Albuquerque, N. M. --Senior golfers Carrie Summerhays and Lisa Dernick paced the Cougars to a fifth-place finish at 23rd Annual Comcast/Dick McGuire Invitational held Sept. 14-15 at the Uiversity of New Mexico Championship Golf Course.

In the 23-year history of UNM's Dick McGuire Invitational, BYU shot it's lowest 54-hole team total of 896 for this tournament thanks to solid performances by Adrianne Olsen and Nicole and Natalie Newren.

"That 896 is the best we have ever shot in this tournament by far," BYU head coach Sue Nyhus said. "The addition of Natalie (Newren) and the stepping up of Nicole (Newren) as well as the leadership of Carrie (Summerhays) and Lisa (Dernick) was the reason for our success in this tournament."

Dernick got the Cougars going on the right foot shooting a one-under-par 72 in the first round. She tied for 16th place along with teammate Carrie Summerhays (73-76-75). Natalie Newren, in her first collegiate tournament, finished strong with a final round 73. The 2001 Utah Amateur champion finished two shots behind Dernick and Summerhays in 19th place.

Because of BYU's balanced attack, they didn't have to count any scores over 78 during the tournament. This was a big step for the cougars who struggled last season because it consistently had to count 80+ scores.

"Our team is playing really steady golf," Nyhus said after her first official tournament as head coach of the Cougars. "I'll think you'll see this year's team break a lot of BYU records."

Host No. 25 New Mexico won its own tournament for the first time since 1986. The Lobos were the followed by nineth-ranked New Mexico State. The Cougars, currently unranked, finished ahead of No. 37 Texas A&M and No. 46 Texas Tech.

The tournament was held despite the absence of teams who chose to withdraw due to attack on America. Only eight of the 19 teams made the trip to Albuquerque. The Cougars next travel to Denver, Colorado to the University of Denver Fall Invitational on Sept 24-25.

BYU INDIVIDUAL SCORES
16. Carrie Summerhays	73-76-75--224
16. Lisa Dernick	72-77-75--224
19. Natalie Newren	78-75-73--226
33. Adrianne Olson	80-73-78--231
36. Nicole Newren	73-85 76--234
*Jessica Gardner BYU 80-78-80--238
*played as an individual
TEAM SCORES
Fin. School Scores
1 New Mexico	    294-283-298--875 -1
2 New Mexico State  297-287-296--880 +4
3 Oklahoma State    296-295-300--891 +15
4 Baylor            299-296-299--894 +18
5 Brigham Young     296-301-299--896 +20
6 Texas Tech        296-303-304--903 +27
7 Texas A&M         302-304-305--911 +35
8 Texas El Paso     311-303-311--925 +49

Provo, Utah (Sept. 12, 2001) -- The BYU women's golf team will tee-up Friday Sept. 14 for the first time this season at the 23rd Annual Comcast Dick McGuire Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M.

Sue Nyhus begins her career as the BYU head coach in the 36-hole shotgun start beginning at 8 a.m. The final round will be begin Saturday at 8 a.m.

The UNM Championship Course plays to a par-73 over 6,069 yards. BYU will compete against seven, possibly eight other teams. Nine of the 18 teams originally slated for the tournament have cancelled.

The tournament, originally scheduled for Sept. 13-15, was condensed to two days to allow visiting schools additional time to arrive.

Teams Participating:

BYU

Baylor

New Mexico

New Mexico State University

Oklahoma State

Texas A&M

Texas Tech

UTEP

Still Pending:

Texas

Teams Who Have Cancelled:

Arizona

Arizona State

Colorado State

Oklahoma

Pepperdine

San Diego State

TCU

Tulsa

UNLV