Feb. 25, 2005

The University of Texas - Pan American women's golf team will open its spring schedule with play at the Texas A&M "Mo"Morial Invitational Monday (Feb. 28) in Bryant, TX.

The Lady Broncs will compete against 14 other teams at the Traditions Golf Club, a course designed by Jack Nicklaus, playing three rounds over two days.

The "Mo"Morial Invitational will play host to five teams ranked within the top fifty in NCAA Division I standings. Some familiar competition for the Lady Broncs will include 45th-ranked Baylor University, Kansas, who is currently ranked 62nd, and top-ranked among the competition Southern Methodist University at 23rd. UTPA is currently ranked 106th and goes into the tournament ahead of only one team within the competition.

"This tournament is one that we have waited five years to be able to compete in. It hosts some of the best competition in the country, and our girls are really excited about the opportunity to play at this Invitational. We've never played the course, and we have heard it is tough, but the girls are up for the difficult task they have ahead of them," stated head coach Barb Odale.

The team closed out the fall season with two tournament first-place finishes, including the Ellingson/SHSU Invitational (Oct. 25-26) crown with a team score of 920. They also had a record-breaking performance at the Lady Bronc Classic where the team broke the 300 barrier for the first time in program history with a 299 second round score en route to taking the tournament championship.

Junior Stephanie Maynard (Pflugerville, TX/Pflugerville H.S.) captured her fourth career individual title at the Lady Bronc Classic, while Elizabeth Rodriguez (Kingwood, TX/Kingwood H.S.) posted a career-low 231 at SHSU. The Lady Broncs are hoping to ride the momentum of the fall into the spring with a solid performance at the "Mo"Morial.

"We were able to build some confidence in our playing this fall. Stephanie and Elizabeth have really come into a groove within their games, and they are trusting in themselves and what they know. It's an advantage for us getting those wins as the fall season came to a close because we have continued to be focused and no one is going through the motions. We want to keep that momentum on our side," said Odale.

Rounding out the top five for UTPA will be Nikki Boychuk (Conroe, TX/Willis H.S.), Daniela Cortes (Aguascalientes, Mexico/Colegio Portugal) and Crystal Frazier (Coolidge, TX/Wortham H.S.).

"This will be the same line-up that captured those two fall tournament titles. I know they are ready for the competition and just hope that the excitement of the event doesn't overwhelm them. We have a goal set of finishing 10th which seems low, but in reality would mean we had beat three teams ranked higher than us. A finish like that would get us closer to that 60-70 ranking margin that we are shooting for this season," concluded Odale.

The team will play the first two rounds of action on Monday (Feb. 28) and the final round on Tuesday (Mar. 1).

UTPA Sports Information