NAU Golf Posts Solid Final Round to Close Out GCU Invitational in Fourth

PHOENIX, Ariz. (March 2, 2021) – The Northern Arizona golf team finished the GCU Invitational in fourth place on the leaderboard at 28-over par 892 (298-296-298) at the conclusion of the third round at the GCU Championship Golf Course.
 
The Lumberjacks carded the fourth-lowest round on Tuesday, recording 58 pars and 11 birdies in the final 18 holes. NAU was also one of just two teams, along with host and team champion Grand Canyon, to go sub-300 in each of the three rounds.
 
"We're definitely going in the right direction and it was huge to have (Ekaterina Malakhova) step up and play well and Klara (Kucharova) stepping into the fifth spot and shooting 76 today," said head coach Brad Bedortha. "There's a lot of good things happening and there are still some areas to work on. I would've loved to have finished third, but we're definitely improving."
 
The Lopes entered the third round just two strokes ahead of California Baptist, but wound up winning their home tournament for the second consecutive year by 12 strokes at 2-over par 866 (292-285-289). The Lancers finished at 14-over par (303-276-299) and were followed by Seattle at 25-over par 889 (301-293-295).
 
Southern Utah's Chanikan Yongyuan was the tournament medalist at 5-under par 211 (69-73-69).
 
The fourth-place finish was the team's best since placing fourth at the Aggie Invitational in October 2019. It was also an improvement of the team's 10th-place finish at last year's GCU Invitational.
 
NAU also was the highest-finishing team among the five Big Sky schools who converged on Phoenix for the tournament. Idaho, voted second ahead of NAU in the preseason conference poll, was the next Big Sky team in sixth at 44-over par 908 – 16 strokes behind the Lumberjacks.

The 'Jacks were led by freshman Ekaterina Malakhova on Tuesday, as the frosh shot 1-under par 71 to vault up from a tie for 30th to a final standing in a tie for 19th. After just two birdies on Monday in the first two rounds, Malakhova rattled off four birdies in the third round.
 
Malakhova's low round of her brief collegiate career put her at 6-over par 222 (76-75-71) – two strokes behind junior Aleksandra Chekalina for the team-lead overall.
 
Chekalina fought off a tough front nine at 4-over par to shoot even-par on the back nine on Tuesday, finishing the day at 4-over par 76. Chekalina tied for 12th on the individual leaderboard at 4-over par 220 (71-73-76), marking her best finish in her last five tournaments dating back to last season.
 
For the second consecutive round, junior Ashley Croft shot 75. Like Chekalina, Croft also settled in after a slow start and shot 1-under par in her final 12 holes. Croft tied for 22nd at 7-over par 223 (73-75-75).
 
Junior Elle Kocourkova and graduate student Klara Kucharova rounded out NAU's lineup with Kucharova posting NAU's final counting score of the day at 4-over par 76 – matching her season-best round set in the second round yesterday.
 
Kocourkova concluded the tournament in a tie for 34th at 12-over par 228 (78-73-77), while Kucharova tied for 39th two strokes back at 14-over par 230 (78-76-76).
 
Malakhova and Croft led the Lumberjacks with 37 and 36 pars respectively, while Chekalina totaled a team-high 10 birdies.
 
NAU will be right back in action next Monday and Tuesday in Tucson at the Arizona Wildcat Invitational.
 
To stay up to date with the NAU golf team, follow the Lumberjacks on Twitter and Instagram.
 
Full Team Leaderboard
1. Grand Canyon – 292-285-289 = 866 (+2)
2. California Baptist – 303-276-299 = 878 (+14)
3. Seattle – 301-293-295 = 889 (+25)
4. Northern Arizona – 298-296-298 = 892 (+28)
5. UC Riverside – 300-300-305 = 905 (+41)
6. Idaho – 305-299-304 = 908 (+44)
7. South Dakota – 302-309-298 = 909 (+45)
8. UTEP – 301-299-311 = 911 (+47)
9. Utah Valley – 297-314-303 = 914 (+50)
10. North Dakota State – 312-311-297 = 920 (+56)
11. UTRGV – 302-312-308 = 922 (+58)
12. Southern Utah – 311-310-304 = 925 (+61)
13. Eastern Washington – 310-311-321 = 942 (+78)
14. Bakersfield – 316-324-309 = 949 (+85)
15. Montana State – 321-307-322 = 950 (+86)
 
NAU Individual Scores
T12. Aleksandra Chekalina – 71-73-76 = 220 (+4)
T19. Ekaterina Malakhova – 76-75-71 = 222 (+6)
T22. Ashley Croft – 73-75-75 = 223 (+7)
T34. Elle Kocourkova – 78-73-77 = 228 (+12)
T39. Klara Kucharova – 78-76-76 = 230 (+14)