Utah Tech finished in third place at the Montana State Bobcat Desert Classic, which concluded on April 15 at The Golf Club of Estrella in Goodyear, Arizona. Junior Samantha Phelan tied for runner-up honors, helping the Trailblazers achieve their best spring season finish.
This result marks Utah Tech’s fourth top-five finish in nine team events this season. The team started with a 9-over-par round of 297 on Monday to stand in sixth place but improved significantly with a second-round score of 1-under-par 289, moving into a tie for third. On Wednesday, Utah Tech posted another strong performance with a team score of 4-over-par 292, securing its position among the top three teams with a final tally of plus-14 (878).
Seattle University led throughout the final day and won the tournament by three strokes over host Montana State. Seattle finished at plus-9 (873), while Montana State ended at plus-12 (876).
Phelan contributed to Utah Tech’s rally by shooting a bogey-free round of 3-under-par 69 in round two after opening with a score of 74. She closed out her tournament with a final-round score of 71 and totaled nine birdies across all rounds to finish tied for second place at minus-2 (214). This was Phelan’s best collegiate result so far and marked her sixth career top-five and ninth career top-10 finish.
Sophomore Maria Purroy Galan also performed well, leading the team with ten birdies over three rounds and finishing tied for twelfth place at plus-5 (221). Senior Jane Olson was tied for eighth after an even par first round but ultimately finished tied for thirtieth after subsequent rounds. Junior Mia Cesarek improved over her last two rounds to take thirty-sixth place, while redshirt freshman Gabrielle Roznicki rebounded from an opening round to tie for thirty-eighth overall.
Freshman Coryn Tardiff competed as an individual and finished tied for fifty-ninth.
Looking ahead, Utah Tech will compete in its first conference title event as it travels to Texas next week for the Western Athletic Conference Women’s Golf Championships.
