PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State women's golf program will get a good early peek at the competition within the Big Sky Conference next week, as the Vikings travel to conference-rival Montana for the Sun Mountain Intercollegiate.
 
The Vikings will be one of only four teams competing at the tournament, all of which will be from the Big Sky Conference. Besides the Vikings and host Montana, Eastern Washington and Idaho State will also compete at the tournament.
 
The Vikings have already faced off with Eastern Washington twice this season. They finished behind the Eagles at the Kalispel Invitational, which Eastern Washington hosted earlier this week, while they beat the Eagles at the Wolverine Invitational in their first tournament of the season.
 
Idaho State also competed at the Wolverine Invitational, finishing eight strokes ahead of the Vikings at 889 (298-301-290) to the Vikings' 897 (305-300-292).
 
Two different players have now led the Vikings at the team's opening two tournaments. Cynthia Valerie Ong posted a career-best tournament score of 211 (75-68-68) to lead the Vikings at the Wolverine Invitational. Her back-to-back four-under 68s in the second and third rounds tied her best single-round score in terms of distance to par. She also finished four-under with a 67 in the third round of the Big Sky Championships, a score that tied a program record.
 
Caithlyn Ong, Cynthia's sister, then led the Vikings at the Kalispel Invitational. Ong closed with a two-under par 70 while finishing the tournament at eight-over 224 (75-79-70). The third-round 70 marked the second straight week Ong has set an 18-hole career best. She initially set it with a one-under 71 at the Wolverine Invitational, which also came in the third round of the tournament. Her two-under round at the Kalispel Invitational was the first under-par round by a Viking in two years at the tournament, which takes place at the difficult Kalispel Golf and Country Club.
 
Like the Kalispel Invitational, the Vikings competed at the Sun Mountain Intercollegiate last year. They finished second out of six Big Sky teams. Weber State won the tournament at 880 (294-296-290) while the Vikings finished six shots back at 886 (294-297-295). That was the Vikings' best tournament score since the 2018 Big Sky Championship at the time. They'd shoot an 878 at the Jackrabbits Invitational later in the year.
 
It will be a new course this year for the Sun Mountain Intercollegiate. The Vikings and other teams will compete at the Missoula Country Club this season, after competing a The Ranch Club last season. The Missoula Country Club will be the first par 71 course of the season for the Vikings.
 
The Vikings will size up the new course with a practice round Sunday. Then they'll size up the competition within the conference this season when play gets underway Monday.
 
TAP-INS

• HISTORY AT SUN MOUNTAIN INTERCOLLEGIATE: The Vikings closed their fall season at the Sun Mountain Intercollegiate last season. They placed second out of six teams at the tournament with a 54-hole score of 886 (294-297-295). Payten Shimizu led the Vikings with a fifth-place individual finish, carding a two-over 218 (74-70-74). Last year's tournament was held at The Ranch Club, however, while this year's tournament will be at the Missoula Country Club.
• LAST TIME OUT: Caithlyn Ong closed with a career-best two-under 70 to lead the Vikings at the Kalispel Invitational. Ong finished with an eight-over 224 (75-79-70) while placing 28th overall. Cynthia Valerie Ong had led the Vikings through two rounds, but finished tied for 47th with a 13-over 229 (74-73-82). The Vikings finished 13th out of 14 teams with a 54-hole team score of 931 (313-308-310).
• BIRDIES (SEASON TOTALS): Cynthia Valerie Ong: 22; Caithlyn Ong: 17; Maddie Dustin: 8; Momo Udom: 6; Francesca Tomp: 2.
• UNDER PAR ROUNDS: Cynthia Valerie Ong (season/career): 2/8; Caithlyn Ong (season/career): 2/2.
• UNDER PAR TOURNAMENTS: Cynthia Valerie Ong (season/career): 1/1.
• RANKINGS AT PORTLAND STATE: Career scoring average (average/rank): Cynthia Valerie Ong, 75.87/7th; Career under-par rounds (total/rank): Cynthia Valerie Ong, 8/6th; Career under-par tournaments (total/rank): Cynthia Valerie Ong, 1/T-6th; Career birdies (total/rank): Cynthia Valerie Ong, 130/10th.

 
SUN MOUNTAIN INTERCOLLEGIATE
Date: Sept. 28-29
Course: Missoula Country Club
Par/Yardage: 71/6,226 yards
Live scoring: https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/245145/scoring/participants
Play: Two rounds of 18 holes on Monday, one round of 18 holes Tuesday
Teams Competing (4): Montana, Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Portland State