BILLINGS, Mont. – Klara Kleinig shot even-par 72 and holds a solo lead on top of the individual leaderboard after 36 of 54 holes at the Yellowjacket Fall Invitational, hosted by Montana State Billings at the Lake Hills Golf Course.
Kleinig, one of three golfers in the 37-golfer field to shoot par or better, moved up one slot from the second-place position that she occupied after a Sunday 74 in round one. At 2-over-par through 36 holes, Kleinig holds a one-stroke lead over MSUB's Pygmy Kompoj in second place and a two-stroke lead over South Dakota Mines's Kenzie Schroeder, the round one clubhouse leader, and another MSUB golfer in Ella Tannenberger.
In her round, Kleinig shot three birdies (on the par-4 No. 1, par-5 No. 9 and par-4 No. 12) to go with 12 pars and three bogeys. Kleinig ended up 1-under on the front nine and 1-over on the back nine. Kleinig's 25 pars across two days are tied for the most in the field, while her five birdies rank tied for third-highest among all competing golfers.
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While it will not go down as a final score, Kleinig's total of 146 through 36 holes is her career-best in that span by four strokes, besting her previous 36-hole low of 150/6-over-par at the EverSpring Inn & Suites Mustang Invite in 2024.
Chadron State is searching for its second consecutive individual medalist in this tournament. Sophomore Macy Kleve won last year's Yellowjacket Fall Invitational as a true freshman, when it was also held at Lake Hills but only a two-day, 36-hole event instead of this year's three-round version. Kleve is hanging around this year's leaderboard as well, carding a 4-over-par 76 after a day-one 80 to be tied for 10th at 12-over.
Lauren Knapp shot a round of 9-over-par 81 and is tied for 13th at 15-over 159. Maggie Teague was CSC's fourth scoring golfer on Monday, shooting an 85. Both Knapp and Teague had two birdies apiece during Monday's action.
On the strength of those four scores, Chadron State remains second in the team standings, but the Eagles will have to fend off a chasing pack to maintain that spot. There is a gap of 33 strokes between leaders Montana State Billings (593/17-over) and the Eagles (626/50-over), while Chadron State leads third-place MSU Denver by two strokes and fourth-place South Dakota Mines by seven strokes. Black Hills State and Spokane CC round out the standings.
Also competing for Chadron State on Monday were Brooklyn Tychsen, who shot an 86 on Monday and is in 22nd place, and Taegan Bach, who shot 95 on Monday and is in 31st place.
Tee times for round three were not yet available at publication.
