Northern Arizona Golf Wraps Up Leadership and Golf Invitational in 16th Place

FINAL RESULTS

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. (Sept. 19, 2023) – The Northern Arizona University golf team concluded its first invitational of the season this afternoon, bringing home a 16^th-place finish at the Leadership and Golf Invitational in University Place, Wash.
 
The invitational was co-hosted by Seattle University and the University of Washington at the Chambers Bay Golf Course (Par-72, 6,093 yards).
 
The Lumberjacks competed in a field of 19 teams, 13 of which were ranked in the top-100 by Golfstat at the end of the 2022-23 season. After finishing the day in 17^th yesterday, the Lumberjacks showed improvement and saved their best round for last with a 298 (+10) today. Combined with its first and second round scores of 302 (+14) and 308 (+20) yesterday, the Lumberjacks shot a 908 (+44) to earn the 16^th place finish.
 
Northern Arizona was led by true freshman Amy Hodgkins who leaped from 66^th place yesterday to tie for 38^th today. In her debut, Hodgkins turned in her first career under par round by shooting a 71 (-1) in the third and final round, finishing with five birdies. Hodgkins shot a 76 (+4) and a 77 (+5) yesterday to turn in a 224 (+8) at the end of the invitational.

"We truly enjoyed this week playing a beautiful course. It's great to be back in competition. Both freshmen competed in the lineup this week and showed a lot of positive contributions," said head coach Brad Bedortha. "We had a strong finish on the final day which is good momentum going into our next event. We would have loved to have a strong placement on the leaderboard, but we have a quick turnaround for our next event. Our highlight of the week was Amy Hodgkins shooting her first career round under par."

Fifth-year golfer Lorel Hayward played consistently all week, finishing tied for 47^th place after shooting a 226 (+10). Hayward shot a 74 (+2) in round one, and a 78 (+6) in round two before finishing with a 74 (+2) today. She earned three consecutive birdies to help seal her finish in the third round and had eight total throughout the week.
 
Lizzie Neale earned her 11^th career round at par or better with a 72 (E) to start yesterday's action. She finished with a 79 (+7) and a 76 (+4) in the final rounds to total 227 strokes (+11), finishing tied for 53^rd.
 
Also making her collegiate debut this week was Frankie Dezis who tied for 76^th after shooting a 233 (+17) through three rounds.
 
Ellena Slater rounded out the competition by tying for 94^th after shooting a 241 (+25).
 
USC ran away with the team win, shooting an 837 (-27), and placed four golfers inside the top five. The Lumberjacks competed against one other Big Sky Conference school in Sacramento State who finished ninth after shooting an 892 (+28).
 
NAU finished ahead of Gonzaga, UC Riverside and South Alabama.
 
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. A shotgun start for both days is set for 7:15 a.m. Mountain Standard time with live scoring available on Golfstat.
 
Individual Results
T38. Amy Hodgkins (76-77-71=224 +8)
T47. Lorel Hayward (74-78-74=226 +10)
T53. Lizzie Neale (72-79-76=227 +11)
T76. Frankie Dezis (80-76-77=233 +17)
T94. Ellena Slater (84-77-80=241 +25)