Kendal Martin (Photo courtesy ASC Sports Information)
Chris Day
ASC Sports Information
The Adams State College women’s golf team finished fifth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship tournament and claimed the same overall place in the conference’s final regular season standings.
That overall finish is the program’s highest in the program’s 6-year history and is a slight improvement over the Grizzlies’ sixth place finish in each of the last three years.
The Grizzlies posted a team score of 354 in the second and final round at the RMAC Championship Tournament on Tuesday here at the 6,045-yard, par-72 Golf Club of Estrella course and finished the 2-day, 36-hole tournament with a team score of 688.
Finishing higher than three other RMAC squads with that score, the Grizzlies earned three points towards the overall RMAC Championship race and finished with 10. The Grizzlies had entered the week in sixth place with seven points, which they had accumulated in the three RMAC championship events during the fall season.
Western New Mexico won this tournament title with a 2-day score of 643 and completed a sweep of all four tournaments throughout the season. Earning seven points for each tournament win in the overall point chase, the Mustangs scored a maximum 28 points and won their third overall RMAC title in the last five years.
The Grizzlies were able to whiz past Nebraska-Kearney as the Lopers finished last this week with a 2-day score of 762. The Lopers had entered the week tied with Regis for fourth in the overall standings with eight points but did not earn any more points overall.
Meanwhile, Colorado Christian finished this week’s affair with a 2-day score of 693, good for sixth place. The Cougars thus earned two points in the overall points chase helping them into a tie with Chadron State for seventh in the overall standings with five.
Chadron State took seventh in this week’s tournament with a score of 748.
Individually, the Grizzlies’ top golfer on Tuesday and in the RMAC Tournament was senior Kendall Martin. Playing in her homestate, the Paradise Valley Community College and Canyon Del Oro High School product, who had been tied for the individual lead after a solid round of 79 on Monday, carded an 85 on Tuesday to finish in a ninth place overall tie at 164.
Grizlly freshman Kyra Garrison also struggled Tuesday, posting a 91 to finish in a 16th place tie at 171. Garrison had been just one shot of the lead held by Martin and three other players after a Monday round of 80.
Meanwhile, senior Codi Hegg and sophomore Samantha Hall both posted rounds of 90 on Tuesday. Hegg finished in a 3-way tie for 21st with a 2-day score of 177 while Hall just one shot further back in 24th at 179.
Grizzly junior Kelsey McSpadden carded an 89 on Tuesday, a 1-shot improvement over her Monday round of 90. She finished in a 25th place tie at 179.
The Grizzlies will now await their post-season fate as the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Committee will announce the nine qualifying teams for the Central Regional Championships next Monday. The Grizzlies were ranked eighth in last week’s regional rankings, which include teams from both the RMAC and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, which will hold the spring half of its 4-round, 2-tournament championship this weekend.
If the Grizzlies are not selected for the first time in program history, they will set a new school record for scoring average as the Grizzlies now hold an average team score of 338.2, a massive 11.9-shot per round improvement over last year’s mark of 350.1.
Martin and McSpadden also threatened the program’s individual scoring average record of 84.5 set by Jenny Ives in 2008-09. However, that mark is safe for now as Martin improved her average slightly to 84.6 while McSpadden saw her average go up to 84.8 after this week.
Garrison now has an 84.9 average, currently fourth best in Grizzly history.
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