CORVALLIS, Ore.--BYU ended its season with an 18th place finish at the NCAA West Regional on Saturday at Trysting Tree Golf Course.
The Cougars faced strong afternoon winds which drove scores up and made it difficult to gain ground on the other schools. BYU shot a final round
Individually, BYU was led by Carrie Summerhays who was only Cougar to shoot in the 70s on the final day. Lisa Dernick struggled with the windy conditions and shot her highest round of the season while Adrianne Gibby shot the second-best final round for BYU.
Arizona's Natalie Gulbis capped off her first-ever NCAA West Regional women's golf tournament with a 1-under 71 on Saturday to help her Wildcats to the team title and claim medalist honors in the process. The freshman shot a total of 9-under 207 at the par-72, 6,089-yard Trysting Tree Golf Club over the 54-hole tournament, while Arizona put up a team total of 4-over-par 868 to win by 20 strokes.
Six of the eight schools who qualified for the NCAA West Regional were from the PAC-10 Conference. Ohio State and Michigan State joined Arizona, Stanford, UCLA, Arizona State, Washington and USC as qualifiers for the national championships in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida May 22-25.
BYU INDIVIDUAL SCORESCarrie Summerhays--77-75-79--231
Lisa Dernick--77-77-87--241
Summer Pierce--90-78-85--253
Adrianne Gibby--88-85-83--256
Nicole Newren--80-83-85--248
TEAM SCORES
1 Arizona, U. of 287 292 289 868
2 Stanford University 302 292 294 888
3 Michigan State U. 304 298 299 901
4 UCLA 307 297 299 903
5 Ohio State Univ. 306 298 302 906
6 Arizona State U. 308 294 308 910
7 Washington, U. of 308 302 304 914
8 Southern California 308 298 310 916
9 Oregon, U. of 308 304 311 923
10 Oregon State U. 311 306 307 924
11 Tennessee, U. of 308 300 318 926
12 Missouri, U. of 318 304 311 933
13 Nevada, U. of 310 311 313 934
14 Memphis Univ of 305 312 320 937
15 Colorado State Univ. 320 303 319 942
16 Furman University 312 311 320 943
17 Indiana University 314 311 325 950
18 Brigham Young Univ. 322 313 332 967
19 SW Missouri St. U. 335 324 347 1006
20 Weber State Univ. 352 327 331 1010
21 Central Conn. St. U. 363 336 369 1068
Provo, Utah--BYU makes its eighth trip to the NCAA West Regional Tournament in nine years as it attempts qualify for the national championships on Thursday in Corvallis, Ore. at Trysting Tree Golf Course.
The Cougars were invited as the 18th seed after a fourth place finish at the MWC Championships. BYU was slowed down by final exams the week of the MWC championships, but are now motivated to prove they are a strong team.
At last year's NCAA Regional, the Cougars finished 20th thanks to a sixth-place performance by All-American Carrie Summerhays. With the performance, Summerhays qualified as an individual for the NCAA Championships. The Cougars entered last season's West Regional as the 23nd seed, but played well enough to defeated several higher seeded teams. BYU head coach Gary Howard feels confident in his teams' ability to finish higher than their regional seeding.
"We're confident we can compete and finish higher than our seeding," Howard said. "We've got to play our best golf for three straight days, which is something we've struggled to do this season.
Eighteen holes will be played each of the three days with the top-four scores counting toward the overall team total. The top eight teams will advance to the finals May 22-25 at the Mission Inn Golf and Tennis Resort at Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
BYU has qualified for the NCAA Championships once in 1985 and three times for the AIAW National Team Championships in 1979, 1980 and 1982. The Cougars finished 14th in 1985 and finished 11th at the 1979 AIAW National Championships.
Four teams from the Mountain West Conference were invited to compete in the three NCAA Regionals across the nation. New Mexico is a No. 8 seed and SDSU is a No. 14 seed in the East Regional at Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill, N.C. while Colorado State, a No. 15 seed, and BYU, a No. 18 seed in the West. A total of 321 participants have been selected for regional competition, and 126 of those players will advance to the finals May 22-25 at the
WEST REGIONAL May 10-12, 2001
Trysting Tree Golf Course,
Corvallis, Ore.
TEAMS (national ranking)
1. Arizona (No. 2)
2. Southern California (No. 4)
3. Stanford (No.5)
4. Tennessee (No.7)
5. Ohio State (No. 12)
6. Arizona State (No. 20)
7. UCLA (No. 27)
8. Michigan State (No. 17)
9. Washington (No. 35)
10. Furman (No. 31)
11. Indiana (No. 26)
12. Oregon
13. Memphis
14. Missouri (No. 32)
15. Colorado State
16. Nevada
17. Oregon State
18. Brigham Young
19. Central Connecticut State
20. Southwest Missouri State
21. Weber State
BYU's Past NCAA Regional Finishes
2000 20th
1999 DNP
1998 20th
1997 16th
1996 14th
1995 18th
1994 13th
1993 11th
*NCAA began the regional qualifying format in 1993
