Missouri women’s golf completed its first tournament of the 2017 season at the Jim West Challenge in The Woodlands, Texas. The tournament began Sept. 11 and finished on Sept. 12 at The Club at Carlton Woods.
Juniors Emma Allen, Marit Harryvan, Cayce Hendrickson, sophomore Jessica Yuen and senior Clara Young were the starters for the tournament.
The Tigers got off to a great start on day one, holding sixth place as a team. Allen was tied for first place through 18 holes after carding an opening-round 66, matching her career best of 5-under-par. She carried the momentum through day two, posting her best start to a 36-hole tournament in her career. She finished the tournament tied for 12th place, up from her finish last year of 15th.
Meanwhile, Yuen carded a 65 in the second round, tying the program’s 18-hole individual record. Going into day two, she was tied for second place after carding 70 in the opening round and finishing with 65 in the second. Not only did she tie the program record in a single round, she defeated her previous career low of 69 and carded a 70 or lower for the third and fourth time in her career. She finished the weekend tied for third place with a total of 204.
The Tigers competed against four teams ranked in the top 25 from last season, including No. 7 Duke, who finished first. Overall, Missouri finished the weekend in sixth place with a total of 854, a huge improvement from last year’s finish at 11th place out of 15 teams with a total of 878.
Missouri will compete again Sept. 18-19 in Knoxville, Tennessee, at the Mercedes Championship.
_Edited by Joe Noser | Jnoser@themaneater.com_