University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Conclude Fall Season in Vegas
10/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
2009 LAS VEGAS COLLEGIATE SHOWDOWN: The Golden Gopher women's golf team travels this weekend to Boulder City, Nevada for the 2009 Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown, hosted by the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. The invitational will be played at the par-72, 6,233 yard Boulder Creek Golf Club. The three-day tournament will start on Monday, Oct. 26 with 18 holes starting at 7:30 a.m. The tournament will continue with 18 more holes on Tuesday, Oct. 27 and conclude with the final round on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
The tournament field includes (Golfweek Ranking): Arizona (22), Arkansas (44), BYU (88), Colorado (71), Colorado State (69), Florida (14), Idaho (49), Kent State (34), Louisville (19), Minnesota (65), Missouri (47), Northwestern (36), TCU (37), Texas Tech (39), UC-Davis (32), UNLV (41) and Washington (33).
Live scoring and results can be found at www.golfstat.com.
THE GOPHERS: Minnesota's lineup will consist of senior Christine Herzog, sophomores Michele Edlin, Teresa Puga and Samantha Sommers and true freshman Jackie Shepherd. Edlin, Puga and Shepherd are now the only Gopher players to appear in all four of the team's tournaments.
Heading in to the Vegas Showdown, Shepherd leads the team with a 75.33 stroke average, followed by Puga (76.44) and Sommers (76.83).
HEATHER FARR INVITE RECAP: The Golden Gophers finished the Heather Farr Memorial alone in fifth place at 46-over 910 (297-310-303).
Texas Tech notched three solid rounds of 290-296-296 to finish at 18-over 882, 28 strokes ahead of the Gophers. Southern Methodist led the invitational after the first round, but faltered to seventh place after the third and final round.
Michele Edlin got off to a quick start after Monday's opening round, shooting a 70 and sitting in a tie for first place. Edlin couldn't keep up with medalist Alex Gibson's pace over her next two rounds, but still finished in a tie for sixth at six-over 222 (70-77-75).
Joining her in sixth was freshman Jackie Shepherd (76-74-72), who finished strong over her last two rounds. Gibson, a junior from Texas Tech, was the wire-to-wire winner, shooting rounds of 70-71-72 to finish at three-under 213.
Also contributing for the Gophers was junior Samantha Sommers (75-79-78--232), who finished in a tie for 36th. Junior Mary Narzisi (76-82-78--236) finished in a tie for 53rd and junior Teresa Puga (77-80-80-237) was one stroke behind Narzisi in a tie for 56th.
UP NEXT: The Las Vegas Showdown concludes the Gophers' fall season. Minnesota will start the spring season by traveling to Kiawah Island, South Carolina for the 2010 Kiawah Island Intercollegiate on February 21-23, 2010.
The invitational will be played at Oak Point Golf Course, which is part of the Kiawah Island Golf Resort. The Kiawah Island Golf Resort also includes the world-renowned Ocean Course.
Players Mentioned
