MSUB golf women open spring season in Vegas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Thursday, March 9, 2017 MSUB golf women open spring season in Vegas

Set to play its first tournament of the spring season, MSUB’s women’s golf team is in Las Vegas for a two-day event Friday and Saturday.

BILLINGS, Mont. – Opening its 2017 spring season this weekend, the Montana State University Billings women’s golf team is ready for action in Las Vegas at the Beaver-Jacket Invite scheduled to run Friday and Saturday at Aliante Golf Club.

The tournament is being co-hosted by MSUB and Minot State University, with a 36-hole women’s event on tap. It is the first of four spring tournaments for the MSUB women, leading up to the 2017 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships running April 24-25 at the Coeur d’Alene Resort in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Aliante Golf Club features a par-72, 6,117-yard layout for the women, who will tee off at 9:50 a.m. Pacific time Friday.

View the Course Layout online here.

Junior Sammy Walter led the team through the fall season, averaging a score of 77.7 through seven rounds of play. Her fall was highlighted by a personal-best round of 72 at the Western Washington Invite, where she tied for first place and earned GNAC Golfer of the Week. Walter’s two-round total of 146 at the event tied the MSUB program record.

Fellow junior Bailee Dexter also had a promising fall, checking in just behind Walter with a scoring average of 78.0 in seven rounds. Dexter had a pair of top-10 finishes in the fall, and notched her best individual-round score of 74 at the Rocky Mountain College Invite on Oct. 2-3, 2016.

Shealyn Hafer is MSUB’s other golfer averaging below the 80.0 mark, as she holds a score of 79.0 through seven rounds this season. Hafer posted a top-5 finish at the RMC Invite, tying with Walter by shooting a two-round total of 154 (7678).

Fellow sophomore Kortney McNeil had one top-10 finish in the fall, and enters the spring with a scoring average of 81.4 in seven rounds. Senior Haley Shackelford rounds out the field of five for the ‘Jackets, finishing the fall with a score of 84.3 over seven rounds. Her best score of the fall came at the RMC Invite, where she fired a 78 and a two-round total of 158 to tie for 10th place.

MSUB’s women will compete against Minot State, Fort Lewis College, Adams State, Westminster College, and Rocky Mountain College at the event.

The Yellowjacket men’s golf team will also be participating in the event, after opening its season at the East-West Bay Area Invite two weeks ago in California. The men’s course will be set at 7,022 yards and will also be par-72. They will tee off at 7:26 a.m. Pacific on Friday morning.

The men’s side will feature nine teams competing, including MSUB.

MSUB’s golf teams pose at Coyote Springs Golf Club in Nevada during a practice round Wednesday.

--@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--