12th
COLLEGE STATION -- Behind strong final-round performances from Newren sisters Rachel and Nicole, the BYU women's golf team took 12th place Tuesday at the Texas A&M Mo-morial Invitational.
Freshman Rachel Newren, despite being under the weather and saddened by a death in the family, shot a 75 on the last 18 holes. Newren's sister, Nicole, tallied a 77, scores that were good enough for 34th and 38th respectively in the individual player rankings.
BYU head coach Sue Nyhus said she was proud of her team, but sees room for improvement.
"We had a lot of good moments out there," she said. "We're still not putting it all together, but there are signs of some great things to come.
The Cougars, who scored 318-309-310--937 in the two-day event, fell behind in the first round Monday and played catch-up thereafter, finishing four strokes behind UTEP (313-303-317--933). Kansas State (292-313-304--909) won the Invitational by shooting 1-under-par on a playoff hole, breaking a tie with Missouri (298-304-307--909) for the top spot.
"The first round put us behind," Nyhus said. "If it weren't for that, we would have been right there."
Alexis Edwards (80-80-78--238), Margaret Gibby (79-75-85--239), and Natalie Newren (84-78-80--242) rounded out the rest of the Cougars' five. Kansas State's Christine Boucher (70-77-72--219) was the tournament's top individual, shooting just 3-over-par overall.
Gibby, whose second-round score of 75 tied Rachel Newren for BYU's low, said that mental toughness is the key.
"After starting out poorly on the first round I was determined to focus," Gibby said. "I had a game plan for each hole."
BYU finished 14th at the Mo-morial in 2003. Last year's champion, Baylor, took ninth place on Tuesday.
The Cougars are back in action March 8-9 at the Bobcat Desert Classic in Goodyear, Ariz. BYU's trio of Newren sisters left the team after Tuesday's play to attend a funeral, but will rejoin the team in time for next week's tournament.
Texas A&M Mo-morial College Station, TexasMarch 1-2, 2004 Blackhorse Golf Club
Par: 72 Yardage: 6,100
12 BYU 318-309-310--937 (+73)
T 34 Rachel Newren 82-76-75--233 (+17)
T 38 Nicole Newren-Chandler 77-80-77--234 (+18)
T 59 Alexis Edwards 80-80-78--238 (+22)
T 61 Margaret Gibby 79-75-85--239 (+23)
T 72 Natalie Newren 84-78-80--242 (+26)
Fin. Top 20 Teams Score
T 1 Kansas State Univ. 292-313-304--909
T 1 Missouri, U. of 298-304-307--909
3 TCU 307-308-297--912
T 4 Texas A&M University 303-305-306--914
T 4 Arkansas, U. of 311-295-308--914
6 Indiana University 299-305-311--915
T 7 Northwestern Univ. 303-304-309--916
T 7 Kansas, U. of 302-302-312--916
9 Baylor 303-309-309--921
10 Southern Methodist 310-302-312--924
11 Texas El Paso, U. of 313-303-317--933
12 Brigham Young Univ. 318-309-310--937
13 Wisconsin, U. of 317-316-307--940
14 Arkansas-Little Rock 317-304-320--941
15 Texas Tech Univ 319-302-322--943
16 McLennan CC 334-336-345--1015
Fin. Top 20 Players School Score
1 Christine Boucher Kansas State Univ. 70-77-72--219
T 2 Amanda Costner Kansas, U. of 72-74-75--221
T 2 Maria Ohlsson Missouri, U. of 75-74-72--221
T 4 Malinda Johnson Wisconsin, U. of 74-77-71--222
T 4 Alice Kim Northwestern Univ. 76-72-74--222
T 6 Karen Dennison Indiana University 72-73-78--223
T 6 Brooke Tull TCU 78-75-70--223
8 Amanda McCurdy Arkansas, U. of 76-72-76--224
T 9 Josefin Svenningsson Baylor 73-77-75--225
T 10 Camille Blackerby TCU 77-76-73--226
T 10 Gena Johnson Arkansas, U. of 77-72-77--226
T 10 Denise Knaebel Missouri, U. of 72-77-77--226
T 13 Missy Ryan Southern Methodist 76-76-75--227
T 13 Christa Spedding Texas A&M University 74-76-77--227
T 15 Danah Ford Indiana University 77-76-75--228
T 15 Anne Mallory Texas El Paso, U. of 77-75-76--228
T 15 Kelli McKandless Baylor 75-77-76--228
T 15 Karen Quintelier Kansas State Univ. 71-79-78--228
T 19 Nicole Melton Texas A&M University 77-76-76--229
T 19 Molly Redfearn Indiana University 76-76-77--229
T 19 Linda Svensson Arkansas-Little Rock 78-75-76--229
COLLEGE STATION -- The BYU women's golf team sat in 14th place Monday after the first two rounds of competition at the Texas A&M Mo-morial Invitational.
