BYU Places 20th at Regionals, Summerhays Qualifies for NCAA Championship
TEMPE -- Firing a final-round 72 Saturday at the NCAA Women's Golf West Regional, BYU's Carrie Summerhays became one of three individual qualifiers for the upcoming NCAA Championship tournament. BYU turned in its best round of the regional being played at ASU Karsten Golf Course with a 4-over-par 300 to jump into 20th place at 922.
Top-ranked Arizona won the regional with a three-day total of 12-under-par 876. San Jose State (881) placed second, followed by top-10 finishers USC (888), Arizona State (889), TCU (892), Stanford (893), Oregon (895), Pepperdine (898), Texas (899), Tulsa (899), and Nebraska (899). The final two teams to qualify were Oklahoma ((900) and New Mexico State (901), who finished 12th and 13th respectively.
Arizona's Miriam Nagl took individual honors with a 7-under-par 209. Summerhays recorded a tournament total of 1-over-par 217 to place tied for sixth overall. The top three finishers on teams who did not qualify for nationals earned individual berths. Joining Summerhays as individuals were Maria Boden of Oklahoma State (213) and Kristen MacLaren of UTEP (218).
"I'm definitely excited about qualifying," Summerhays said. "I just tried to do my best and felt like if it happens, it happens. It wasn't my best score but I gave my best effort and it was good enough."
Summerhays made two birdies to offset a double-bogey on No. 13 to record the even-par 72 Saturday. She posted a first-round 75 followed by a second-round 70 Friday. "We thought it was a definite possibility coming into the regional that Carrie could qualify," BYU coach Gary Howard said. "It's a fitting finish for the player who has led our team all year long."
While Summerhays had BYU's best tournament, fellow sophomore Jessica Gardner turned in the Cougars' best round of the day with a 1-under-par 71, bouncing back from an 86 score the previous day. "I went out firing for the pins," Gardner said. "I had a lot of confidence and I was putting really well today."
Other final-round scores for BYU included Summer Pierce at 77 and Adrianne Gibby and Nicole Parry at 80. For the tournament, Gibby finished tied for 96th (235), followed closely by Pierce (tied for 99th at 236) and Gardner (tied for 103rd at 237). Parry placed tied for 123rd at 247.
"We played one of our finest rounds of the year today and were able to finish ahead of several teams with higher rankings," Howard said. "We have consistently moved up the rankings during the spring. We are a young team and this helps set the stage for next year. Carrie's experience at nationals is also something she will be able to bring back and share with the team."
Team ScoresArizona 296-284--296--876
San Jose State 303-286--292--881
USC 308-285-295--888
Arizona State 299-298-292--889
TCU 305-293-294--892
Stanford 297-297-299--893
Oregon 303-297-295--895
Pepperdine 302-293-303--898
Texas 298-304-297--899
Tulsa 294-305-300--899
Nebraska 298-302-299--899
Oklahoma 301-301-298--900
New Mexico State 301-297-303--901
Failed to Qualify
UCLA 307-298-300--906
Missouri 314-298-299--911
Oklahoma State 307-301-305--913
Washington 321-298-297--916
Texas Tech 306-307-305--918
Baylor 309-308-301--918
BYU 310-312-300--922
New Mexico 318-303-303--924
California 315-306-308--929
Washington State 317-312-306--935
Oregon State 320-304-314--938
BYU Scores
Carrie Summerhays 75-70-72--217
Adrianne Gibby 78-77-80--235
Summer Pierce 77-82-77--236
Jessica Gardner 80-86-71--237
Nicole Parry 84-83-80--247
