Women capture third place at the Lady Aztec

CHULA VISTA -- In its top finish this season, the BYU women's golf team edged Colorado State to capture third place at the Lady Aztec Invitational.

With perfect weather in Southern Calif., the Cougars shot their lowest score in the final round (+5), and finished just two shots behind second-place Nevada.

"I am pleased with the performance and the steady play of our team," BYU coach Sue Nyhus said. "This tournament helped our overall confidence, and we hope to build momentum from this tournament for the rest of the season."

Junior Margaret Gibby gave a stellar performance with a personal-best 69 (-3) in round one and continued out the tournament tied in third place. In the final round, she shot birdies in three of the last four holes to score a 73 (+1).

"I struggled for a little bit, but kept focused and let each shot come," Gibby said. "Our mind set in the final round was to give ourselves opportunities and then let it come. And we did that."

Four Cougars posted their best finishes this season including senior Nicole Newren-Chandler, who played steady through the whole tournament and shot a 75 on each round. She moved up from 15th place in the second round to 13th place to end the tournament.

Junior Natalie Newren registered a 19th-place finish to help BYU to third place. Also in the top 25, was freshmen Alexis Edwards and Rachel Newren, who finished 21st and 22nd respectively.

"We knew we were in the hunt, being in the top five," assistant coach Dave De Santis said. "But the girl responded well, and we finished strong."

The BYU men's golf team also finished third place in San Diego at the Barona Collegiate Cup, played Oct. 20-21.

Host San Diego State won the Lady Aztec with a school-record team score of 878, with Jenna Wilson leading the Aztecs five-under-par. SDSU led the field throughout the tournament and finished 13 strokes above the second--place contender.

The women's team will travel to Kapolei, Hawaii on Nov. 4-5 for the Kent Youel Invitational hosted by the University of Hawaii.

FINAL RESULTS           Lady Aztec Fall Invitational  
                         The Auld Course          Chula Vista, CA
                         Dates: 10/20 - 10/21     (Today:10-21-2003)
                                   Par:        72                
                                   Yardage:  6021                
      Fin.   School                   Scores  
         1   San Diego State Univ     293  291  294    878       +14 
         2   Nevada, U. of            298  300  293    891       +27 
         3   Brigham Young Univ.      295  305  293    893       +29 
         4   Colorado, U. of          303  305  291    899       +35 
         5   Colorado State Univ.     289  306  305    900       +36 
         6   CSU-Northridge           295  314  295    904       +40 
         7   Santa Clara Univ.        303  307  303    913       +49 
         8   Northern Arizona U.      312  310  308    930       +66 
         9   San Diego State JV       316  304  317    937       +73 
        10   Western New Mexico       325  315  303    943       +79 
        11   UC - Riverside           314  324  308    946       +82 
        12   Wyoming, U. of           317  310  320    947       +83 
        13   Western Washington U     312  314  322    948       +84 
        14   Cal Poly                 322  322  314    958       +94 
        15   CSU-Chico State          322  334  321    977      +113 
        16   Sacramento State U.      323  334  328    985      +121 
        17   Redlands                 331  333  327    991      +127 
        18   McNeese State Univ.      343  326  325    994      +130 
        19   CSU-San Marcos           337  325  333    995      +131 
             CSU-Monterey Bay         335  333  327    995      +131 
        21   Grand Canyon U.          347  344  354   1045      +181 
Individual Results
 
Fin.   Name                   School       Scores  
      1   Jenna Wilson           S.Diego St    70   74   67    211   -5
      2   Elizabeth Allen        CSUN          71   77   69    217   +1
      3   Alana Condon           Nevada        72   74   72    218   +2
          Margaret Gibby         BYU           69   76   73    218   +2
      5   Maria Perrson-Gulda    Colorado      73   72   74    219   +3
          Shayna Miyajima        S.Diego St    75   70   74    219   +3
      7   Erin Long              Nevada        74   75   72    221   +5
          Dawna Virdell          Col. St.      73   75   73    221   +5
      9   Lauren Gray            No Arizona    69   75   78    222   +6
          Courtney Renfro        CSUN          71   74   77    222   +6
     11   Lynette Duran          Col. St.      68   78   77    223   +7
     12   Samantha Trask         SantaClara    77   76   71    224   +8
     13   Nicole N.-Chandler     BYU           75   75   75    225   +9
     14   Erin LaPlaunt          Nevada        76   76   74    226  +10
          Meggie Fagundes        SantaClara    72   77   77    226  +10
          Chandeni Gill          Nevada        76   75   75    226  +10
     17   Heather MacRae         S.Diego St    76   77   74    227  +11
          Jamie Oliver           S.Diego St    72   76   79    227  +11
     19   Kristen Kennedy        W New Mex.    77   79   72    228  +12
          Natalie Newren         BYU           74   75   79    228  +12
     21   Alexis Edwards         BYU           77   80   72    229  +13
     22   Allison Rella          Colorado      86   71   73    230  +14
          Rachel Newren          BYU           78   79   73    230  +14
     24   Trisha Quick           Col. St.      72   83   76    231  +15
          Courtney Dimpel        SantaClara    78   76   77    231  +15
          Toni Lutz              SDSU JV       80   75   76    231  +15
          Michelle Camaione      Wyoming       79   74   78    231  +15
          Stephanie Linnell      Col. St.      76   75   80    231  +15

PROVO -- Competing among 20 teams in its third tournament, the BYU women's golf team will compete Oct. 20-21 at the Lady Aztec Invitational.

The Cougars' two finishes so far have been fifth and 10th place in the two previous tournaments.

"We have been preparing every golfer on an individual basis," BYU coach Sue Nyhus said. "The team's ready to face the competition next week. We just need the confidence of playing at a top level every round."

The Lady Aztec Invitational will be played at the Auld Course in Chula Vista, Calif, which measures 6, 029 yards and has a par of 72. The tournament features four teams from the Mountain West Conference: Wyoming, Colorado State, BYU and San Diego State.

Entering this tournament, the Cougars will be one of the top teams competing. Currently BYU sits at 44th place on Golfweek.com, above host San Diego State at 45th place.

BYU started off the season strong with a fifth-place finish in their first tournament at the Dick McGuire. Junior Margaret Gibby led BYU with her steady play as she finished tied at 27th place and helped the Cougars beat No. 20 UNLV.

"The team is very focused and preparing in all aspects of their game," Nyhus said.

The five Cougar starters qualifying for the tournament are the three Newren sisters, Nicole, Natalie and Rachel; Margaret Gibby and freshman Alexis Edwards.

The two freshman golfers, Alexis Edwards and Rachel Newren, have continued to show strength in their first season with BYU. Edwards and Newren finished 20th and 29th respectively at the Dick McGuire. Edwards leads BYU with the lowest stroke average and shows promising potential for the rest of the season.

Junior Natalie Newren shot the best individual score for the Cougars with a seven-over-par at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational and finished tied for 20th. She led BYU to fifth place after the first round with her younger sister, Rachel.

The Lady Aztec Invitational will start at 8 a.m., Monday with a shotgun start, and the teams will play 36 holes on Monday and 18 holes on Tuesday.

The complete field includes 20 teams: San Diego State, UC Riverside, Colorado, Colorado State, Northern Arizona, Cal State-Northridge, Nevada, Cal State-Sacramento, Brigham Young, Wyoming, Santa Clara, Cal State-San Marcos, McNeese State, Redlands, Western New Mexico, Chico State, Western Washington, Grand Canyon, Monterey Bay and Cal Poly.