3rd-Place Finish at Pepperdine Invitational

MOORPARK -- Two BYU women’s golfers finished tied for second place at the Pepperdine Spring Invitational to lead the Cougars to a third-place finish.

Natalia Jimenez and Maggie Yuan ended the two-round tournament at 4-under-par at the 72-par Moorpark Country Club to help BYU to third place in the six-team field.

Yuan improved her opening round score by four strokes as she shot a 4-under-par 68 in Wednesday’s second round. She made five birdies on the day with just one bogey, making the rest of the holes at par.

Jimenez played another consistent round of golf by maintaining a high individual position in second place after finishing the opening round in first place. She broke BYU’s all-time 18-hole record on Tuesday, scoring a 6-under-par 66 and overcoming the previous mark of 67 originally set in 1978. She scored a 2-over-par 74 on Wednesday by making two birdies and four bogeys.

Camille Gardner ended the tournament tied for No, 22 at 12-over-par, making three birdies and three bogeys on the day. Sophomores Sara Romero and Jade Bollinger rounded up the starting five for the Cougars and both played solid rounds of golf. Staisha Stratton golfed individually for the team.

Pepperdine finished the tournament in first place at 3-over-par followed by Mountain West foe UNLV at 12-over-par. Pepperdine’s Taylor Karle finished the tournament in first place individually at 5-under-par.

BYU will next play in the UNLV Spring Invitational March 9-11 in Las Vegas.

2009 Pepperdine Spring Invitational
BYU  3rd/6  +19  (294-301--595)
T2  Yuan      72-68--140  -4
T2  Jimenez   66-74--140  -4
T22 Gardner   76-80--156  +12
T27 Romero    81-79--160  +16
T31 Bollinger 80-81--161  +17
44  Stratton* 87-92--179  +35
The field
1 (16) Pepperdine       +3
2 (43) UNLV             +12
3      BYU              +19
4 (48) Long Beach State +37
5      New Mexico State +46
6      CS-Northridge    +58