FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Sept. 22, 2024) - The Northern Arizona women's golf team will head to Vail, Colorado this week for the Golfweek Red Sky Classic. The 14-team field will play 18 holes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at Red Sky Golf Club (par-72, 6,305 yards).
"We're extremely excited to be back at Red Sky this year. It's one of our favorite tournaments and courses and so we are really glad to be back competing in it," head coach Brad Bedortha said.
This will be the third time that the Lumberjacks have played in this tournament. Northern Arizona has seen much success on this golf course in the past. The first time they played at this course in 2021, the team shot a 279 in round one, which was the second-lowest round in program history at the time and set a new school record for low round versus par. The 'Jacks sat in first place after the first day. Former Lumberjack Elle Kocourkova made a hole-in-one on the 132-yard, par-3 hole 17 and recorded her lowest career round, 4-under par 68. She was the first Lumberjack with a hole-in-one since Sofia Anokhina in the third round of the 2017 Red Rocks Invitational.
The last time they played there in 2022, junior Lizzie Neale recorded her first career even-par round as a freshmen, shooting a team-leading 72 to pace the NAU golf team on the first day. Ellena Slater and Neale both posted under-par scores in the third round. Slater shot 2-under par 70, while Neale shot 1-under par 71 and both tallied four birdies.
"One of the reasons we enjoy this tournament is because we get to play with a lot of different teams that we don't see very often," said Bedortha. "We've had some really great practices this week and a nice practice round today, so we are ready to compete to the best of our abilities."
Participating teams this year include: Mercer, South Dakota State, UNC Asheville, Denver, Kansas, Arkansas State, Eastern Michigan, Boise State, East Tennessee State, Pepperdine, Sacramento State, Wichita State and UC Irvine.
Live scoring of the tournament will be available on golfstat.
After a two-week break since their opening tournament of the season in New Mexico, the Lumberjacks will look to build momentum at Red Sky. Their next tournament will take place through Oct. 14-15 in Edisto Island, S.C. for the Edisto Island Invitational.
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