The Wyoming Cowgirls women’s golf team finished the opening round of the Mountain West Women’s Golf Championships in sixth place after shooting a combined score of 299 (+11) on Tuesday, April 21. The tournament is being held at Mission Hills Country Club’s Dinah Shore Tournament Course.
The event is significant as it brings together top collegiate teams to compete for the conference title over three rounds. The standings after the first day set the stage for a competitive remainder of the championship.
Freshman Kiley Reisner led Wyoming with an even-par 72, tying her for sixth individually following her recent win at last week’s Bobcat Desert Classic. Junior Elle Higgins posted a score of +1 and senior Meghan Vogt finished at +4; both are competing despite injuries and are tied for 12th and 28th place, respectively. Sophomores Kira Reisner (+6) and Emerson Purcell (+7) also contributed to Wyoming’s total.
“Today was a positive start and we put ourselves in good position with 36 holes to go,” said UW head coach Josey Stender. “We had some squirrely moments off the tee and on the greens, but I was very proud of their resilence to score.” Stender also commented on individual performances: “Elle was as steady as ever today and played mentally tough. Meg played scrappy and fought hard while Kiley I know would love to have a few putts back,” she said. “Overall, I’m very pleased with our result and we will continue to stick to our process as the tournament goes on.”
Atop the individual leaderboard are Grand Canyon’s Alexis Vakasiuola and Colorado State’s Kara Kaneshiro, each carding a four-under-par 68. San Jose State and Colorado State share first place in team scoring at +3, just ahead of UNLV—the defending champion—and Grand Canyon University.
The Cowgirls will play their second round alongside Nevada and San Diego State between 11:10 a.m. and 11:50 a.m. Wednesday.
