HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. (October 9, 2022) – The Northern Arizona golf team concluded the Ron Moore Intercollegiate with a final round 9-over par 297, putting them in a three-way tie for ninth in the highly competitive field at 15-over par 879 (302-296-281).
"Overall it was a great tournament," said head coach
Brad Bedortha. "We saw a lot of great golf. We are definitely headed in the right direction. We used our momentum from Red Sky and brought it to Denver. It feels great to compete against this level of teams and to be able to right alongside them."
In the Lumberjacks' fifth-ever appearance at Denver's Ron Moore Intercollegiate, they posted the program's all-time lowest 54-hole score at tournament. NAU finished in a three-way tie for ninth with Fresno State and San Diego State. Vanderbilt posted its third consecutive under-par round and wound up winning the tournament by 20 strokes over Xavier at 25-under par 839.
Freshman
Lizzie Neale posted the Lumberjacks' low score of the third round at even-par 72. Neale shot 72 for the second straight day and tied with fellow freshman
Ellena Slater for 25th at 3-over par 219 (75-72-72). The 3-over par 219 was the freshman duo's lowest 54-hole score of their young careers.
Neale closed at even-par with a birdie on her final hole on the par-4 8. Prior to that, Neale recorded pars on her previous two holes in addition to recording a birdie on the par-3 5. The two birdies were half of her team-high third round total of four.
Slater, who shot 72-73-74, started out Sunday morning hot with two pars and three consecutive birdies through her first five holes. After eight straight pars, Slater ended the day with a bogey to finish at 2-over par 74.
Finishing in a tie for 32nd, senior
Lorel Hayward closed the tournament with a final round 4-over par 76 after consecutive rounds of even-par 72. Hayward, who finished at 4-over par 220 (72-72-76), recorded a pair of birdies on the day, as did fifth-year
Aleksandra Chekalina, who tied for 39th. Chekalina shot a final round 3-over par 75, finishing at 5-over par 221 (73-73-75).
Rounding out NAU's lineup was junior
Ekaterina Malakhova, who posted her low round of the tournament with a 6-over par 78. Malakhova, playing in her first tournament of the season, shot 23-over par 239 (82-79-78) on the weekend to tie for 84th.
As they did since the start of the tournament, the Lumberjacks played the four par-3 holes well, combining for six birdies across the team. They were the only team in the field to play the par-3s to under-par over the span of the three days, shooting 4-under par.
Slater, who recorded a team-high 11 birdies in the tournament, was the best golfer on the par-3 holes playing them to 4-under par in the tournament. As a team, the Lumberjacks finished the tournament tied for fifth with 39 birdies.
NAU will be back in action in exactly two weeks at The Clash at Boulder Creek in Boulder City, Nev. starting Sunday, Oct. 23. The Lumberjacks will host The Clash at Boulder Creek for the second consecutive season with the three-day tournament serving as NAU's final of the fall season.
To stay up to date with the NAU golf team, follow the Lumberjacks on
Twitter and
Instagram.
Full Team Leaderboard
1. Vanderbilt – 280-275-284 = 839 (-25)
2. Xavier – 290-291-278 = 859 (-5)
T3. New Mexico – 284-286-292 = 862 (-2)
T3. Tulane – 291-290-281 = 862 (-2)
5. Denver – 288-289-289 = 866 (+2)
6. Iowa – 302-286-288 = 876 (+12)
7. Incarnate Word – 291-290-296 = 877 (+13)
8. Colorado State – 290-295-293 = 878 (+14)
T9. Fresno State – 302-296-281 = 879 (+15)
T9. Northern Arizona – 292-290-297 = 879 (+15)
T9. San Diego State – 296-292-291 = 879 (+15)
12. Delaware – 299-299-292 = 890 (+26)
13. Chattanooga – 293-300-298 = 891 (+27)
14. Grand Canyon – 303-300-290 = 893 (+29)
15. Hawai'i – 299-305-298 = 902 (+38)
16. Wyoming – 311-301-295 = 907 (+43)
NAU Individual Scores
T25.
Ellena Slater – 72-73-74 = 219 (+3)
T25.
Lizzie Neale – 75-72-72 = 219 (+3)
T32.
Lorel Hayward – 72-72-76 = 220 (+4)
T39.
Aleksandra Chekalina – 73-73-75 = 221 (+5)
T84.
Ekaterina Malakhova – 82-79-78 = 239 (+23)
