Best paces Women's Golf to seventh-place finish at Big 12 Championships
LINCOLN, Neb. -- The University of Texas women's golf team finished seventh at the 2006 Big 12 Championships held at the Country Club of Lincoln April 17-19 in Lincoln, Neb. hosted by Nebraska. Junior Julia Best placed eighth for a career-best finish at the conference tournament. Texas finished with a 69 over par team score of 933 after a final round 27 over par 315. Texas shot 314 on Monday in the opening round and 304 in the second round of play. The seventh place finish marks the 10th consecutive finish for UT among the top seven teams. Best shot a final round eight over par 80 to go with rounds of 75 and 73 on Monday and Tuesday, respectively. Her 12 over par total of 228 marks her best conference tournament score and finish. The Bulverde, Texas native's total of 288 was her third best three-card score of the season. It also marked Best's third top 10 finish this season out of eight outings. "The wind was a huge factor today and felt like we were playing in a tornado," said Best. "It was just a dogfight out on the course and the wind really added to the challenge. No matter how you finish a round you can always find a stroke you want back. I was happy to finish how I did with the wind but always want to help the team get as far up the leader board as I can." Texas A&M fired a final-round 304 to come from behind in windy conditions to claim the Big 12 Conference Title with a 35 over par 899 while the Aggies' Ashley Knoll won the individual title with a one under par 215. The Aggies came into the day one stroke behind Oklahoma State, but the Aggies finished eleven strokesahead of OSU, who shot318, to finish the tournament with 910. Missouri (313+287+327)tied tournament-host Nebraska (307+297+323) for fourth place with 927, while Colorado took third with 922. Senior Devan Andersen (Guadalajara, Mexico) shot a tournament best final round of even par 72 to climb the leader board and finish tied for 16th with a final score of 232. Andersen shot two pars and two birdies in the front nine and one par and one bogey in the back nine for even par. She has averaged 76.5 strokes in eight rounds at the Big 12s during her career. Victoria, Texas sophomore Kelley Louth moved up 11 spots after a solid final round of five over par 77. Louth finished tied for 30th with a score of 236 after rounds of 83, 76 and 77. Fellow sophomore Brittany Givilancz (Weslaco, Texas) struggled in the final day with a 14 over par round of 76. Givilancz posted a three-round total of 239 and finished in a tie for 40th. Freshman Caney Hines ended her first trip to the Big 12 Championships with a final round of 94 to finish in 57th place and a total score of 256. She also shot rounds of 83 on Monday and 79 on Tuesday. The Longhorns will now prepare for the NCAA Regional, which will take place May 11-13 at one of three sites, the Traditions Club in College Station, Texas, Bryan Park in Brown's Summit, N.C. or the Washington National Golf Club in Auburn, Wash.
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