Golf Opens Fall Campaign in Washington

Leadership and Golf Invitational

SCHEDULE	Monday, Sept. 18 | Rounds 1 & 2 | 8 a.m. MST Shotgun Start
	Tuesday, Sept. 19 | Round 3 | 8 a.m. MST Shotgun Start
COURSE	Chambers Bay Golf Course | University Place, Wash.
PAR | YARDAGE	TBA | TBA
FIELD	Seattle (Host), Washington (Host), BYU, Cal Poly, Colorado, Fresno State, Georgia Southern, Gonzaga, Minnesota, Northern Arizona, Oregon State, Sacramento State, San Diego State, San Francisco, Santa Clara, South Alabama, UC Riverside, USC, Washington State
LIVE RESULTS	BirdieFire
LIVE STREAM	GK Live
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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Sept. 15, 2023) – The Northern Arizona University golf team is preparing to open the Fall portion of its season next week at the Leadership and Golf Invitational in University Place, Wash. The invitational is co-hosted by Seattle University and the University of Washington at the Chambers Bay Golf Course.
 
Action runs from Monday, Sept. 18 to Tuesday, Sept. 19 with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. Mountain Standard time each day. The field, made up of 108 golfers from 19 schools, will play the first two rounds of 36 total holes on Monday before wrapping up with the final 18 holes on Tuesday. Yardage and par have yet to be announced.
 
Competing for the Lumberjacks is sophomore Ellena Slater, sophomore Lizzie Neale, freshman Amy Hodgkins, freshman Frankie Dezis and fifth-year Lorel Hayward.
 
Out of the 19 schools competing, 13 were ranked in the top-100 by GolfStat at the end of the 2022-23 season. Northern Arizona will face off against one Big Sky Conference school in Sacramento State, the defending conference champions.
 
This is the second installment of the Leadership and Golf Invitational, formerly known as the Pacific NW Invitational, and NAU's first time competing at the tournament. UCLA claimed last year's team and individual title.
 
The Lumberjacks are led by Brad Bedortha who is in his 16^th season at the helm of the team. Three All-Big Sky golfers from last year's squad return in Slater who was named to the first team, Neale who earned second team honors, and Hayward who received an honorable mention nod. As freshmen, Slater and Neale led the team in scoring last year with averages of 73.17 and 73.96, respectively.
 
NAU finished fourth at the 2023 Big Sky Championships and capped the year with a team scoring average against par of 295.81 which set a new program record. The 'Jacks also set new program records in rounds at par or better (5) and birdies (328).
 
Northern Arizona has a quick turnaround before its next competition, as the 'Jacks will be traveling to Saratoga Springs, Utah, for the Big Sky 54 for IX Invitational at the Talons Cove Golf Course on Sept. 25-26. The event is the first-of-its-kind and is hosted by the conference. All 10 conference teams, plus several Division I programs from the state of Utah, will be competing.