By Blake Matthews
The BYU women”s golf team just missed qualifying for the NCAA Championship after coming nine strokes short, finishing in 13th place in the 2004 West Regional at the Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif., Saturday.
After finishing the second round in 16th place, the Cougars put together a solid performance in the final round, hitting a 17-over-par 305. It was the eight-best team total of the day. However, because only the top eight teams advance to the NCAA”s, BYU just couldn”t come up with enough.
BYU”s overall team score for the West Regional was a 922. With five BYU players competing with a total of 108 in the tournament, the Cougars” head coach Sue Nyhus said she was proud of the team.
“They were poised, confident, and did everything they needed to do, but just came up a few shots short,” Nyhus said.
Individually, the Newren sisters varied in their performances. Freshman Rachel Newren was solid in the first two rounds and went into the final round in 17th place. However, shooting a third round score of 79, she fell to 37th place to end the regional. Junior Natalie Newren finished strong with a 76 in the final round and jumped to 49th place, while senior Nicole Newren-Chandler shot a 77 and finished in 72nd place competing in her last tournament of her college career. Freshman Alexis Edwards put together a strong final round for the Cougars, going three-over 75 to finish in 76th place. Also, junior Margeret Gibby shot a final round 77, placing 63rd.
The UCLA Bruins took home the West Regional title after shooting a three-under-par 861. California finished second, with Stanford rounding out the top three.
“We know we”re moving in the right direction and we”re only going to get better,” Nyhus said.
