Cougars Finish Just Shy of Top Ten

SANTA CLARITA -- BYU finished tied for 13th in the Pioneer Electronics Bruins Classic just five shots shy of a top 10 finish. The team improved its score each round shooting 321-316-312--949 after formulating a new game plan for the challenging Robinson Ranch G.C.

"This course is a target-golf course with difficult approach shots and greens that are not easy to read," said sophomore Margaret Gibby. "However, it was fun to play and probably my favorite golf course now."

Gibby played solid throughout the entire tournament and contributed to the team's improved score. She broke her 79-streak with a 76 in Wednesday's round to finish tied for 28th individually.

But Gibby wasn't the only one to contribute to the team's improved score. Junior Nicole Newren also lead the team with a 76 in the final round for an 82-81-76--239 total to finish tied for 52nd.

"The key to me scoring low on this course was playing safe the entire day and not taking risky shots," Newren said. "It was really windy, so I had to think carefully about every single shot and exactly how I need to play it. And it also helped that there were better pin placements today, too."

The low finisher on the team was freshman Catalina Guacaneme, who tied for 25th individually. Guacaneme had a little bit of a struggle in Wednesday's round but overall was pleased with her tournament performance.

Pepperdine won the Pioneer Classic by pulling ahead of Southern California by only two strokes. And Pepperdine's Katherine Hull tied with Southern California's Mikaela Parmlid for the individual championship both posting scores of three-over-par.

BYU's next event will be its home tournament, the Dixie Classic at Sunbrook C.C. in St. George on Apr. 7-8.

Fin. School Scores

1 Pepperdine Univ. 304 305 289 898 +34

2 Southern California 304 300 296 900 +36

3 Texas Tech Univ 315 305 297 917 +53

New Mexico, U. of 306 307 304 917 +53

5 California, U. of 296 315 307 918 +54

6 UCLA B TEAM 300 320 306 926 +62

7 UCLA 310 315 307 932 +68

8 New Mexico State U. 320 306 308 934 +70

9 Stanford University 310 322 312 944 +80

Oregon State U. 313 330 301 944 +80

Washington, U. of 313 318 313 944 +80

12 San Jose State Univ 316 308 322 946 +82

13 Washington State U. 310 324 315 949 +85

Brigham Young Univ. 321 316 312 949 +85

15 San Francisco, U. of 311 330 313 954 +90

16 UC - Irvine 330 316 325 971 +107

17 Oregon, U. of 324 329 320 973 +109

18 Long Beach State 323 333 319 975 +111

19 Portland State Univ. 331 327 335 993 +129

20 CSU-Northridge 327 325 343 995 +131

Fin. BYU Players Scores

25 Catalina Guacaneme 75 75 81 231 +15

28 Margaret Gibby 79 79 76 234 +18

52 Nicole Newren 82 81 76 239 +23

83 Natalie Newren 85 88 79 252 +36

88 Danielle von Arnim 88 81 88 257 +41