Weather conditions hinder Cougars' play, take 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 Results 
1  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)