BYU women's golf team competes in Texas Mo-morial

COLLEGE STATION -- The BYU women's golf team sat in 14th place Monday after the first two rounds of competition at the Texas A&M Mo-morial Invitational.

BYU head coach Sue Nyhus, whose Cougars shot 51 over par at 627, said she liked what she saw Monday, but expects her team to make better decisions and play with more confidence during Tuesday's final round.

"A lot of good things happened," Nyhus said. "But, we're better than we shot today."

The Cougars were paced by junior Margaret Gibby, who is tied for 35th in the individual rankings after shooting 154 through 36 holes. Gibby led the team with a low average of 76.7 during the fall season.

"Gibby birdied the last hole on both rounds," Nyhus said. "I was proud of the way she pulled it together at the end."

Gibby was followed by senior Nicole Newren-Chandler, who shot 13 over par at 157. Newren's sister, Rachel, came in one stroke behind at 158. Freshman Alexis Edwards tallied a 160 and the third Newren sister, Natalie, scored a 162.

The top individual after 36 holes was Indiana's Karen Dennison, who shot a 1-over-par 145. Missouri was holding onto the top spot Monday, shooting a 26-over-par 602.

The 11th annual Texas A&M Mo-morial is held at the Blackhorse Golf Club, which boasts a 6,100-yard, par-72 course. The competition consists of nine top-50 clubs out of a field of 16 squads. BYU is currently ranked No. 61 in the nation by golfweek.com.

The complete field includes the following schools: Arkansas (27), Missouri (29), Texas A&M (34), TCU (35), Baylor (36), Kansas State (37), Northwestern (38), Texas Teach (40), Indiana (49), SMU (67), Kansas (74), Arkansas-LR (79), UTEP (88), and Louisville (104).

BYU took a 14th place finish at the Mo-morial in 2003 while Baylor won the tournament. The Cougars finished 10th in their last outing, the Bay Area Classic in February.

The Cougars will tee off at 8 a.m. Tuesday for the final 18 holes.

Texas A&M Mo-morial Invitational
Blackhorse Golf Club     College Station, Texas
Dates: 03/01 - 03/02     (Today: 03/01/2004)
Par: 72                  Yardage: 6100
BYU Individual/Team Scores
T 35 	 Margaret Gibby 	       		79-75--154   (+10) 
T 53 	 Nicole Newren-Chandler  	77-80--157   (+13)
T 58 	 Rachel Newren            82-76--158   (+14)
T 66   Alexis Edwards           80-80--160   (+16)
T 71   Natalie Newren           84-78--162   (+18)
  14   BYU Totals               318-309--627 (+51)
   
Fin.   Top 20 Players             School          Scores  
 	1 	  Karen Dennison 	     Indiana University 	  72-73--145 
 	2 	  Amanda Costner       Kansas, U. of         72-74--146 
 	3   	Christine Boucher   	Kansas State Univ.    70-77--147
T 4 	  Alice Kim           	Northwestern Univ.    76-72--148 
T 4  	 Amanda McCurdy      	Arkansas, U. of      	76-72--148 
T 6   	Gena Johnson         Arkansas, U. of       77-72--149 
T 6   	Denise Knaebel      	Missouri, U. of       72-77--149 
T 6   	Maria Ohlsson        Missouri, U. of 	    	75-74--149 
T 9 	  Karen Quintelier    	Kansas State Univ.    71-79--150
T 9   	Christa Spedding    	Texas A&M University	 74-76--150
T 9   	Josefin Svenningsson	Baylor               	73-77--150 
T 9   	Maria Svensson       Arkansas-Little Rock 	79-71--150
T 13  	Stacey Bieber        TCU                   73-78--151
T 13  	Malinda Johnson     	Wisconsin, U. of      74-77--151
T 15  	Mindy Bullard        Missouri, U. of       76-76--152 
T 15  	Kim Kolb             Texas Tech Univ.      78-74--152 
T 15 	 Anne Mallory        	Texas El Paso, U. of 	77-75--152 
T 15 	 Kelli McKandless    	Baylor 	             	75-77--152 
T 15 	 Chelsey Pryor       	Kansas, U. of         76-76--152 
T 15 	 Molly Redfearn      	Indiana University 	  76-76--152 
T 15 	 Kelly Robb          	Northwestern Univ. 	  73-79--152 	
T 15   Missy Ryan           Southern Methodist    76-76--152 
T 15 	 Kelli Strubinger    	Missouri, U. of 	     75-77--152 
T 15 	 Amy Young           	Texas El Paso, U. of 	76-76--152
 
Fin.   Top 20 Teams             Scores 
  1 	  Missouri, U. of          298-304--602 
T 2   	Indiana University       299-305--604 
T 2   	Kansas, U. of            302-302--604 
  4   	Kansas State Univ. 	     292-313--605 
  5   	Arkansas, U. of 	        311-295--606 
  6   	Northwestern Univ.       303-304--607 
  7   	Texas A&M University 	   303-305--608 
T 8	   Southern Methodist 	     310-302--612 
T 8	   Baylor 	                 303-309--612 
  10   TCU 	                    307-308--615 
  11   Texas El Paso, U. of     313-303--616 
T 12	  Texas Tech Univ 	       	319-302--621 
T 12	  Arkansas-Little Rock 	   317-304--621 
  14   Brigham Young Univ. 	    318-309--627 
  15   Wisconsin, U. of 	       317-316--633 
  16   McLennan CC 	            334-336--670