Newren's 72 leads BYU to a third-place finish at Bobcat Classic

GOODYEAR -- Behind a stellar final round from junior Natalie Newren, the BYU women's golf team came within a hair Tuesday of winning the Bobcat Desert Classic, settling instead for a very respectable third place.

Newren, who tied her career-low for a single round with an even-par 72 on the last 18 holes, helped the Cougars match their best finish of the 2003-2004 campaign. BYU also took third at the Lady Aztec Invitational in October.

"We gained some confidence here," Newren said. "It's all about having the attitude that we are better than the competition.

BYU (301-297--598) had a chance to win the tournament Tuesday, but fell a stroke short of Boise State (303-294--597) and Western Michigan (307-290--597), who tied for top honors. The Cougars' second-round score of 297 was their third lowest of the season.

Head coach Sue Nyhus said she was pleased with her team's strong showing at the Bobcat.

"This will help us build confidence," she said.

Newren (77-72--149) and junior Margaret Gibby (75-74--149) placed ninth in the individual standings, just ahead of freshmen Rachel Newren (74-77--151) and Alexis Edwards (75-77--152), who placed 17th and 23rd, respectively. Senior Nicole Newren-Chandler (79-74--153) finished at 26. The tournament's top individual was Lindsay Snowden of UC Riverside, who shot 71-75--146.

Newren-Chandler said the Cougars performed well because of their team unity.

"We played really well as a team," she said. "Our motto is: Do it for the team."

The Bobcat Classic, although held in Goodyear, Ariz., is a two-day, 36-hole event hosted by Montana State and played at the 6,050-yard, par-72 course at the Palm Valley Golf Club.

BYU, who is currently ranked 60th in the nation by golfweek.com, was the top-ranked team in a field of the following 17 schools: Boise State, Oral Roberts, SW Missouri State, Montana State, Montana, Eastern Washington, Wyoming, Sacramento State, Weber State, Northern Arizona, Western Michigan, University of Toledo, Campbell, Cal Riverside, Idaho State, Grand Canyon, and Western New Mexico.

Northern Arizona, the winner of the 2003 Bobcat, took 13th place Tuesday.

The Cougars will not have much time to rest as they get set to compete against a tough field in the Anteater Invitational March 15-16 in Irvine, Calif. BYU finished 12th in the Texas A&M Mo-morial last week in College Station, Texas.

Bobcat Desert Classic        Goodyear, Ariz.
March 8-9, 2004              Palm Valley Golf Club
Par: 72                      Yardage: 6,050
Fin. Name                    Score
  1  BYU                     301-297--598  (+22)
T 9  Margaret Gibby          75-74--149    (+5)
T 9  Natalie Newren          77-72--149    (+5)
T 17 Rachel Newren           74-77--151    (+7)
T 23 Alexis Edwards          75-77--152    (+8)
T 26 Nicole Newren-Chandler  79-74--153    (+9)
Fin. Team                    Score
  1  Western Michigan        307-290--597 (+21)
  2  Boise State             303-294--597 (+21)
  3  BYU                     301-297--598 (+22)
  4  Western New Mexico      304-298--602 (+26)
  5  Toledo                  304-308--612 (+36)
  6  North Texas             318-299--617 (+41)
  7  Eastern Washington      312-310--622 (+46)
  8  Oral Roberts            317-307--624 (+48)
  9  Weber State             307-318--625 (+49)  
T 10 SW Missouri State       314-314--628 (+52)
T 10 Cal Riverside           312-316--628 (+52)
  12 Sacramento State        310-319--629 (+53)
  13 Northern Arizona        320-312--632 (+56)
  14 Montana State           324-320--644 (+68)
  15 Montana                 325-320--645 (+69)
  16 Wyoming                 338-319--657 (+81)
  17 Idaho State             329-330--659 (+83)
  18 Grand Canyon            359-357--716 (+140)
    
Fin. Name                    School                  Score
T 1  Lindsay Snowden         Cal Riverside           71-75--146 (+2)
T 1  Jasu Acharya            Montana                 74-72--146 (+2)   
T 1  Sara Boogard            Toledo                  73-73--146 (+2)
T 1  Katharine Dorris        Western New Mexico      75-71--146 (+2)
T 5  Jenny Judd              Boise State             77-70--147 (+3) 
T 5  Courtney O'Neill        Cal Riverside           73-74--147 (+3)   
T 7  Jennifer Hedberg        Boise State             74-74--148 (+4)
T 7  Erin Thorne             Western Michigan        75-73--148 (+4)
T 9  Andra Lancaster         North Texas             77-72--149 (+5)
T 9  Sally Hinton            SW Missouri State       77-72--149 (+5)
T 9  Kim Cammer              Western New Mexico      76-73--149 (+5)
T 9  Margaret Gibby          BYU                     75-74--149 (+5)
T 9  Lindsay Dunigan         Western Michigan        77-72--149 (+5)
T 9  Natalie Newren          BYU                     77-72--149 (+5)
T 15 Le-anh Nguyen           Cal Riverside           78-72--150 (+6)
T 15 Amanda Fisher           Oral Roberts            75-75--150 (+6)
T 17 Jeanie Bagnell          Eastern Washington      76-75--151 (+7)
T 17 Ashley Hogg             Boise State             75-76--151 (+7)
T 17 Kristen Kennedy         Western New Mexico      75-76--151 (+7)
T 17 Rachel Newren           BYU                     74-77--151 (+7)  
T 17 Lindsey Huebert         Boise State             77-74--151 (+7)   
T 17 Stephanie Donkin        Western Michigan        79-72--151 (+7)