MSU-N golf teams tee off the season in Butte

The Montana State University-Northern men’s and women’s golf teams opened the 2016 Frontier Conference season, playing a tough golf course and facing some difficult weather conditions.

The Lights and Skylights were at the season-opening Montana Tech Invitational, which was held Monday through Tuesday at the Butte Country Club. The Lights finished with a team total of 983, which was seventh place overall. The Skylights placed sixth in the women’s tournament with a team total of 792. Lewis-Clark State swept the men’s and women’s team titles.

Individually, the Northern men were paced by sophomore Devin Bray’s tie for 23rd. Bray fired rounds of 78, 75 and 81 in the 54-hole tourney. Freshmen Jeff Miller and Jerod Boles finished 40th and 41st, respectively. Miller shot rounds of 83, 80 and 85, while Boles went 87, 79 and 83. Northern also got a 44th-place finish from Billy Miller and a 50th place by Mason McDunn, while Tyler Tharp played independently, finishing in 48th place.

On the women’s side, Diana Ball had a solid opening tournament for the Skylights, as she finished tied for 22nd. Ball shot rounds of 91 and 92, while freshman Summer Kennerly was also solid, shooting 93-98 to finish tied for 27th. Carrigan Jones shot 105-107 to finish 34th and Whitney Bahrns shot 110-104 to place 35th. Molly Kreycik rounded out the scoring for Northern, finishing in 58th place overall.

The Lights and Skylights will return to action Sept. 25-26 at the UGF Invitational in Great Falls. MSU-N will then round out the fall season with the Rocky Mountain College Invite Oct. 1-2 in Billings.