PALM DESERT, Calif. (February 13, 2023) – The Northern Arizona University golf team began the Spring portion of the schedule today at the Mountain Classic Match Play at The Classic Club in Palm Desert, Calif. Today's action included the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds on the 6,081-yard course with a par of 72. The Lumberjacks came away with two victories over Southern Utah and Boise State. With the victories, NAU will play in the finals against No. 1 Nevada tomorrow morning.
Instead of the usual stroke play format, the Mountain Classic Match Play matched teams up head-to-head. Northern Arizona entered the tournament as the number three seed, facing off against No. 6 Southern Utah in the quarterfinals and tournament co-hosts No. 2 Boise State in the semifinals.
The Lumberjacks started the day on a high note, cruising to a 4-1-0 win over Southern Utah in the quarterfinals where senior
Lorel Hayward (6&5), fifth year
Aleksandra Chekalina (1UP), freshman
Lizzie Neale (6&5) and freshman
Ellena Slater (4&3) all bested their opponents. Junior
Ekaterina Malakhova was just edged by her opponent, 6&5.
In the semifinals, Northern Arizona earned a hard-fought 4-0-1 win over Boise State. Hayward tied her opponent, while Chekalina (1UP), Neale (1UP), Slater (3&2) and Malakhova (2UP) all came away with wins.
Northern Arizona will be back in action tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. Mountain Standard time for the final round. Live scoring will be available
here on Golfstat.
