Dickinson, N.D.- The Montana Tech women's golf team has won the Dickinson State University Spring Invitational. After the opening round at Heart River GCS the Orediggers led by a single stroke over Jamestown University (A). By the end of the second round, they were able to push that lead out to seven strokes, for the program's first team win in a full tournament.  

"Today was really special for our program. It's a far cry from when I took over and we had four girls playing on the team. We did a great job of overcoming tough conditions again and some bad breaks early. it was very stressful to watch and see us build a lead, lose that lead and then close it out over the last four or five holes." Coach Sean Ryan.

Individually the Orediggers had four golfers finish in the top 10, and every golfer landed in the top 20. Emma Woods finished +10 on the day, and +19 for the tournament, which landed her in 4^th place overall, just ahead of teammate Franchi Ceartin, who led after day one at +7, she finished the two-day tournament in 6th at +23. Sami Benson jumped up to 8^th place, shaving 7 strokes off of her day one score to finish at +29. Annika Brocklebank finished 10^th at +32. Cierra Sundheim and fellow Oredigger Samantha Moore tied for 11^th, Kodie Hoagland finished 13^th, and Hayden Pride finished in 19^th.
Seven of the eight Orediggers playing, dropped strokes from the first round to the second.

"I'm very proud of our ladies for buckling down, playing under pressure, and making smart decisions down the stretch. Smart golf isn't always fun, but it can win you golf tournaments, and it did today."

The Oredigger men finished in the tournament in 4^th place overall. Finishing the opening round at +41, they shaved 18 strokes off that total in round two but were still unable to climb up the leaderboard.  Jamestown (A) won the event, finishing at +38. Dickinson State (A) wrapped up second place at +51, and Jamestown (B) placed third at +61, three strokes ahead of the Oredigger men.

"Our men did a good job today and were able to show some promise and some improvement. We had a couple really good performances stand out, and I like the way that we finished."

The Oredigger men finished with two golfers in the top 10, Tyler Avery in a tie for 5^th at +12, and Jhett Bradley in 7^th who finished at +14. Gabe Witham and Joe McGreevey were both in an 11th-place logjam at +17. Joe Opitz finished in 20^th, JR Small in 31^st, and Trey Mattson in 32^nd.

"It's spring golf but it should give us some confidence going to the conference championship in two weeks."
 
Full women's results can be viewed HERE. 

Full men's results can be viewed HERE.