10th
SAMMIMISH -- The BYU women's golf team battled the rain and wind Oct. 6-8 in the last two rounds of the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational to finish 10th of 17 teams. The Cougars had a great first round, but struggled towards the end of tournament behind host Washington and UNLV.
"It was a tough day for all of us," assistant coach Dave DeSantis said. "Although we struggled, the girls are still upbeat and are keeping a good attitude."
Junior Natalie Newren shot the best individual score for the Cougars with a seven-over-par and finished tied for 20th. She played consistently throughout the tournament and led BYU in fifth place after the first round with her younger sister Rachel.
"It was hard to judge where the ball would go because of the wind," Natalie Newren said. "But I think we still could of done better."
Freshman Alexis Edwards tied for 38th place, shooting 19-over-par and improving from her second-round score. Edwards shot six-over-par in the final round with two birdies in the front nine and one in the back nine.
Rachel Newren, the other freshman on the team, shot the lowest individual round for BYU at the tournament (72) and finished tied for 51.
"The conditions were a big factor because the weather was changing at each hole," said Rachel Newren. "
BYU faced a competitive field of Pac-10, WAC and MWC teams, including 2003 NCAA Champion USC and other schools such as Stanford, California, UCLA, Oregon State, Arizona and UNLV. The Cougars continue their season Oct. 20-21 at the Lady Aztec Invitational, hosted by San Diego State in Chula Vista, Calif.
Team Results1 Arizona 299-293-304-896 (+32)
2 California 285-306-308-899 (+35)
2 UCLA 297-295-307-899 (+35)
4 USC 293-308-313-914 (+50)
5 Oregon 308-304-312-924 (+60)
6 Stanford 304-312-309-925 (+61)
7 San Francisco 305-311-311-927 (+63)
8 UNLV 310-309-309-928 (+64)
9 Washington 321-300-309-930 (+66)
10 Brigham Young 300-323-322-945 (+81)
11 Arizona St. 306-322-318-946 (+82)
12 Nevada 320-316-328-964 (+100)
12 Oregon St. 321-319-324-964 (+100)
14 Washington St. 316-319-341-976 (+112)
15 Long Beach St. 324-341-320-985 (+121)
BYU Individual
T20 Natalie Newren +14 (74-77-79--230)
T38 Alexis Edwards +19 (74-83-78--235)
T51 Rachel Newren +26 (72-81-89--242)
T51 Margaret Gibby +26 (80-82-80--242)
T69 Nicole Newren-Chandler +34 (81-84-85--253)
PROVO -- After finishing fifth in their first tournament of the season, the BYU women's golf team travels to Sammamish, Wash. to compete Oct. 6-8 at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational.
Cougar starters include the three Newren sisters: senior Nicole (Newren-Chandler), junior Natalie and freshman Rachel, who are playing together for the second time this season. The sisters played at the Dick McGuire Invitational in Albuquerque over Sept. 25-27, helping BYU close the tournament in fifth place.
"We're playing against a very strong field," head coach Sue Nyhus said. "I'm excited about how well the girls have been playing. "
Other Cougars joining the Newren sisters are junior Margaret Gibby and freshman Alexis Edwards, who finished tied for 29th and 20th at the Dick McGuire Invt'l and are leading BYU in individual stroke average.
The Ihlanfeldt this year will be played at the Sahalee Country Club, one of the most beautiful golf courses in the U.S., hosted by the University of Washington.
"This tournament will show us where we rank among other top teams and prepare us to face our own conference," Nyhus said.
The 15-team field for this year's tournament includes returning NCAA Champion Southern California and 13 teams that qualified for the 2003 NCAA Regionals. The field is also made up of teams from the Pac-10 Conference and the Western Athletic Conference.
The complete field includes Arizona, Arizona State, California, Long Beach State, Nevada, Oregon, Oregon State, San Francisco, Southern California, Stanford, Washington, Washington State, UCLA and UNLV.
The Ihlanfeldt Invitational will include a practice round on Sunday at noon. Monday and Wednesday's rounds will start at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday's second round will begin at 10:15 a.m.
Live scoring of the event will be available at www.byucougars.com or by clicking here.
