The Dixie State women’s golf team teed off in the BYU Entrada Classic, an invitational tournament in which the Storm were the only Division II invited.
The Entrada Classic is an annual event hosted by Brigham Young University usually, open exclusively to high-ranking Division I programs. This year, a new competitor arose. On Monday, DSU became the first DII program to compete in the classic.
The field was also full of traditional national powerhouses like BYU, University of Minnesota, University of California, University of Wisconsin, Iowa University and numerous more. Cal would go on to win the tournament by shooting eight strokes under par and BYU finished in second.
Prior to the Entrada Classic, DSU had placed in the top 10 in every tournament so far this season.
With all these larger institutions, DSU was understandably outmatched. Out of the 16 teams at the event, DSU finished last. That is something that head coach Rachel Harmon, who played at BYU, said she isn’t worried about.
“We weren’t really expecting to be one of the top teams in this one,” Harmon said. “It was a really good learning experience for us. It was great to get into the swing of things.”
Although the team wasn’t expected to win, there were some glaring bright spots. Senior Haley Dunn shot an even-par 72 on the first day, and junior Brittney Bisgrove finished with an 81.
Junior Shelby Madden led the way for the Storm, finishing with rounds of 79 and 82, respectively. Madden, a criminology major from Iroquois Falls, Ontario Canada, said the tough course played a part in the team’s struggles.
“It’s a tough course,” Madden said. “Three holes in particular gave us problems as a team, but other than that, I was happy with our play. Just being in that tournament with all the DI teams is an accomplishment for a third-year program like ours.”
The team will head to Rohnert Park, California, on Monday to take on Sonoma State University in a two-day match. The contest with SSU will be the last of the regular season, before preparing for the Pacific West Conference tournament. The PacWest tournament will be held right here in St. George, at Sunbrook Golf Course.
