@UNC_Bears_Golf Finishes Fifth at Big Sky Championship

Friday, April 21

Boulder City, Nev.

All Day

University of Northern Colorado

Big Sky Conference Championship

Photo by: Big Sky Conference

4/23/2017 8:58:00 PM | Women's Golf

By: UNCBears.com

TEAM RESULTS | INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

BOULDER CITY, Nev. – Northern Colorado Women's Golf wrapped up its season at the Big Sky Championship on Sunday. The Bears carded a 922 (311, 302, 309) in the 54-hole event, finishing in fifth place overall.

Best Swings:
UNC had two golfers place in the Top 20 in the tournament in true freshman, Morgan Sahm and senior, Baile Winslow.

Winslow had the best showing at the Championship, finishing tied for 11^th overall after her final round 78 (+6). The senior played the front nine even after nine consecutive pars. With the winds picking up on the back nine, Winslow did all she could to navigate the course, but picked up four bogeys and a double to end her round at six-over-par.

She signed off on her final collegiate event with a 230 (77, 75, 78 = +14), just shy of a Top 10 finish by one stroke.

Sahm was the only other Bear to come into the clubhouse with a Top 20 showing. Sahm produced the team's best round of the afternoon with a 75 (+3). Much like Winslow, Sahm had a strong opening nine holes, with eight pars and just one bogey, making the turn at one-over.

On the back, she wrote down par on five of the nine holes, but also had three bogeys, sitting four-over with one hole to play. Sahm ended on a positive note however, with a birdie on the 18^th to wrap up her season.

She jumped up six spots in the final day to place tied for 18^th on the leaderboard with a 232 (78, 79, 75 = +16).

The other senior at the tournament, Kala Keltz played her best round of the tournament in the finale. Keltz fired a 77 (+5) at the Par 72 Boulder Creek Country Club. Her day consisted of a team-best four birdies, including three on the front nine.

Keltz's three round total of 241 (85, 79, 77 = +25) placed her tied for 34^th in the standings.

Finishing just outside the Top 20, was true freshman, Marisa Hisaki. Hisaki's round was the final score that counted toward the overall team total, as she came into the clubhouse with a 79 (+7).

Hisaki completed her first ever League Championship with a 233 (82, 72, 79 = +17), tying for 21^st place.

Rounding out the day for UNC was junior, Christina Ferreira. Ferreira concluded her tournament with an 85 (+13), pushing her three-round score to a 235 (74, 76, 85 = +19). She tied for 27^th.

Sacramento State was crowned the tournament champions after besting Idaho in a playoff on Sunday. The Hornets and the Vandals tallied a 900 (+36) overall, but it was Sac State with the edge in the playoff hole by two strokes over Idaho.

Northern Arizona's Sofia Anokhina earned the individual title with her three-day total of 218 (+2).

Team Results:
All tournament long Northern Colorado and the rest of the field battled high winds. The Bears shot a 309 (+21) in the finale and a 922 (311, 302, 309 = +58), just shy of a Top 3 finish by two strokes. The result is three spots better than last season's finish however, as UNC tied for eighth place in the 2016 Championship.

In Their Words:
Head Coach, Stephen Bidne
"The projected strong winds held off until we hit the back nine today, and unfortunately we weren't able to capitalize as we hoped we would have while the course was playing gettable. With a few bounces and shots not going our way on the closing holes, it was tough to see us finish seven-over-par on our last three holes, to finish just two shots out of third place and just one shot out of fourth."

"Overall though, I'm proud of this team. I'm proud of all seven of them who have given it their all day after day in practice, workouts, and in the classroom all year long. It's tough to see Baile, Kala and Jordan graduate and move on to the next chapter in their lives, but I know they will represent the Bears well and go on to do great things."

"This program keeps getting better each and every year, and I'm lucky to have a front row seat in seeing the depth and talent grow. The future is very promising for the Bears."

Up Next:
That ends the 2016-17 season for the women's golf program. The team will be back next fall to kick off the 2017-18 campaign. The Bears will graduate three student-athletes this May in Winslow, Keltz and Jordan Sunset.