Cougar Finish 11th at Bay Area Classic

VALLEJO, Calif -- BYU's women's golf team started their 2002 spring season with an 11th place finish at the Bay Area Classic at the Hiddenbrooke Golf Course.

After a rocky first round the Cougars bounced back with a final round 312 on a difficult par-72 Arnold Palmer Signature Course. Lisa Hardy led the Cougars shooting a final round 77 and finishing 20th individually. Fellow senior, Carrie Summerhays, struggled in her first round after the winter break shooting 12-over-par, but came back the second round with a 77.

"The past couple of months we've been hitting a lot of balls and I think we were mentally prepared, but we just needed a couple of rounds to warm up," BYU head coach Sue Nyhus said.

Host Cal fired a remarkable 284 to capture its first Bay Area Classic Championship. The Cal Bears were led by individual winner Anne Walker who finished three-under-par, which was six strokes ahead of three of her teammates all tied at three-over-par.

Despite the 11th place finish Nyhus is optimistic about the results of BYU's first tournament after an almost four-month break.

"The scores don't look great, but I feel we did well in a lot of areas," Nyhus said. "This was a tough course to start on, but we'll improve as we play more golf. There are a lot of good things happening on the golf course for us."

BYU will next prepare for the UCLA Bruin Classic on March 11-12.

Team Finish
1. California     298  284  582
2. Idaho          297  301  598
3. Denver         305  309  614
4. San Francisco  302  315  617
5. San Diego St.  304  317  621
6. Nevada         312  310  622
7. Illinois       320  313  633
8. Colorado       316  320  636
9. Portland State 320  317  637
10. Portland      319  319  638
11. BYU           327  312  639
12. Long Beach St.321  320  641
13. Northern Ariz.323  320  643
14. Colorado St.  327  317  644
15. Weber State   328  322  650
16. Gonzaga       355  345  700
BYU Individual Scores
t20  Lisa Dernick-Hardy     78   77    155  +11
t46  Carrie Summerhays      84   77    161  +17
t55  Nicole Newren          83   79    162  +18
t60  Adrianne Olson         85   79    164  +20
t60  Natalie Newren         82   82    164  +20