PORTLAND, Ore. – Senior Shealyn Hafer notched a personal best score of 73 in the opening round of the Winona State Warrior Invitational last week in Las Vegas, which was good enough to earn the Montana State University Billings women's golfer the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week award announced by the conference office Monday.
 
Hafer had a tournament-high six birdies during her best-ever collegiate round, as she was 1-over-par on the par-72 5,929-yard Stallion Mountain Golf Course. "It is great to see Shea recognized for her solid performance," said MSUB head coach Jeff Allen. "Shooting a career low in her third round of the spring shows how hard she worked on her game during the winter. She will continue to get better this spring and I am excited for her in her senior season."
 
Hafer shook off a slow start to her round, as she bogeyed two of her first four holes of the day. The senior peaked around the turn, as she carded three straight birdies on holes nine-through 11 and played holes nine-through-14 at 4-under par. "I didn't start well, but I kept my composure and really came back on my back-nine," Hafer said after her round. "I struggled off the tee, but Jeff has been working with us on the greens a lot and I feel like that paid off today."
 
Hafer saved the most strokes around the greens, needing just one putt on 11 of her 18 holes. She played the four par-3 holes at 1-under par, and the four par-5 holes at even-par as well. 
 
It was the best individual round by a Yellowjacket player this season, and Hafer bettered her top mark of 75 which she had achieved on two prior occasions. The two-time all-conference selection leads the Yellowjackets with a scoring average of 80.2 strokes per round in 2018-19.
 
This is the first-career GNAC Player of the Week honor for Hafer, and the first of the 2018-19 season for the Yellowjacket women. MSUB is next in action at the Western New Mexico University Mustang Invitational, scheduled for April 5-6 at Palm Valley Golf Club in Goodyear, Arizona.