BOULDER CITY, Nev. (October 26, 2021) – On the final day of The Clash at Boulder Creek, sophomore
Ekaterina Malakhova fired the Northern Arizona golf team's lowest round of the tournament and junior
Lorel Hayward shot the best round of her career to highlight Tuesday's conclusion to the fall season.
As a team, the Lumberjacks held steady at 12th following their lowest round of the tournament. NAU shot 8-over par 296 to finish with a three-day total of 45-over par 909 (305-308-296).
"We definitely played better, but unfortunately we had two players who struggled," said head coach
Brad Bedortha. "We had three nice goals out of the top five and Lorel played really well. Watching us play against some of the teams we're going to need to compete against, I know we can compete with them. We just have to execute and perform."
Shooting 8-under par 280 on the final day, UNLV clinched the team title by playing Boulder Creek Golf Club at even-par 864 (297-287-280) over the course of three days. Fresno State posted the day's low round of 9-under par 279 to leap up to second as a team at 16-over par 880 (293-308-279).
Malakhova tallied a team-high three birdies on her way to her third par or better round of the season. She played her first nine holes at 2-under with a pair of birdies and wound up carding a 2-under par 70 for NAU's lone under-par round over the last three days.
With her strong finish, Malakhova moved up to a tie for 36th, closing out at 10-over par 226 (77-79-70). Malakhova was second on the team behind senior
Elle Kocourkova, who played steady for the third straight day.
Kocourkova tied for 28th on the individual leaderboard following a final round 2-over par 74. Kocourkova's three-day score finished at 8-over par 224 (75-75-74).
Although she did not play in the lineup, Hayward set a couple of career-bests in NAU's final tournament of the fall. After setting a new career-low (76) on Sunday during the first round, Hayward closed the semester with a bang, shooting 2-over par 74. That included a par on her final hole and three birdies in her last eight holes.
Hayward, who tied for 60th overall with a new career-low 54-hole score, shot 16-over par 232 (76-82-74). She recorded a team-high four birdies on Tuesday.
Backing Malakhova and Kocourkova's efforts was graduate student
Kimberlee Tottori, who like her three teammates, wrapped up The Clash at Boulder Creek with her low score of the tournament. Sitting at 2-over par on the day through the back nine, Tottori played the front nine to 1-under par heading into the clubhouse.
Tottori tied for 43rd overall at 11-over par 227 (76-78-73). Senior
Aleksandra Chekalina (77-76-80) and senior
Ashley Croft (78-85-79) tied for 65th and 90th respectively at 17-over par 233 and 26-over par 242.
The Clash at Boulder Creek marks the end of NAU's fall season, which featured three top 10 finishes and two of the program's three all-time lowest rounds.
"Overall, we did some really good things this fall," Bedortha said. "I think we competed pretty well minus a few rounds, which really cost us. If we want to be a top 100 team, we have to perform better. We have to continue to get better for the spring if we want to compete for tournament titles and the conference championship."
After the holiday break, NAU will resume the season with its first tournament of the spring on Feb. 7 and 8 at CSU Bakersfield's The Valley Invitational.
To stay up to date with the NAU golf team, follow the Lumberjacks on
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Full Team Leaderboard
1. UNLV – 297-287-280 = 864 (E)
2. Fresno State – 293-308-279 = 880 (+16)
3. San Francisco – 286-308-288 = 882 (+18)
4. UC Riverside – 293-296-295 = 884 (+20)
5. Grand Canyon – 299-299-291 = 889 (+25)
T6. Utah Valley – 292-307-298 = 897 (+33)
T6. Seattle – 294-306-297 = 897 (+33)
8. Sacramento State – 303-305-292 = 900 (+36)
9. Gonzaga – 300-305-298 = 903 (+39)
10. South Dakota State – 300-312-292 = 904 (+40)
11. Long Beach State – 308-299-298 = 905 (+41)
12. Northern Arizona – 305-308-296 = 909 (+45)
13. California Baptist – 303-312-301 = 916 (+52)
14. Southern Utah – 308-315-296 = 919 (+55)
15. Weber State – 310-318-293 = 921 (+57)
16. North Dakota – 311-304-307 = 922 (+58)
17. Wyoming – 303-322-298 = 923 (+59)
18. Portland State – 308-324-310 = 942 (+78)
NAU Individual Scores
T28.
Elle Kocourkova – 75-75-74 = 224 (+8)
T36.
Ekaterina Malakhova – 77-79-70 = 226 (+10)
T43.
Kimberlee Tottori – 76-78-73 = 227 (+11)
T60.
Lorel Hayward* – 76-82-74 = 232 (+16)
T65.
Aleksandra Chekalina – 77-76-80 = 233 (+17)
T90.
Ashley Croft – 78-85-79 = 242 (+26)
101.
Alyza Flores* – 77-81-WD = 205 (+22)
* Playing as individual
Gallery: (10-26-2021) The Clash at Boulder Creek Day 3
