PROVO -- The BYU women's golf team heads to Sunriver, Ore. this week to battle for the Mountain West Conference Championship Thursday through Saturday, April 22-24.
BYU, ranked No. 56 this week by Golfweek.com, travels to Oregon on a hot streak, having placed fourth or better in its last three tournaments. The Cougars snatched fourth two weeks ago at the BYU Dixie Classic, second at the Anteater Invitational, and third at the Bobcat Desert Classic. Of the team's 10 tournaments this season, BYU has grabbed fifth place or better five times.
Leading BYU this season has been the steady play of junior Margaret Gibby, whose 77.3 stroke average is the lowest on the team. Gibby has turned in four top-20 finishes and has been the most consistent Cougar. Right behind Gibby are sisters Natalie and Rachel Newren, both of which have finished in the top 20 in each of BYU's last three tournaments and boast identical 78.3 stroke averages, second best on the team. The continued solid play of these three will be critical to the Cougars' success.
Rounding out BYU's team are Alexis Edwards and Nicole Newren-Chandler. The MWC tournament will be the first for Edwards, a freshman, and the last for Newren-Chandler, a senior.
The MWC Championship will be played at Sunriver Resort, a par-72 course measuring 5,851 yards. BYU will compete against a tough field of the following MWC teams, with their current national ranking in parenthesis: Colorado State (64), New Mexico (5), San Diego State (43), UNLV (20), and Wyoming (146).
In 2003, the tournament was dominated by champion New Mexico (316-280-294--890) and second-place UNLV (305-291-295--891). BYU (314-305-307--926) took fourth behind freshman Danielle von Arnim's 10th-place 77-72-80--229. New Mexico has won the MWC for four consecutive years.
The tournament will be played over three days, 18 holes per day. Competition will begin each day with a 10 a.m. tee time. Live stats will be available over the Internet at www.TheMWC.com on the golf championship link or at www.Golfstat.com.
Final Conference Matches
PROVO -- After tacking on two more wins over the weekend in a thrilling double header, the No. 73-ranked BYU men's tennis team continues conference play as it faces Utah, Air Force and No. 66 New Mexico in Salt Lake City April 15-17 respectively. All three matches will be hosted by the University of Utah and begin at 2:00 p.m. at the Canyon Racquet Club.
"We are really excited about the wins last week," head coach Brad Pearce said. "We feel ready for these three conference matches. The team has worked hard to get to this point."
Thursday's match-up will feature the 9-9 Utes of the University of Utah. The Utes are coming off a 6-0 loss to UNLV two weeks ago. Leading the Utes this year is Roeland Brateanu from Amsterdam, Netherlands, a college transfer from the University of Arizona. Against UNLV, Brateanu went three sets against No.77 Henner Nehles.
Air Force lost its third straight conference match on Sunday falling to No. 70 UNLV 4-2. the Falcons are 12-11 overall with wins over such teams as Northern Colorado, Northern Arizona and Montana.
On Saturday, the Cougars will face New Mexico. The BYU men's team is 2-1 in the last three seasons against the Lobos. Along with the Cougars, New Mexico clinched the conference championship in 2003.
"These are important matches for us," Pearce said. "All of our conference matches are tough this season. We can't look past anybody."
