Kendyll Ferrall
Kferral1@uwyo.edu
Falling four positions after adding 13 strokes onto their score, the University of Wyoming women’s golf team sits in 12th place as they head into the final round of the Rainbow Wahine Invitational in Wahiawa, Hawai’i.
Teeing off of at the Leilehua Golf Course on Tuesday morning, the Cowgirls shot a combined 306 (+18) for the first round. Securing a position in the top ten by two strokes, Wyoming sat in eighth place after the first 18 holes.
Sophomore Gabrielle Gibson paced the Cowgirls during the first round, coming in two strokes under with a 70. Gibson tied for second place on Tuesday morning after playing the entire first round alternating between one and two under par or at par.
“Great playing again by Gabrielle (Gibson) today, she was confident and relaxed from the get go,” head coach Josey Stender said in a press release on Tuesday.
Wednesday’s round saw Gibson slip on the leaderboard after she added nine strokes to her score in the second round. Peppered with bogeys, Gibson’s 79 (+7) scorecard dropped her to 12th place heading into the third round.
Gibson wasn’t the only Cowgirl whose short game suffered due to conditions at the 6,228-yard course. The entire team faced adjustments from the first to second round.
“This is definitely an adjustment for us with elevation and grass conditions,” Stender said. “Putting and club selection takes a tremendous amount of patience and confidence, and we will improve on that tomorrow.”
Freshman Megan Knadler shot the second lowest round-two score for the Cowgirls with an 80 (+8) on Tuesday and a 76 (+4) on Wednesday. Knadler got off to a rough start during the first round, shooting eight bogeys, but adjusted during the second round to take four strokes off of her score. Knadler was the only Cowgirl to shoot a lower score in the second round than in the first.
Sitting three strokes behind her sister, freshman Kaylee Knadler is currently tied for 59th place. Unable to balance out her score, K. Knadler fell 24 positions on the leaderboard after several bogeys and a five-over par shot at a 511-yard hole added five strokes onto her second-round score.
Also facing difficult second rounds, Junior Taylor Dorans and Sophomore Klara Castillo added strokes onto their scores after both shooting an 82 (+10) on Wednesday. Separated by one stroke, Dorans sits tied for 72nd place with 162 (+18) and Castillo is currently tied for 65th place with a 161 (+17).
“We came out a little flat today,” Stender said on Wednesday. “They fought hard and didn’t give up but we just couldn’t get anything done.”
UAB, Oral Roberts and Grand Canyon all stand in the way of Wyoming breaking back into the top ten by 11 strokes as the teams head into Thursday’s final round. Wyoming is currently 41 strokes behind tournament leader Brigham Young. Brigham Young leads second-place Mississippi and New Mexico State by eight strokes.
Despite facing a sizable stroke deficit heading into the third round, Stender remains optimistic that the Cowgirls will make improvements during the last 18 holes.
“These girls are resilient and positive,” Stender said.
The Cowgirls wrapped up play at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational on Thursday evening, but results were unavailable at the time of printing. Wyoming will continue play in February 2016 at the Grand Canyon Invitational in Litchfield Park, Arizona.
