April 26, 1999

Columbia, Mo. - For the second straight year, and just the second time in school history, the University of Missouri women's golf team has been selected to play in the NCAA Championships. Missouri will join Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech as one of five Big 12 Conference schools participating in the NCAA West Regional, which will be held May 6-8 at Pine Forest Country Club in Houston, Texas.

Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Missouri will be five of 20 teams consisting of the West and Far West districts that will participate in the West regional at Pine Forest CC. The West regional is hosted by Texas A&M.

Oklahoma State was ranked third in the West regional behind No. 1 Tulsa and No. 2 TCU. Texas was third, followed by New Mexico State fifth, New Mexico sixth, Texas A&M seventh, Texas Tech eighth, and Missouri ninth.

Besides the West regional in Houston, the East regional, consisting of 23 teams, will be held at the University of South Carolina, also May 6-8. A total of 204 participants were selected for the two NCAA regional competitions. These teams and individuals will be attempting to advance to the NCAA Championships May 19-22 at Tulsa Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. Ninety-nine of the 204 players will advance to the championship finals in Tulsa.

Oklahoma State won the 1999 Big 12 championships April 19-21 in Boulder, Colo. The Cowgirls shot a three-round total of 906, defeating runner-up Texas by two strokes at 908. Texas Tech (911) placed third and Texas A&M fourth (918). Missouri, the league's other NCAA qualifier, finished sixth at the Big 12 Championships with a 924, four strokes behind fifth-place Oklahoma (920).

Head Coach Tom Loyd's Tigers will be making their second-straight NCAA team appearance, and the first under Loyd. In 1998, Missouri placed 15th of 20 teams in the NCAA West Regional.