COEUR d'ALENE, Idaho – Each finishing strong on the back-nine on Monday afternoon at the 2022 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships, Montana State University Billings seniors Kinsey Irvin and Tierney Messmer highlighted opening-round play.
 
Irvin shot a 78 on the par-71, 5,707-yard course, while Messmer was close behind with a 79 as the duo sits in ninth and 12th place, respectively among the field of 25 players. "It's really awesome to be back at the Coeur d'Alene Resort, and there is no better course than this one so we are really happy to be here," said Irvin. "It is bittersweet with it being senior year, but the weather turned out to be better than we expected and it sounds like everyone played pretty good."
 
As a team the Yellowjackets shot a score of 326, and are in fourth place among the five teams competing at the conference event. "The women's team came in today with a nice 326, which is much lower than our season average," said MSUB head coach Adam Buie. "Kinsey and Tierney led the way for us today, and they both played excellent today. Those two are just a few shots back, and are both in the hunt with a good chance tomorrow."
 
Irvin overcame a bumpy start to the tournament, and shot at just 1-over-par over the final 13 holes of her first round. Her lone birdie came on the par-3, 106-yard third hole. "I hit gap wedge off the tee and ended up a little bit short, but I like to putt from off the greens anyways," Irvin said on her birdie. "That kind of got my momentum rolling."
 
Irvin's back-nine featured few mistakes, as she made 12 consecutive pars on her way to a strong finish. Her methodical play was highlighted by a 150-yard approach shot on the par-5, 448-yard 15th hole, before a sound 2-putt for par. She followed that immediately with another tee shot to the center of the fairway on the par-4, 383-yard 16th hole, before an easy tap-in par. "I hit almost every fairway on the back-nine, and the two times I didn't hit a fairway I made a long putt for par," said Irvin on her strong finish. "It was good to be back in that rhythm, I was hitting greens, and I didn't have to get up-and-down very many times. My driver off the tee helped for sure."
 
Messmer had just one mishap – coming on the par-5, 483-yard 11th hole – but other than that she had nothing worse than a bogey on her scorecard. Messmer closed her round with seven consecutive pars, and made 13 total on the day.
 
Senior Jalen Wagner is in a tie for 16th place, after shooting an 83 in her first round at the CDA Resort Course. Wagner's round was highlighted by a birdie on the par-4, 345-yard seventh hole, and she made eight pars as well on Monday.
 
True freshman Meilyn Armstrong is tied for 21st place after shooting an 86, with her lone birdie coming on the par-4, 291-yard 13th hole. Also competing for the Yellowjackets was sophomore Brennan Larson, who shot a 93 and is in 24th place.
 
Natasha Kozlowski of Simon Fraser University is atop the individual leaderboard, after carding a 75 to hold a one-stroke lead over three players who are tied for second. Simon Fraser leads the team standings by two strokes over Western Washington, with SFU shooting a 305 and WWU close behind with a 307.
 
THE BUZZ: Irvin was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day. "It is big, especially on the par-3s which are hard," Irvin commented on her experience playing the championship course as a freshman in the spring of 2019. "A little bit of course knowledge in the practice round helped too."

AHEAD: The tournament concludes on Tuesday morning with the second and final round set to tee off at 7:30 a.m. Live scoring will be available online here.
 
2022 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Golf Championships
Round 1 Results – April 18, 2022
Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course – Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Team – 1. Simon Fraser, 305; 4. MSU Billings, 326. Individuals – 1. Natasha Kozlowski, Simon Fraser, 75; T9. Kinsey Irvin, MSUB, 78; T12. Tierney Messmer, MSUB, 79; T16. Jalen Wagner, MSUB, 83; T21. Meilyn Armstrong, MSUB, 86; 24. Brennan Larson, MSUB, 93.