ALBUQUERQUE -- After winning its season opener on Sept. 14, the BYU women's golf team returned to competition Monday at the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational and is tied for 12th place after the first round.
The Cougars are facing a stiff challenge with six of the Golfweek preseason Top-25 teams finishing ahead of them after Day 1 in the prestigious tournament on the par-73, 6,069-yard UNM Championship Course. BYU's 10-over-par 302 is 15 shots behind Ohio State, who leads the 18-team field at 5-under-par.
"We had a pretty mediocre round today," BYU head coach Sue Nyhus said. "But if mediocre is 302, then I can take it. I look forward to playing well the next two days."
At the Oregon State Women's Invitational two weeks ago, the Cougars rebounded from an inconsistent first round (16-over 304) and posted an 18-hole team record 286 in Round 2. BYU went on to win the tournament and set a 36-hole team record as well with 590, and Nyhus said her team is capable of responding like that again.
"We didn't play poorly today," Nyhus said. "We're fine and we'll play better tomorrow. Everyone just needs to settle in and play."
The Cougars' top three returning contributors from last year are all tied for 33rd on the individual leader board after the opening round. Juniors Rachel Newren and Alexis Edwards and sophomore Juli Wightman each shot 75 (+2) to begin the three-round tournament.
Freshman Natalia Jimenez shot a 4-over 77 and junior Danielle von Arnim posted a 9-over 82. Sophomore Ashley Childers is participating as an individual and ended with an 83 (+10).
BYU's tee times for Tuesday's second round begin at 9:30 a.m. Results and live scoring are available at www.golfstat.com.
Results after Round 1
Fin. Team Score
1 Ohio State 287 (-5)
T2 USC 293 (+1)
T2 UNLV 293 (+1)
4 Texas A&M 294 (+2)
5 Pepperdine 296 (+4)
T6 Cal Berkeley 297 (+5)
T6 New Mexico 297 (+5)
8 San Diego State 298 (+6)
T9 New Mexico State 300 (+8)
T9 South Carolina 300 (+8)
11 Baylor 301 (+9)
T12 BYU 302 (+10)
T12 Colorado State 302 (+10)
14 TCU 304 (+12)
15 Tulsa 305 (+13)
16 UTEP 309 (+17)
17 Texas Tech 314 (+22)
18 Hawaii 328 (+36)
BYU Individual Results
Fin. Golfer Score
T33 Alexis Edwards 75 (+2)
T33 Rachel Newren 75 (+2)
T33 Juli Wightman 75 (+2)
T50 Natalia Jimenez 77 (+4)
T91 Danielle von Arnim 82 (+9)
94 Ashley Childers* 83 (+10)
* Competing as an individual