FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (September 12, 2021) – Coming off their best Big Sky Conference finish in six years, the Northern Arizona golf team opens the 2021-22 season at the Hobble Creek Fall Classic on Monday. The two-day, 54-hole tournament hosted by Utah Valley at Hobble Creek Golf Course (par-71, 6,135 yards) is the first of four fall tournaments for the Lumberjacks.
The 17-team field will play 36 holes on Monday beginning at 6:45 a.m. MST followed by the final round of 18 holes on Tuesday at 7 a.m. MST. Both days will begin with a shotgun start.
"It's exciting to get back to competing again," said head coach
Brad Bedortha. "Four months ago we were competing at the conference championship and it seems like two days ago. Going in there, I feel like we should be able to perform and finish in the top three. With the track record that we've had at Hobble Creek and the roster that we have, I'm excited."
After last fall was canceled due to COVID-19, NAU opens at the Hobble Creek Fall Classic in Springville, Utah for the third consecutive fall season.
The Lumberjacks return to Hobble Creek as the top finishing team from the 2019 tournament. Led by senior
Aleksandra Chekalina, who placed third individually at 1-over par 214 (68-74-72), the 'Jacks placed third as a team two years ago at 28-over par 880 (287-292-301) behind Cal State Fullerton (26-over par 878) and New Mexico State (27-over par 879).
Chekalina is one of three seniors on this year's roster along with
Ashley Croft and
Elle Kocourkova. All three earned their third all-conference honor in the spring with Chekalina and Croft landing on the second team and Kocourkova on the third team.
Croft (75.61), Chekalina (75.62) and Kocourkova (76.90) were second, third and fourth respectively on the team in scoring average behind sophomore
Ekaterina Malakhova, who led the Lumberjacks with a round average of 75.05.
Malakhova tied for second at the Big Sky Championship and was the first NAU golfer to earn All-Big Sky First Team honors since 2018. Furthermore, Malakhova was the first Lumberjack freshman on the First Team in eight years.
Joining the four all-conference golfers in the season-opening lineup will be graduate transfer
Kimberlee Tottori, who will be making her NAU debut after four years at Seattle. Tottori, Seattle's career leader in scoring average (75.15) among other school records, posted a season scoring average of 74.40 last season.
The Lumberjacks will also send out juniors
Lorel Hayward and
Alyza Flores on the course with the pair competing as individuals. Hayward averaged an 81.80 in the spring across five tournaments, while Flores will be making her return to the links after missing last season with an injury. As a freshman though, Flores posted an average score of 76.78 in eight tournaments.
NAU is one of seven Big Sky teams in the tournament field, joined by Idaho State, Montana State, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Southern Utah and Weber State. Gonzaga is the top-ranked team at No. 64, based on last year's results, in the field according to the Golfstat Rankings.
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