Sooners Finish Ninth in Austin

March 19, 2008

AUSTIN, Texas - The No. 40 University of Oklahoma women's golf team finished the 18-team Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational Wednesday with a score of 331, giving the Sooners a ninth-place finish at 651 (+75). Tuesday's rain was long gone, but a stiff wind made conditions tough at the 6,344-yard, par-72 University of Texas Golf Club, and it showed in the scores. No team shot better than Florida's 319 on Wednesday.

"Obviously we're not happy with the high score, but the conditions were so difficult," OU head coach Carol Ludvigson said. "What I'm really proud of is, for instance Heather (Wright), she started out four-over on the first four holes and really held it together and ended up shooting 80. I think overall everybody really hung in there and was pretty tough, but we did lose a lot of shots coming in with some doubles and not being committed to the club that was selected, especially going downwind. I think that was our biggest struggle today."

Junior Kendall Dye, who was five shots out of the lead coming into Wednesday, posted the best finish for the Sooners at tied for 24th place with a two-round score of 160 (+16). She started the day at even-par through the first six holes, and fought the tough conditions down the stretch en route to a round of 83 (+11). She finished nine shots behind medalist Stacy Lewis of Arkansas.

Senior Heather Wright had the round of the day for Oklahoma, carding an 80 (+8) and finishing tied for 47th place at 164 (+20). Junior Staci Smoot joined Wright at tied for 47th, shooting a final-round score of 83, tied for second-best on the team.

"I'm really proud of Staci," Coach Ludvigson said. "Within the conditions, she really hung in there and hit some good shots and really kept her composure."

Senior Kelly Jacques and freshman Ellen Mueller each had rounds of 85 for the Sooners on Wednesday. Jacques finished in a tie for 51st place at 165 (+21), while Mueller's two-round total of 167 (+23) put her in a tie for 57th.

"The way that we need to look at it is that we played this golf course in the hardest conditions with the wind the way it was today," Ludvigson said. "In preparation for regionals, we need to learn from it and take the things individually as well as a team and work on those aspects of our game so that when we come back for regionals, we are a little smarter and make better decisions with swirling and gusting winds."

The Sooners finished three strokes behind eighth-place Iowa State and seven strokes behind seventh-place Ohio State at the 36-hole tournament, shortened from 54 holes after Tuesday's second round was cancelled due to inclement weather. OU ended up three shots ahead of SMU and Indiana, which tied for 10th place. New Mexico won the tournament with a team score of 623 (+47).

Oklahoma was third-best among the eight Big 12 schools competing this week.

"As for key head-to head matchups, we beat Nebraska, and that's good," Coach Ludvigson said. "Iowa State went ahead of us by a few shots, but that's ok, that will all even out in the end. We didn't shoot ourselves in the foot, and I actually think that everyone is starting to play a little bit better. We're still searching for that fifth player, which is why I was proud of Staci (Smoot) today for hanging in there amidst the tough conditions."

The Sooners return to action March 29-30 at the MountainView Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz., where they look to get on a roll heading towards the postseason.

"What we take from this is trying to realize that we need to trust ourselves and stay committed," Ludvigson said. "If we have tough conditions, we need to be able to change our strategic plan while we're out there and then commit to that."

Team Standings
1. New Mexico - 303-320=623 (+47)
2. Florida - 305-319=624 (+48)
3. Texas - 308-322=630 (+54)
4. Arkansas - 311-321=632 (+56)
T5. TCU - 321-321=642 (+66)
T5. Notre Dame - 317-325=642 (+66)
7. Ohio State - 321-323=644 (+68)
8. Iowa State - 320-328=648 (+72)
9. Oklahoma - 320-331=651 (+75)
T10. SMU - 323-331=654 (+78)
T10. Indiana - 320-334=654 (+78)
12. Wisconsin - 329-326=655 (+79)
13. Kansas - 325-332=657 (+81)
T14. Baylor - 329-331=660 (+84)
T14. Missouri - 320-340=660 (+84)
16. Nebraska - 319-342=661 (+85)
17. Kansas State - 329-335=664 (+88)
18. Texas B - 331-343=674 (+98)

Individual Standings
1. Stacy Lewis, Arkansas - 74-77=151 (+7)
2. Whitney Myers, Florida - 76-76=152 (+8)
3. Britney Choy, New Mexico - 75-79=154 (+10)
T4. Mikaela Backstedt, New Mexico - 76-79=155 (+11)
T4. Ornella Joven, Florida - 72-83=155 (+11)
T4. Alexandra Phelps, New Mexico - 73-82=155 (+11)

OU Individual Standings
T24. Kendall Dye - 77-83=160 (+16)
T47. Staci Smoot - 81-83=164 (+20)
T47. Heather Wright - 84-80=164 (+20)
T51. Kelly Jacques - 80-85=165 (+21)
T57. Ellen Mueller - 82-85=167 (+23)

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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