BILLINGS, Mont. – While snow continues to cover the ground in the Magic City, the Montana State University Billings men's and women's golf teams are off to Las Vegas to kick off their spring seasons with a pair of tournaments over the weekend.
 
The Minot State University Beaver Invitational will run Friday-Saturday at Aliante Golf Club, and the Winona State Warrior Invitational will follow next week on Tuesday and Wednesday at Stallion Mountain Golf Club. The men will play 36 holes on Friday and 18 on Saturday, while next week's event will be a two-round format with 18 holes played each day. The women are set to play 18 holes in each of their four rounds scheduled over the next week.
 
"These first two events will be important for us to take advantage and utilize our time outside," said MSUB head coach Jeff Allen. "Obviously it has been a tough winter here in Billings, so our teams are lacking the reps that you just can't simulate with our indoor practice setup. I am really looking for both teams to just focus on hitting quality golf shots, and to keep the ball in play."
 
The Aliante Golf Club features a par-72, 7,022-yard layout for the men, and a par-72, 6,117-yard layout for the women. Stallion Mountain will feature a similar setup, at par-72, 7,120-yards for the men and par-72, 6,027-yards for the women. "The courses in Vegas this time of year have some dormant grass still, so I expect the ball to roll out a lot more than the players are used to," Allen said. "It will be important for them to keep the ball in the fairway off the tee, so they can give themselves opportunities to hit greens. When we get down there, we will really focus on our wedge game, along with chipping and putting in the practice rounds. Those are the areas of the game that are the toughest to get back after a long break, yet they are the most important areas of the game." 

The golf teams will knock out half of their spring schedule this weekend, as two other tournaments are on the calendar before the 2019 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships at the Coeur d'Alene Resort in Idaho on April 22-23. MSUB is scheduled to host the Yellowjacket Spring Invitational on March 25-26 at Lake Hills Golf Club, and will also compete at the Western New Mexico University Mustang Invitational in Goodyear, Arizona, on April 5-6 at Palm Valley Golf Club.
 
"Our goal is to be playing our best golf of the year by the time we get to the conference tournament," Allen said. "We have a lot of great opportunity with the GNAC now having automatic bids to regionals for both team and individual champions. We have a lot of talent on both teams, and our players have been working really hard in our indoor practice area as well as in the weight room. It is important that we strive to get better every day and just focus on the golf that is right in front of us each day."
 
The MSUB women completed 10 rounds of play during the 2018 fall season, and are currently in fourth place in the GNAC with a team scoring average of 320.8 strokes per round. The highlight of the Yellowjackets' season thus far was claiming the team title at the Saint Martin's University Invitational on October 6, among a field of eight teams including five from the conference. The Yellowjackets shot a collective score of 640 (329-311), which was enough to edge second-place Simon Fraser University by 14 strokes.
 
Senior Shealyn Hafer was the runner-up at the event, as she posted a two-round score of 156 (79-77). The Butte native is leading MSUB so far this season, with a scoring average of 79.4 strokes per round which is ninth in the conference.
 
Fellow senior Sarah Schroefel and sophomore Renae Heisler are two more golfers who each played all 10 rounds of the fall season, and will be expected to be key contributors in the championship portion of the schedule. Heisler shot a score of 80.9 over her 10 fall rounds, which was third-best on the team. Schroefel meanwhile checked in at 85.0 strokes per round and notched one top-10 finish.
 
Freshmen Tierney Messmer and Kinsey Irvin burst onto the scene in their collegiate debut, as they each also competed in every round for the 'Jackets in the fall. Messmer is close behind Hafer with a scoring average of 80.6 strokes per round, and she had a pair of top-5 finishes among her first five events. Irvin meanwhile carries a scoring average of 81.0 strokes per round, and shot a personal best of 77 during the fall.
 
Sophomore Sydney Rochford had a much-improved fall season, as she checked in fifth on the team with a scoring average of 84.0 strokes per round. Freshmen Jalen Wagner and Kylee Knobloch also competed for MSUB, each seeing time in a pair of events and four total rounds. 

On the men's side, MSUB played in 15 rounds during the fall and posted a team scoring average of 302.1 strokes per round to rank fifth in the conference. The 'Jackets took third place at their fall invitational tournament, with a score of 18-over-par 882 over the three-round event.
 
Sophomore Caleb Trost is the team's leader this year, with a scoring average of 74.5 strokes per round. Trost made par or better in four of his 15 rounds, including a season-best score of 70 at the Yellowjacket Fall Invitational.
 
Junior Garrett Woodin is second on the team with a scoring average of 74.7, and he competed in all 15 rounds during the fall. Woodin had a season-low score of 71 at the Yellowjacket Fall Invitational, and, like Trost, made par or better in four of his rounds.
 
Newcomer Payton Stott is third on the team at 76.4 strokes per round, and he played in a dozen total rounds in his MSUB debut after transferring from Utah Valley University. Sophomore Riley Kaercher notched a scoring average of 78.4, and had the team's lowest single round of the year with a 68 at the Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bear Invitational October 1-2.
 
Sophomore Logan Martin rounds out the field of five competitors for the 'Jackets, after competing in all 15 rounds and posting a stroke average of 79.7 in his first fall with the Yellowjackets.
 
"I am excited to see the improvements that our players have made this offseason," Allen said. "I feel that everyone on both teams has gained a lot of knowledge and control of their golf swing during our offseason. We have a talented bunch of players, and it is my job to get the best out of each one of them."
 
Allen began the year as associate head coach, and was elevated to the permanent head coach of both men's and women's programs on February 25. He replaced Kevin Woodin, MSUB's women's basketball head coach, who had been coaching both men's and women's teams since 2016.