BYU head coach Sue Nyhus, whose Cougars shot 51 over par at 627, said she liked what she saw Monday, but expects her team to make better decisions and play with more confidence during Tuesday's final round.
"A lot of good things happened," Nyhus said. "But, we're better than we shot today."
The Cougars were paced by junior Margaret Gibby, who is tied for 35th in the individual rankings after shooting 154 through 36 holes. Gibby led the team with a low average of 76.7 during the fall season.
"Gibby birdied the last hole on both rounds," Nyhus said. "I was proud of the way she pulled it together at the end."
Gibby was followed by senior Nicole Newren-Chandler, who shot 13 over par at 157. Newren's sister, Rachel, came in one stroke behind at 158. Freshman Alexis Edwards tallied a 160 and the third Newren sister, Natalie, scored a 162.
The top individual after 36 holes was Indiana's Karen Dennison, who shot a 1-over-par 145. Missouri was holding onto the top spot Monday, shooting a 26-over-par 602.
The 11th annual Texas A&M Mo-morial is held at the Blackhorse Golf Club, which boasts a 6,100-yard, par-72 course. The competition consists of nine top-50 clubs out of a field of 16 squads. BYU is currently ranked No. 61 in the nation by golfweek.com.
The complete field includes the following schools: Arkansas (27), Missouri (29), Texas A&M (34), TCU (35), Baylor (36), Kansas State (37), Northwestern (38), Texas Teach (40), Indiana (49), SMU (67), Kansas (74), Arkansas-LR (79), UTEP (88), and Louisville (104).
BYU took a 14th place finish at the Mo-morial in 2003 while Baylor won the tournament. The Cougars finished 10th in their last outing, the Bay Area Classic in February.
The Cougars will tee off at 8 a.m. Tuesday for the final 18 holes.
Texas A&M Mo-morial InvitationalBlackhorse Golf Club College Station, Texas
Dates: 03/01 - 03/02 (Today: 03/01/2004)
Par: 72 Yardage: 6100
BYU Individual/Team Scores
T 35 Margaret Gibby 79-75--154 (+10)
T 53 Nicole Newren-Chandler 77-80--157 (+13)
T 58 Rachel Newren 82-76--158 (+14)
T 66 Alexis Edwards 80-80--160 (+16)
T 71 Natalie Newren 84-78--162 (+18)
14 BYU Totals 318-309--627 (+51)
Fin. Top 20 Players School Scores
1 Karen Dennison Indiana University 72-73--145
2 Amanda Costner Kansas, U. of 72-74--146
3 Christine Boucher Kansas State Univ. 70-77--147
T 4 Alice Kim Northwestern Univ. 76-72--148
T 4 Amanda McCurdy Arkansas, U. of 76-72--148
T 6 Gena Johnson Arkansas, U. of 77-72--149
T 6 Denise Knaebel Missouri, U. of 72-77--149
T 6 Maria Ohlsson Missouri, U. of 75-74--149
T 9 Karen Quintelier Kansas State Univ. 71-79--150
T 9 Christa Spedding Texas A&M University 74-76--150
T 9 Josefin Svenningsson Baylor 73-77--150
T 9 Maria Svensson Arkansas-Little Rock 79-71--150
T 13 Stacey Bieber TCU 73-78--151
T 13 Malinda Johnson Wisconsin, U. of 74-77--151
T 15 Mindy Bullard Missouri, U. of 76-76--152
T 15 Kim Kolb Texas Tech Univ. 78-74--152
T 15 Anne Mallory Texas El Paso, U. of 77-75--152
T 15 Kelli McKandless Baylor 75-77--152
T 15 Chelsey Pryor Kansas, U. of 76-76--152
T 15 Molly Redfearn Indiana University 76-76--152
T 15 Kelly Robb Northwestern Univ. 73-79--152
T 15 Missy Ryan Southern Methodist 76-76--152
T 15 Kelli Strubinger Missouri, U. of 75-77--152
T 15 Amy Young Texas El Paso, U. of 76-76--152
Fin. Top 20 Teams Scores
1 Missouri, U. of 298-304--602
T 2 Indiana University 299-305--604
T 2 Kansas, U. of 302-302--604
4 Kansas State Univ. 292-313--605
5 Arkansas, U. of 311-295--606
6 Northwestern Univ. 303-304--607
7 Texas A&M University 303-305--608
T 8 Southern Methodist 310-302--612
T 8 Baylor 303-309--612
10 TCU 307-308--615
11 Texas El Paso, U. of 313-303--616
T 12 Texas Tech Univ 319-302--621
T 12 Arkansas-Little Rock 317-304--621
14 Brigham Young Univ. 318-309--627
15 Wisconsin, U. of 317-316--633
16 McLennan CC 334-336--670
