FULL SCHEDULE
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (August 24, 2022) – On the heels of their ninth Big Sky Championship in program history, the Northern Arizona golf team revealed their 2022-23 season schedule on Wednesday.
The Lumberjacks will compete in four tournaments in the fall, capped by NAU's second annual The Clash at Boulder Creek, followed by five regular season tournaments in the spring leading up to the Big Sky Championship.
NAU will open the season at the Coeur d'Alene Resort Collegiate Invitational from Sept. 18-20 in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The Lumberjacks last visited Coeur d'Alene three years ago, placing 12th, and it will be NAU's fourth all-time appearance at the tournament.
Following the trip to Idaho, the Lumberjacks will compete at the Golfweek Red Sky Classic in Vail, Colo. a week later – returning to a tournament where they tied for seventh last season. At last year's Golfweek Red Sky Classic, the Lumberjacks opened with a first round 9-under par 279, setting a new school record for lowest round in relation to par.
After making its third-ever appearance – and first since 2017 – in Denver's Ron Moore Intercollegiate from Oct. 7-9, the Lumberjacks will return to Boulder City, Nev. to host The Clash at Boulder Creek from Oct. 23-25 to end the fall semester. In last season's first installment of The Clash, the 'Jacks placed 12th in the three-day tournament at Boulder Creek Golf Club.
Opening the spring semester on Feb. 13 and 14 at the Wyoming and Boise State co-hosted Mountain Classic Match Play in Palm Desert, Calif., the trip west will mark NAU's lone tournament outside of the state of Arizona in the new year. The Mountain Classic Match Play will be followed up by the team's annual appearance at the Grand Canyon Invitational on Feb. 27-28, where they have logged a pair of consecutive top six finishes in the last two seasons.
The Grand Canyon Invitational will set up the Lumberjacks' 17th annual Red Rocks Invitational at Oakcreek Country Club on March 18-19, but not before NAU hosts Harvard in a scrimmage on March 15, also at the Lumberjacks' home course in Sedona.
Last year, NAU earned runner-up honors at the Red Rocks Invitational with
Elle Kocourkova taking home individual medalist honors. NAU tied the school record for lowest 54-hole score in relation to par at 7-over par 871 after firing a first round 4-under par 284.
The path to the Big Sky Championship will look the same in the month of April as it did a year ago with the Lumberjacks wrapping up the regular season at the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic on April 3-4 in Maricopa and the Bobcat Desert Classic from April 9-11 in Goodyear. At the latter, NAU placed second as a team with junior
Ekaterina Malakhova placing fifth individually last spring.
The 2023 Big Sky Championship will once again be held at Talking Stick Golf Club in Scottsdale from April 17-19. Behind Malakhova's individual conference title and senior
Lorel Hayward tying for fourth, the Lumberjacks captured their first Big Sky championship since 2015 at Talking Stick last April, which punched their ticket to the NCAA Albuquerque Regional.
Head coach
Brad Bedortha returns four golfers who competed at the NCAA Regional last season in Malakhova, Hayward and fifth-years
Aleksandra Chekalina and
Ashley Croft while welcoming in three freshmen into the program.
To stay up to date with the NAU golf team, follow the Lumberjacks on
Twitter and
Instagram.
