LEWISTON, Idaho – The Lewis-Clark State College men and Rocky Mountain College women survived windy and tough conditions Monday at the Lewiston Country Club to take the first-day leads at LCSC’s portion of the Frontier Conference golf tournament.
The conference holds six 54-hole tournaments – three in the fall and three in the spring – and uses running team scores to determine the conference champion.
Monday kicked off the first of three spring tournaments, but winds that hit close to 30 miles an hour greeted the golfers for most of the day. Combined with a par-72 course that features rolling fairways and tough greens, it made for a long day for most of the field.
The LCSC men, which entered the day with a 21 shot lead over Montana Tech, stretched it to 61 shots despite shooting its worst team score of the season over the final 18. The Warriors carded a tournament-best 294 on the opening 18, but then shot 313 for a 607 total. Montana Tech had rounds of 319 and 338 for a 647 total.
Rocky Mountain actually gained on Montana Tech for second place as it made up 31 strokes on Monday to trail Tech by only five shots overall. Rocky, the defending champion, is 66 shots behind LCSC.
LCSC’s Chris Kneen and RMC’s Kevin Oden tied for the low 36-hole score at 150. Kneen shots rounds of 76 and 74, while Oden was at 73 and 77.
Only two players were able to break par on the day. LCSC’s Connor McCracken had the best first round with a 1-under-par 71. The best round, and the best overall score on the day, actually belonged to Ben House, but he was playing as an individual instead of the top five for LCSC. House had a 3-under-par 69 to go with his opening round of 76 for a 145 total.
On the women’s side, Rocky Mountain had consistent rounds of 330 and 335 for a 665 total and a 13-shot lead in the tournament over LCSC, which battled back with a 328 in the second round after a rough 350 in the opening round. In the overall standings, Rocky Mountain was able to increase its lead over LCSC to 34 shots in what is a two-team race. Carroll is in third place, but more than 200 shots behind LCSC.
Rocky’s Rachel Hosterman edged teammate Jen Orchard for top individual honors among the scoring players. Hosterman had an opening round of 76, which was the best women’s score of the day, and followed with an 85 for a 161 total. Orchard had two rounds of 81s for a 162.
Senior Cortney Shrout was LCSC’s top score at 166 with rounds of 87 and 79, while Katie Fuqua was next at 168. The Warrior women also had an individual that would have tied Shrout for its top score as Alana Norris also had a 166, including an 80 in the opening round.
Montana Western women wound up with an incomplete team score after a player withdrew after the opening 18 holes.
The final 18 holes will be played Tuesday morning with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.
The final two tournaments of the season will be held in Salt Lake City (Westminster) next Monday and Tuesday and then in Great Falls on April 27-28.
MEN
Team scores – 1, Lewis-Clark State 294-313–607. 2, Rocky Mountain 311-305–616. 3, Montana Tech 319-338–647, 4, Carroll 322-328-650. 5, Westminster 337-330-667. 6, Montana Western 342-330–672. 7, Great Falls 352-355-707
Lewis-Clark State – Chris Kneen 76-74–150, Nik Arrenbrecht 72-79–151, Conner McCracken 71-81–152, Scott Mooney 75-79–154, Patrick Casabonne 81-82–163.
Rocky Mountain – Kevin Oden 73-77–150, Conner Rakowski 80-73–153, Bjorn Otteson 78-76–154, DJ Kovach 80-79–159, Jacob Richards 87-81–168.
Montana Tech – Wes Southard 78-83–161, Ty Wengel 79-83–162, Chris Connors 82-80–162, Patrick O=’Rourke 82-82–164, Curtis Blake 80-87–167.
Carroll – Matthew Sewell 82-78–160, Jim Mee 81-82–163, Marcus Geer 82-82–164, Ben McIsaac 78-86–164, Adam Benson 81-87–168.
Westminster – Matthew Stern 82-79–161, Bryce Till 85-82-167, Nick Cruz 87-82–169, Christopher ames 83-87–170, M. Babson 97-91–188.
Montana Western – Brand Job 84-76–160, John Coryell 79-82–161, Brian Pfeifer 89-84–173, Jimmy Stoker 90-92–182, B randon Coryell 104-88–192.
Great Falls – Josh Wittman 81-84–165, Lance Wilson 85-82–167, Hunter Schneider 86-85–171, Kurtis Burrall 100-104–204.
Individuals – Ben House, LCSC, 76-69–145, Chris Jarrett, LCSC, 76-81–157, Andrew Cifala, Carroll 79-79–158, John Galt, RMC, 80-78–158, Tom Meyer, RMC, 81-80–161, Jake Ammerman, MT, 78-86–164, Danny Kane, MT, 81-86–167, Todd Truscott, RMC, 87-85–172, Tyler Lamb, MT, 81-95–176, Jason Schumacher, UMW, 88-95–183.
WOMEN
Team scores – 1, Rocky Mountain 330-335–665, 2, Lewis-Clark State 350-328–678, 3, Carroll 365-377–742, 4, Montana Tech 402-401–803, 5, Great Falls 486-488–974, 6, Westminster 506-480–986, Montana Western (404-WD) and Montana State-Northern had incomplete team scores.
Rocky Mountain – Rachel Hosterman 76-85–161, Jen Orchard 81-81–162, Teresa Schlomer 85-83–168, E. Schlomer 88-86–174, Lindsey Holzwarth 92-94–186.
Lewis-Clark State– Cortney Shrout 87-79–166, Katie Fuqua 87-81–168, Juanita Villa 86-84–170, Chantelle Beveridge 90-84–174, Madeline Jarrett 91-84–175.
Carroll – Emily Slayton 82-89–171, Meghan Innes 86-89–175, Matea daRosa 97-97–194, Casey Smith 101-95–196, Stephanie Martinez 100-104–204.
Montana Tech – Whitney Lamb 91-90–181, Liz Hall 97-107–204, Allie Brown 102-105–207, Kayla Schumacher 112-101–213, Dannielle Hall 113-105–218.
Great Falls – Stephanie Hanson 101-102–203, Megan Delaurentis 124-116–240, Sami Pack 126-125–251, L. Saunders 135-145–280.
Westminster – Shonti Breisch 120-115–235, Jesika Holton 123-105–238, Jessica Roestenburg 128-121–249,Tawnee Espinoza 135-139-274.
Montana Western – Shayla Couture 93-90–183, Sydnee Crosser 94-90–184, Meghan Rose 97-95–192, Kayla Couture 120-WD.
Montana State-Northern – Ali Ward 88-88–176, Danielle Dirden 109-120–229.
Individiuals – Alana Norris, LCSC, 80-86–166, Jordan Knapp, LCSC, 89-89–178, Brittney Wheeler, LCSC, 89-91–180, Sue James, LCSC, 89-91–180, Katie Sauvageau, RMC, 95-89–184, Charlie Knowlton, RMC, 98-94–192, Ariana McElrath, Carroll, 101-92–193.
