By Katherine Gholson
In a rain-shortened Lady Aztec Invitational in San Diego, the BYU women”s golf team finished fourth with three women finishing in the Top 20.
“The girls reacted fine to the rain,” head coach Sue Nyhus said.
Nyhus said after the past couple weather-stricken tournaments, the women are getting used to playing in bad conditions.
Sophomore Rachel Newren carded a 146, finishing fourth, with freshman Juli Wightman making her highest finish as a Cougar, placing 12th.
Senior Top-20 veteran Natalie Newren finished in a tie for 14th.
“It was a personal best for Rachel, but we could”ve done better if we had finished the third round,” Nyhus said.
Danielle von Arnim and Alexis Edwards each shot a 161, finishing in a tie for 60th. Ashley Childers, competing individually, finished 73rd.
Rain soaked the course and eventually made it unfit to play on.
“It was unsafe to even walk out on the course,” Nyhus said.
The Auld Course was marked unplayable. The course area had not had rain for 180 days, but rained for three days straight.
“The girls even went out on the putting green, hoping we would get to play, but we weren”t able to,” Nyhus said.
Even though the tournament was cut short, Nyhus said the team learned something new. With the rain, each shot is different from when a player may have taken that shot before.
“This time we learned we need to pay more attention to detail,” Nyhus said.
The women have finished in the Top 5 in three out of four tournaments this season.
