PORTLAND, Ore. – After collecting her first collegiate victory, Montana State University Billings senior Kinsey Irvin has been named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Golf Player of the Week announced by the conference office on Monday.
 
Irvin claimed the title at the South Dakota Mines Hardrocker Invitational last Tuesday, posting a career-best two-round score of 155 (79-76) to top the field of 45 competitors. "I am really proud of Kinsey and the work she put in this summer," said MSUB head coach Adam Buie. "I told her she had the talent to win and be first-team all-GNAC, and it is good to see her starting to fulfill her potential."
 
It was the Lewistown native's first collegiate victory, and was the 10th total in MSUB women's golf program history. The field of 45 competitors was tied for the fourth most among the Yellowjackets' 10 individual tournament wins, dating back to the program's inception during the 2001-02 season. "The key to playing well at this course is getting a good shot off the tee and hitting the correct spot on the green," Irvin commented after her victory last Tuesday. "I did both of those things better today than I did yesterday. Overall this was a good tournament for the 'Jackets."
 
Irvin sat in a tie for second place after the first day of the event, as she shot a 79 on the par-72, 5,876-yard Golf Club at Red Rock. Irvin followed by matching her career best with a 76 on Monday, shaving off three strokes and claiming the title by two strokes at the event.
 
It was the third time in Irvin's career she has matched her single-round low, and was the second time in two weeks she made that achievement. Her previous two-round best was a 157, which she attained in the team's opening event of the season at the Saint Martin's Invitational two weeks ago.
 
This is MSUB's first women's golf player of the week award this season and the first for the program since Avery Gill earned the honor last spring after tying for first place at the Hardrocker Invitational. Irvin and the Yellowjackets are currently in action at the RJGA Shootout at Estrella, running Monday and Tuesday at Golf Club of Estrella in Goodyear, Ariz. Live scoring for this week's tournament is available online here.