April 9, 2012

Day 1 results

Senior Ashli Helstrom and freshman Tara Green both shot two-over-par to lead The University of Montana golf team in round one of the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic in Chandler, Ariz., Monday. The Grizzlies shot 310 as a team and are in 16th place with two rounds to go.

"We had some struggles out there today but we stayed tough until the end," said coach Emily Milberger. "We got some great play from Ashli and Tara today.

"They worked hard through a couple of difficult holes, and they both had strong finishes."

Helstrom got off to a great start teeing off at the 10th hole Monday morning. Helstrom was one-under after the 14 holes until she double-bogeyed on the par-five sixth hole. Helstrom would end her round at 74.

Green also had a good day on the course playing consistent golf all day. Green stayed even or one-over for most of the round. Green bogeyed on her 14th and 16th holes but birdied her last hole to also finish at 74.

Helstrom and Green are tied in 14th place.

Rounding out the Grizzly scores senior Lauren Howell and Olivia Weber each shot 81 and Natalie Beard finished with 84.

Iowa leads all teams after shooting one-over-par as a team with 289. Iowa is led by Kristi Cardwell who leads in the individual column as well with a four-under-par 68 effort in her opening round.

Montana is eight strokes behind 10th-place Wichita State and 12 strokes away from the top five.

"We are looking forward to tomorrow," continued Milberger. "We've gained more course knowledge, and the team is ready to make the move up the leaderboard."

Montana will tee off Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. MT time in round two of the 54-hole event. Live stats are provided via GolfStat.com and results and a full recap will be posted on GoGriz.com at the conclusion of the second round.