FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 22, 2021) – For the first time in 11 years, the Northern Arizona golf team will host a fall tournament with their first-ever Clash at Boulder Creek in Boulder City, Nev. set to tee off on Sunday. The Clash at Boulder Creek will be played at Boulder Creek Golf Club (par-72, 6,309 yards) and will begin with a first round shotgun start of 12 p.m. The second and third rounds will follow on Monday and Tuesday respectively with 8 a.m. shotgun starts on both days.
"We've got a nice field of teams and it'll be good competition," said head coach
Brad Bedortha. "It's a good golf course and scores are usually low there. It's going to be a good challenge."
The Lumberjacks will welcome an 18-team field to Boulder City, including four other conference schools. While NAU has seen Portland State, Southern Utah and Weber State previously this fall, it will mark the first time the Lumberjacks and the defending conference champions, Sacramento State, will share a golf course this season.
NAU finished last season as the Big Sky runner-up behind Sacramento State. Portland State placed third, meaning the top three conference teams from a year ago will be in attendance.
The Clash at Boulder Creek will be the final tournament of the semester for NAU, and the Lumberjacks will have the opportunity to improve on their national ranking. Currently at No. 94, NAU has broken into the top 100 for the first time in a number of years.
Included in the field are three teams ranked ahead of NAU (No. 44 UNLV, No. 63 Sacramento State and No. 91 Gonzaga) and seven total teams in the top 100.
NAU has enjoyed a successful semester so far, placing in the top seven of each of its first three tournaments. Most recently, the 'Jacks placed fourth at the Aggie Invitational three weeks ago, carding 13-over par 877 (290-302-285). The final round 285 tied the second-lowest round in school history, which followed the Lumberjacks' school record 279 the week prior at the Golfweek Red Sky Classic.
"It's been fun. I knew we had good depth in our roster and I thought we could perform like (we have)," Bedortha said. "One of our visions was to break into the top 100 of the Golfstat rankings, so we're trending in that direction. I feel good about the direction we're continuing to go and this (tournament) will be another opportunity for us to go out and perform."
All seven of NAU's golfers will be in action in Boulder City with graduate student
Kimberlee Tottori and sophomore
Ekaterina Malakhova at the top of the lineup. Both 'Jacks have already earned Big Sky Women's Golfer of the Week awards this season.
Tottori leads the team in scoring average at 73.13 and also owns a team-high four par or better rounds. Her 22 birdies also lead the team. Meanwhile, Malakhova was honored by the conference after her tie for sixth finish at the Aggie Invitational earlier this month. Malakhova's 20 birdies and 74.25 round average rank only behind Tottori.
Seniors
Ashley Croft,
Elle Kocourkova and
Aleksandra Chekalina will round out the Lumberjacks' lineup. They rank third, fourth and fifth respectively in scoring average at 74.75, 75.00 and 76.63.
Junior
Lorel Hayward will compete as an individual and is averaging a 78.67 per round. Also playing as an individual, and making her return to competition for the first time since March 2020, is junior
Alyza Flores. Flores, who averaged 76.78, in eight tournaments as a true freshman has been saddled by injury, forcing her to miss all of the spring season as well as the first three tournaments this fall.
Live scoring for The Clash at Boulder Creek will be available on
BirdieFire.
To stay up to date with the NAU golf team, follow the Lumberjacks on
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