Cougars Play Solid Opening Round at NCAA West Regionals

TEMPE -- Entering the event as the second lowest ranked team in the field, BYU shot a team total of 310 in the first round of the NCAA Women's Golf West Regional and is just four shots off the pace to qualify for the national championships. The Cougars are in 18th place in the 24-team field that features 15 of the nation's top 25 teams, including seven of the top 10. Thirteen teams qualify for nationals.

"I am pleased with where we are -- we played some solid golf today," said BYU coach Gary Howard, whose team is ranked 48th in the country. "We have a very young team and today we handled the tough conditions as well as we have all year. We showed good patience and maturity."

Wind was a big factor all day as players were forced to alter their club selections by as many as three clubs. "Things were tough out there," said BYU sophomore Carrie Summerhays, who is tied for 22nd individually, shooting a 3-over-par 75 on the 6,131-yard ASU Karsten Golf Course. "You couldn't stop the ball when it was down wind."

During her team-best round, Summerhays recorded 13 pars and one birdie while suffering just four bogeys. BYU's other scores included Summer Pierce (39-38--77), Adrianne Gibby (38-40--78), Jessica Gardner (36-44--80) and Nicole Parry (44-40--84). Parry's scored did not count towards the team total.

One of the day's most exciting shots came from BYU's Gibby. Forced to hit 3-wood into the par-3 sixth hole because of the wind-altered distance of 215 yards, Gibby left her tee shot some 90 yards short of the hole in front of the green before knocking in the long birdie chip with her 7-iron. "You had to be able to chip well with the wind," Gibby said. "The only way to score was to get up and down."

No. 17 Tulsa has the first-round lead at 294, followed by top-ranked Arizona at 296 and No. 7 Stanford at 297. Fifth-rated Texas and No. 27 Nebraska are tied for fourth at 298. Mountain West Conference Champion New Mexico, ranked 16th nationally, is in 22nd place at 318, eight strokes behind BYU.

Individually, Tulsa's Maiko Sanda and Stacy Prammanasudh share the first-round lead with 2-under-par 70s while host Arizona State's Miriam Nagl and TCU's Angela Stanford each shot 71.

After playing in the afternoon Thursday, BYU tees off in the morning Friday. The final round will be played Saturday.

Team Scores
1. Tulsa               294
2. Arizona             296
3. Stanford            297
T4 Texas               298
   Nebraska            298
6. Arizona State       299
T7.New Mexico State    301
   Oklahoma            301
9. Pepperdine          302
T10.San Jose State     303
    Oregon             303
12. TCU                305
13. Texas Tech         306
T14 Oklahoma State     307
    UCLA               307
16. USC                308
17. Baylor             309
18. BYU                310
19. Missouri           314
20. California         315
21. Washington State   317
22. New Mexico         318
23. Oregon State       320
24. Washington         321
BYU Scores
Carrie Summerhays     36-39--75
Summer Pierce         39-38--77
Adrianne Gibby        38-40--78
Jessica Gardner       36-44--80
Nicole Parry          44-40--84