WOLCOTT, Colo. (September 26, 2022) – Freshman
Lizzie Neale recorded her first career even-par round, shooting a team-leading 72 to pace the Northern Arizona golf team on the first day of the Golfweek Red Sky Classic. Neale is tied for 17th as an individual while the Lumberjacks are 13th as a team after shooting 7-over par 295.
NAU played particularly well on the back nine to solidify its team standing with the four Lumberjack scorers combining to shoot 3-under par after the turn.
"The front nine was quite the struggle and it wasn't looking good for us after 5-7 holes," said head coach
Brad Bedortha. "We slowly started playing better and it was quite promising watching us play the back nine. We have the ability to play very well, we just need to be ready to compete for all 18 holes."
Neale led the charge on the back nine, playing the final nine holes to 3-under par. After starting the day with a birdie on the first hole, Neale bogeyed 10 and was 4-over par through 10 holes. The freshman recorded par on 11 and followed with a birdie on 12 to begin her strong finish to the round.
Neale ended the day with three birdies on her final four holes to card her lowest career round. Her six birdies were tied for third-most in the field on Monday.
Fifth-year
Aleksandra Chekalina and freshman
Ellena Slater are both tied for 45th following rounds of 2-over par 74. Chekalina recorded par on 14 of 18 holes, which was tied for the third-most in the field as well.
Like Neale, Slater played the back nine spectacularly, shooting 2-under par over the last nine holes. In fact, sitting at 5-over par through six holes, Slater totaled nine pars and three birdies the rest of the round.
NAU's fourth counting score came from senior
Lorel Hayward, who shot a season-low 3-over par 75. Hayward closed the round with two birdies in her last four holes.
Making her season debut, fifth-year
Ashley Croft rebounded after a slow start. After shooting 7-over par on the front nine, Croft answered with 1-over par on the back nine and concluded her first round of the season at 8-over par 80.
Tuesday's second round will once again start with tee times with Croft the first Lumberjack off the tee at 10:15 a.m. She will be followed by Hayward, Slater, Chekalina and Neale in succession in 10 minute increments at Red Sky Golf Club.
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Full Team Leaderboard
1. Pepperdine – 285 (-3)
T2. Fresno State – 287 (-1)
T2. Colorado – 287 (-1)
4. Xavier – 288 (E)
T5. Kennesaw State – 289 (+1)
T5. Delaware – 289 (+1)
T5. Mercer – 289 (+1)
8. Washington State – 290 (+2)
9. East Tennessee State – 291 (+3)
T10. Little Rock – 293 (+5)
T10. Eastern Michigan – 293 (+5)
12. Rutgers – 294 (+6)
13. Northern Arizona – 295 (+7)
T14. New Mexico State – 296 (+8)
T14. Central Arkansas – 296 (+8)
16. Incarnate Word – 301 (+13)
17. Idaho – 304 (+16)
18. Northern Colorado – 306 (+18)
19. Southern Illinois – 310 (+22)
20. Evansville – 323 (+35)
NAU Individual Scores
T17.
Lizzie Neale – 72 (E)
T45.
Aleksandra Chekalina – 74 (+2)
T45.
Ellena Slater – 74 (+2)
T56.
Lorel Hayward – 75 (+3)
T87.
Ashley Croft – 80 (+8)
