PHOENIX, Ariz. — Buoyed by a miraculous final round charge that led to an individual victory for Lauren Greeny, the Montana State golf team closed out the GCU Invitational in style on Wednesday, placing third after a sun-splashed week at GCU Golf Course in Phoenix, Arizona. 

Greeny, a junior from Pullman, Washington, was tied for ninth and trailed by four strokes entering Wednesday’s final 18 holes, but turned in one of the more incredible rounds ever by a Bobcat to force a playoff and then win the individual title. 

“Last night when I looked at the leaderboard and saw I was four shots back from the lead I sort of just said ‘well it’s now or never’ so I might as well just play my game and see where it ends up,” Greeny said. 

Where that ended up was a 6-under par round of 66 to tie her own school record, getting a birdie on the last hole to force a playoff, where she won on the third hole after carding birdies on each of the first two playoff holes. 

“I was not able to steady the nerves,” Greeny said with a laugh of her putt to force the playoff. “I was definitely shaking on that last putt but I think deep breaths, focusing on my stroke, and concentrating end-over-end on the putt helped me watch it go in the hole.” 

It’s the second career victory for Greeny, who won the Eagle Invitational in September, and makes the junior just the fifth Bobcat in program history with multiple wins. 

Greeny shot 6-under par for the tournament, carding 74-70-66 (210) to win—the sixth-lowest 54-hole tournament score in school history. 

“Greeny was a birdie machine and kept great poise all day,” Basye said. “She scrambled but made good approaches and dropped putts.” 

The clutch performance included five birdies over a stretch of seven holes, plus two more birdies in the playoff against GCU’s Calynne Rosholt, who was playing on her home course. 

“My approach shots and putter were really working,” Greeny said of the hot stretch. “I was getting anywhere between five and 20 feet on my approaches and then I was making the putts.” 

Three of the Cats’ last four stroke play tournaments have had a Bobcat individual take the title: the Eagle Invitational (Lauren Greeny, 9/23/24), Diane Thomason Invite (Becca Tschetter, 10/1/24), and now the GCU Invitational (Lauren Greeny, 2/26/25). 

The superhuman effort helped carry Montana State to a spectacular close as a team on Wednesday, with the Cats placing third while shooting 13-over par 295-293-289 (857). 

The team round of 289 was tied for the 11th-best round in program history, with the 54-hole total of 857 the new second-best tournament score in program history. 

“I’m super proud of our team finish today,” head coach Brittany Basye said. “We knew we would need to play some great golf to jump a few spots, and they did. The last few holes we needed some strokes to take over third place. We had Scarlet Weidig go eagle-birdie then Hannah Boraas got a birdie, Greeny birdie-birdie, and Becca got a par. It was very fun to watch our finish.  We talk about the last few holes and being in it till the end. They did that today.” 

Montana State slotted in behind only tournament host Grand Canyon and UC Irvine while placing well in front of Northern Arizona (886), UTEP (888), and UC Riverside (900) as the next closest on the leaderboard. 

It’s the third straight top-three finish at a stroke play tournament for the Cats dating back to the end of the fall season. 

Returning to her former home course where she spent four seasons as a Lope at GCU, Becca Tschetter individually earned a top-ten finish tying for eighth, carding a 1-over par 72-70-75 (217). 

Scarlet Weidig tied for 28th thanks to a big closing effort, shooting 73 on Wednesday to finish 8-over par 74-77-73 (224). 

Hannah Boraas tied for 40th shooting 77-76-75 (228) to help steady the ship. 

“Each round we will keep improving and set individual and team goals,” Basye said. “They each had their own wins this tournament, and I’m proud of them all.” 

UP NEXT 

Montana State next heads to St. George, Utah, for the Pizza Hut Lady Thunderbird on March 7-9. 

The 54-hole stroke play tournament is hosted by Southern Utah at Sunbrook Golf Course. 

#GoCatsGo