Cougars tee-off the Dick McGuire Invit'l with a slow start

ALBUQUERQUE -- The Cougars struggled in today's opening round of New Mexico's Dick McGuire Invitational shooting a 319 and putting themselves in 16th position out of 19 teams.

Not only is the field stacked with top-20 teams but also majority of these teams are only a shot apart from each other. New Mexico leads with a score of five-over-par, 297, and New Mexico State is only a shot behind at 298. Rachel Bailey of New Mexico State leads the tournament with 68.

"We are one of the more consistent teams out here," Nyhus said. "From tee to green, we out-played the teams we played with today, we just don't have all the scoring tools yet. Everyone had their own struggle today."

Sophomore Natalie Newren had a consistently strong round going at three-over-par and finished with a double-bogey on the 16th hole and a bogey on the 18th to shoot 78. Sophomore Margaret Gibby carded an 80 after being penalized 2 shots for hitting someone else's ball. Senior Jessica Gardner also carded an 80 and played strong with only two tough holes. Freshman Symantha Mendenhall battled the slick greens to shoot 81 while freshman Danielle von Arnim struggled with hitting fairways to shoot 82.

"Although we are in 16th, we are not far from the top-10," BYU head coach Sue Nyhus said.

BYU sits nine shots back from 10th position and still has two more days of play ahead of them to make up the gap. The Cougars tee-off the 10th tee at 8:30 a.m. on Friday.

"Tomorrow we are just need to get the ball in position and then we'll be able to score," Nyhus said. "I'm confident we will play well."

Fin. School Scores

1 New Mexico, U. of 297 +5

2 New Mexico State U. 298 +6

3 Washington, U. of 300 +8

4 Oklahoma, U. of 301 +9

5 Texas, Univ. of 303 +11

Tulsa, U. of 303 +11

7 Pepperdine Univ. 304 +12

8 TCU 306 +14

9 UNLV 308 +16

10 Texas Tech Univ 310 +18

11 Texas A&M University 314 +22

12 Baylor University 316 +24

13 Texas El Paso, U. of 317 +25

Arizona State U. 317 +25

15 Colorado State Univ. 318 +26

16 Brigham Young Univ. 319 +27

17 Northern Arizona U. 323 +31

18 Wyoming, U. of 327 +35

19 San Diego State Univ 331 +39

16 Brigham Young Univ. 319

T 40 Natalie Newren 39- 39 78

T 52 Margaraet Gibby 42- 38 80

T 52 Jessica Gardner 39- 41 80

T 60 Symantha Mendenhall 40- 41 81

T 75 Danielle von Arnim 39- 43 82