+1). Keltz notched an impressive 15 pars in her final round, including a stretch of eight straight to close out the back nine.

She climbed four spots up the leaderboard to finish just outside the Top 10, tied for 11^th overall with a 220 (72, 75, 73), four-over par for the tournament, and the best finish of any UNC golfer at the Classic.

Newcomer, Morgan Sahm came in with the second-best score for UNC in the third round. Sahm wrote down a 78 (+6) on her score card. She played the back nine at two-over and finished the front four-over. Sahm finished her first collegiate meet in 57^th place with a 233 (82, 73, 78).

In the middle of the group was sophomore, Janet Yeo. Yeo paced the team during the first 36 holes, but had a small setback on the final day. Yeo posted a 79 (+7) after rounds of 72 (E) and 73 (+1) on Monday.
Yeo still made a debut in the Top 20, coming in tied for 19^th with a 224.

Senior, Baile Winslow and freshman, Marisa Hisaki rounded out the day for the Bears. Both golfers shot an 82 (+10).

Hisaki tied for 72^nd place with a 238 (80, 76, 82), while Winslow came in tied for 81^st on the leaderboard with a 242 (79, 81, 82).

Playing as an independent at the tournament, junior, Christina Ferreira walked off the 18th with an 80 (+8) in the third round. Ferreira tied for 42nd overall with a 231 (75, 76, 80).

San Jose State ran away with the team title. The Spartans fired an impressive 871 (+7) team total, winning the Classic by 14 strokes. SJSU's My Leander notched the individual win with a 54-hole score of 210 (-6).

Game Changer:
Kala Keltz had two days' worth of impressive streaks. On Monday, she opened the first round with five straight birdies, and on Tuesday she holed eight consecutive pars for the team's best individual finish.

Key Stat:
The 18^th hole got the best of the UNC golf team on Tuesday with four of the five players recorded bogey or higher on it. Marisa Hisaki was the only golfer to come away with par for the Bears on the 18^th.

Coach Bidne's Thoughts:
On the final round:
"Today mother nature made scoring for the whole field quite difficult. The cold temperature, mixed with on and off rain made it tough to find a rhythm all day. It was fun to see Kala [Keltz] step up and continue where she left off last year and finish just outside the Top 10. She worked hard on her game in the offseason and her scores are direct evidence of that."

On the tournament:
"Throughout the whole tournament we had a lot of great stretches as a team where we were able to score, but what prevented us from being near the top at the end was simply course management. Through all three rounds, we had 24 double bogeys or worse. If we somehow made a par on all 24 of those holes, we would have won the tournament by over ten shots. If we would have shaved one stroke off those 24 doubles or worse, we would have finished in third place. Golf isn't a game of perfection, there will be bounces and shots that won't go as planned, but we need to continue to emphasize playing the high percentage shot when faced with trouble."

Moving forward:
"Overall, our team shows great promise and I'm looking forward to a successful season. Even though we might not have had our A-game, we still have a lot of positives to draw from, including our best ever team finish at the Ram Classic. It will be nice to have the next week and a half to fine tune things and gear up for the Portland State Rose City Classic. It is a tournament we have played in the last handful of years and is a course we know we can play well at."

Up Next: The women's golf team will hit the links again on Sept. 26-27 in Portland, Oregon at the Rose City Classic hosted by fellow Big Sky Conference School, Portland State.