Mizzou women’s golf took first place at the Johnie Imes Invitational, hosting the tournament at the Club at Old Hawthorne in Columbia from Oct. 3-4. It is the only time all season that the Tigers are scheduled to play in Columbia.
It was a special tournament for the Tigers, as the team partnered up with the Rally for Rhyan campaign, an effort of assistant men’s basketball coach Brad Loos and his family to raise money for pediatric cancer research. Rally for Rhyan also provides a support network for 6-year-old Rhyan Loos, Brad Loos’ daughter who is in remission after battling cancer.
Mizzou, in addition to multiple teams participating in the tournament, has agreed to sponsor 16 children currently fighting cancer around the country, offering financial donations and support for their treatment.
“It was an easy decision to team up,” coach Stephanie Priesmeyer said. “The Mizzou family comes first, and it was also very nice to see all the teams that are participating contribute; it’s made it really special.”
Mizzou sent out a starting lineup of sophomore Emma Allen, senior Jess Meek, sophomore Cayce Hendrickson, freshman Jess Yuen and junior Clara Young. Since the tournament was hosted by the Tigers, three players competed individually: sophomore Marit Harryvan, sophomore Amanda Kim and freshman Cherise Otter.
“It’s a great thing to be a part of my senior year,” Meek said. “We’re really excited to have Rhyan behind us. It really has put a lot of things into perspective for me, not just for Rhyan, but for all the other kids who are fighting cancer.”
Fifteen schools competed in the tournament, including Rutgers, North Texas and Memphis. The Tigers easily had their way on Monday in round one, racing out to a six-shot lead over second-place Mercer.
Allen led the way for the Tigers. The Southampton, England, native fired an opening round 66 — the low round for the entire tournament — to take the individual lead.
Round two also took place on Monday, and the Tigers kept their lead through 36 holes. Strong play from Allen helped the team, along with a solid performance by Otter. The freshman from Bloomington, Indiana, fired an opening-round 69 and followed it up with a second-round 72 to finish the first day at 3 under par.
Round three took place Tuesday and saw the Tigers continue their consistent play. Though they shot +2 for the day, it was still enough to record the first victory of the 2016 season, finishing at even par overall and beating out Fresno State by three strokes to win the tournament. Florida International finished in third at +11, Kennesaw State finished fourth at +12 and Mercer and Troy tied for fifth at +17. It was the team’s first victory since winning the same tournament a season ago, and it was the third season in a row that Mizzou has won the event.
Individually, Medy Thavong of Kennesaw State finished first at -5. As for the Mizzou starters, Allen put together another strong finish with a sixth-place showing at -1. Yuen finished tied for eighth at even par, Hendrickson finished tied for 19th at +3, and Young and Meek finished tied for 30th at +6.
The Mizzou individuals recorded strong performances as well. Harryvan tied her teammate Yuen for eighth at even par. Kim finished tied for 12th at +1, and Otter finished tied for 21st at +4.
Mizzou led the tournament field in many statistical categories, including par 4 scoring average at 4.05, par 5 scoring average at 4.93, total birdies recorded and total eagles recorded.
The Tigers look to build on the momentum from this week’s victory in their next tournament, the Jim West Challenge in The Woodlands, Texas, from Oct. 9-10.
_Edited by Peter Baugh | pbaugh@themaneater.com_
