ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (September 15, 2026) - The Northern Arizona women's golf team completed the remainder of the second round and played the third round of the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational on Tuesday morning.
Round two was suspended yesterday due to lightning, with the Lumberjacks finishing the day in 11th place out of 13 teams, with three or four holes left to play. NAU was +9 after the first round, which was good for a tie for seventh.
After finishing the remainder of the round this morning, Northern Arizona remained in 11th place, shooting +17 on the day to finish at +26 overall.
The 'Jacks saved their best round for last, shooting +1 in the final round and climbing four spots up the leaderboard to finish seventh with a total score of +27.
UNLV were the team champions with a total score of -10, winning by one stroke over Pepperdine. Pepperdine's Kylee Choi was the individual champion, carding rounds of -4, -5 and -1 for a 10-under total. She had a four-stroke advantage over Montana State's Eva Heinz.
"Overall, it was a good start to our season. Yesterday we had some good things happen, we just weren't able to perform the way we wanted to in some areas. Today we had a much better day, having the third low round of the day and having some good individual performances. Kristyna shot her first under par round of her career and had a good tournament finishing one over par. Ella's first round yesterday was under par which was great to see in her first performance as a Lumberjack. Today Gracie shot an even par round, her lowest round for us. Frankie played her usual steady and consistent game," head coach Brad Bedortha said.
As a team, Northern Arizona had 41 total birdies, which was the fifth-most in the field, while its 153 pars were tied for 10th. The Lumberjacks played the par-3s in 11-over-par, ranking 10th; the par-4s in 46-over-par, ranking eighth; and the par-5s in 1-under-par, tied for eighth.
Freshman Kristyna Malinova put up a red number in the third round, shooting 70 (-2). Starting on hole five, she opened the final round with a birdie. Her next birdie came on hole 10, followed by back-to-back birdies on 18 and one. She had 12 pars for the round and dropped only two shots. Her under-par score helped her finish tied for 12th on the leaderboard with a +1 total in her collegiate debut.
Malinova's par-3 scoring average was even-par, tied for 13th-best, and she really took advantage of the par-5s, averaging 4.67 (-4), which was tied for ninth-lowest. Her 11 total birdies were tied for eighth-most overall, and she recorded 33 pars.
Frankie Dezis also finished in the top 20, shooting even-par in the third round. Despite dropping a shot on her opening hole, the fifth, she went on to shoot 3-under over the next 16 holes. She secured birdies on holes seven, 12 and 14. A double bogey on her final hole brought her score to even-par on the day. Overall, she finished tied for 16th with a total score of +3.
Dezis played the par-3s at an average of 3.17 (+2), while she averaged 4.07 (+2) on the par-4s, which was tied for 11th-best, and was 1-under on the par-5s with an average of 4.92. She had eight birdies over the three rounds and tied for seventh in the field in total pars with 38.
Ella Zanatta finished tied for 36th after her round of 75 (+3). The junior secured three birdies on the day, including on holes nine, 10 and 13. Her total score of +8 placed her tied for 36th.
Zanatta also averaged 3.17 (+2) on the par-3s and led the 'Jacks in total birdies with 12, which was tied for fourth-most overall. She also carded 24 pars.
Gracie Heinle had her best round of the tournament, shooting even-par 72. She began round three with a birdie on hole seven and proceeded to also birdie holes 13, three and four. Her overall score of +17 placed her tied for 65th. She had nine birdies for the tournament.
Alexa Ouellet rounded out the lineup, finishing tied for 74th with a total score of +27. In the third round, she carded a birdie on the par-5 14th and returned to the clubhouse at 11-over-par. The junior was tied for 15th in total pars with 36.
Competing as individuals, freshmen Sofia Blanco and Martyna Muchajer finished within one stroke of one another. Blanco finished tied for 72nd after shooting 79 (+7) in round three for a +22 total. Muchajer was tied for 74th with a round of 78 (+6), putting her 54-hole total at +23.
"I'm really excited for this team. We showed today that we can play some really good golf, hopefully this will give us some confidence moving forward. We're excited for our tournament in Vail next week," Bedortha said.
The full results can be found here.
The Lumberjacks will travel to Vail, Colo., this upcoming week to compete in the Golfweek Red Sky Classic, played on the Fazio Course at Red Sky.
Stay up to date with the Northern Arizona women's golf team by following the 'Jacks on Instagram and X.
