April 19, 2000
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's golf team will head to Lubbock, Texas, where they'll look to claim the Big 12 Conference title at the 2000 Big 12 Championships.
The tournament is a three-day affair, with 18 holes played each day at Lubbock Country Club, which features a par-72, 6,523-yard layout.
Missouri, at No. 31, is one of nine conference teams ranked in the top-50 of the latest MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings. Other ranked conference teams include #9 Oklahoma State, #15 Texas, #23 Oklahoma, #26 Nebraska, #30 Texas Tech, #33 Baylor, #39 Texas A&M and #47 Colorado.
A win would mark Missouri's first-ever conference championship in women's golf. MU's best finish was a pair of second-place showings in the Big Eight Conference (1980 and 1985). MU's best showing since the Big 12 formation was a fourth-place effort in 1997. The Tigers finished in sixth-place last season.
About the Tigers
In addition to playing for the conference title, Head Coach Tom Loyd's Tigers will be jockeying for position for a berth in the NCAA West Regional, which is set for May 11-13 in Tempe, Ariz.
Entering the Big 12 Championships, MU ranked 8th in the west region (as of April 6th rankings). Last season, the Tigers earned a regional bid as the #9 team in the West Region. They'll be going for their third straight regional bid.
1999 Big 12 Rewind
Mizzou will look to make amends for what it considered a less-than-pleasing performance at last year's Big 12 championship tournament, where MU finished in sixth place.
MU entertained hopes of challenging for the team title, and stood in third place after an opening round of 303. Mizzou slipped to fifth after a second-round 307, but dropped to sixth after closing with a 314. MU's 924 total left them just 18 shots back of champion Oklahoma State, which won with a 906 total.
Individually, sophomore Jamie Tucker led the way for MU, as she tied for sixth place with a three-round total of 225. She finished just six strokes off titleist Maria Boden of Oklahoma State (219).
Junior Tobi Probst had a solid outing, and turned in a 21st-place finish ? and shot a personal-best 231 54-hole total in the process.
Senior Stefanie Mitchell, who came into the tournament as one of the potential favorites, struggled to find her game, and could manage no better than a tie for 25th, with a 233 total.
Rounding out the Tiger lineup were sophomore Amelia Moses (34th ? 235) and freshman Nisha Sadekar (T-54th ? 246).
Tiger Individuals
Playing in the No. 1 spot for Missouri is junior AMELIA MOSES. Moses has established herself as the Tigers' top player this season, and enters the Big 12 Championships ranked 10th in the league with a season stroke average of 76.60. That's more than a full stroke better than her career average of 77.71 prior to the 1999-2000 season.
Moses has shown she has the ability to challenge for the title, as she's posted two top-10 finishes this spring. She placed 3rd at the Midwest Classic and followed that with a 4th-place showing at the prestigious GTE MO-Morial in Houston. She shot identical 54-hole totals of 228 in both tournaments, which is a spring season best for the Coronationville, South Africa native.
In the No. 2 spot for Missouri is sophomore NISHA SADEKAR, who has been one of the most improved golfers in the Big 12 Conference this season. She currently ranks 16th in the Big 12 with a season stroke average of 77.48 ? nearly three full strokes better than her freshman average of 80.46.
In the No. 3 spot for Missouri is junior JAMIE TUCKER. Tucker enters the conference championships ranked 26th in the league, with a season average of 78.09. She hopes to repeat her showing at the 1999 Big 12 Championships, where she tied for 6th, and finished just six strokes off the lead. After posting five top-20 finishes in the 1999 spring season, Tucker is looking for her first such showing this spring.
Senior TOBI PROBST holds down MU's number four spot in the lineup, and the Columbus, Ind. native ranks 33rd in the league with a season average of 78.52. That's more than two full strokes better than her career average of 80.60 entering the season. Probst is MU's most experienced player at the conference championship level, as this will mark her 4th such appearance. In nine previous Big 12 Championship rounds, Probst has averaged 80.11 per round. Her best finish came last year, when she tied for 16th at Boulder. She's notched three top-20 finishes this spring.
Rounding out the Tiger contingent in Lubbock will be freshman ELIN OHLSSON. The Vetlanda, Sweden native ranks 45th in the league with a season average of 79.70. Ohlsson's best finish of the season came at the Midwest Classic, where she tied for 11th with a 54-hole total of 239. She's coming off her best 54-hole total of the season, when she shot a 234 at the Utah-Dixie Classic.
Head Coach Tom Loyd
Leading the University of Missouri Women's Golf program into the 21st Century is Missouri native and MU graduate Tom Loyd.
Loyd, 49, has been associated with Tiger Golf for over 27 years. Now in his second season as head coach of the Tiger women's team, he has the women's program positioned among the Big 12 Conference's best.
Loyd took over as head coach in July of 1998, when longtime skipper Mary Scott stepped down after 13 years.
Under Loyd's direction, Missouri enjoyed one of its finest campaigns ever during the 1998-99 season.
Last season saw the Tigers win two tournaments and finish in the top five in five other competitions. As a result, MU qualified as a team for the NCAA West Regional for just the second time in school history.
Loyd's Tigers finished 16th at the regional, and did not advance to the NCAA Championships, but the team's appearance served notice that the program is one of the nation's up-and-comers.
A native of Carthage, Mo., Loyd has been closely associated with collegiate golf at MU since 1969. He was a four-year letterman for the Tiger men's team from 1969-72, and after serving in the U.S. Army from 1972 through 1974, he returned to MU to complete his master's degree in mathematics, which he earned in 1975.
He began assisting the Tiger men's golf team in 1977, and continued to work with former men's coach Richard Poe until 1997. From 1977-90, Loyd also served as the Assistant Golf Professional at the Country Club of Missouri.
After serving as the country club's head pro in 1991, Loyd began his association with Tiger women's golf in 1992, when he took over as interim head coach for Mary Scott, who would return to the post in 1993.