The University of Missouri women's golf team continues its 2019-20 fall season this weekend in San Marcos, Texas, where they will take part in the Jim West Challenge, to be contested Oct. 20-21 at Kissing Tree Golf Club. The 54-hole tournament features 15 teams, and will see 36 holes played on Sunday, followed by the final 18 on Monday.
Head Coach Stephanie Priesmeyer's Tiger squad is looking to keep momentum going, as Mizzou is fresh off it's first win of the season, when they cruised to a seven-shot team win in the 2019 Johnie Imes Invitational played at the Club at Old Hawthorne, in Columbia, Mo. At the Jim West, the Tigers will battle with a tournament field which includes eight teams currently ranked in the top-60 according to the latest Golf Stat rankings, including No. 15 Ole Miss, No. 22 Houston, No. 25 Florida State, No. 32 Oklahoma, No. 40 Texas Tech, No. 44 Texas A&M, No. 46 Miami, Fla. and No. 60 TCU. Mizzou, ranked No. 80 currently according to Golf Stat, will also be competing alongside No. 74 Notre Dame, No. 82 Kansas State, No. 94 and tournament host Texas State, No. 98 Texas-San Antonio, No. 105 UNLV and No. 122 Memphis.
The Tiger lineup will feature the same five that claimed the program's sixth-straight Johnie Imes title, with a little change to the order. Holding down the No. 1 spot in the lineup for the third-straight tournament is junior Noelle Beijer (Assendelft, The Netherlands). Beijer challenged for medalist honors at the Imes, where she eventually finished third overall with a three-round 211 total (69-71-71) – just two shots off the lead.
Playing in the second spot for the first time this season is senior Cherise Otter (Bloomington, Ind.). Otter is coming off a tie for fourth at the Imes (her career-best collegiate finish), where she shot a three-day 213 total (71-69-73) and finished just four shots shy of winning her first collegiate individual title. Otter tied for 23rd last season at the Jim West Challenge, with a three-round 218 (70-76-72), finishing second among Tiger competitors.
Otter will have a special honor at the Jim West Challenge, as she will carry the Folds of Honor bag that celebrates the life of 1st Lieutenant William Anthony Edens, a Mizzou grad who was killed during service in Iraq on April 28, 2005. Throughout the course of this season, a designated member of the Tiger lineup will carry a special golf bag embroidered with Lt. Edens' name. The team asks that fans consider pledging a dollar amount for every birdie made this season by the Tiger carrying Lt. Edens' bag (one-time flat donations are also certainly welcomed).
For more information on 1st Lt. Edens and how to donate to the season-long fundraiser, please visit www.MUTigers.com/FoldsOfHonor. The total amount of birdies collected with the Folds of Honor bag is 17 heading into the Jim West Challenge.
Freshman Sophia Yoemans (Red Wing, Minn.) will occupy the third spot in the Tiger lineup for the Jim West. She has notched consecutive top-20 individual finishes in her last two outings, tying for 12th overall at the Mason Rudolph Challenge, followed by a tie for 18th last time out at the Johnie Imes. Yoemans shot a three-day 224 total at the Imes (77-75-72), which was preceded by a 217 at the Mason Rudolph, which included a final-round three-under par 69.
Fellow rookie Bri Bolden (Mokena, Ill.) will play in the number four spot for the Tigers this week, and she's coming off the best collegiate finish of her young career, when she tied for 13th at the Johnie Imes with a three-day 222 total (75-74-73). The final-round 73 at the Imes tied her collegiate best round, to date.
Round out the Tiger lineup is sophomore Julia Bower (Columbia, Mo.), who will play in the fifth spot for Priesmeyer. Bower is also coming off her best-ever collegiate finish, when she tied for 35th at the Imes recently, with a three-day 227 total (75-76-76). Her 54-hole total tied her collegiate best.
For all the latest on Mizzou Women's Golf, stay tuned to www.MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter (@MUWomensGolf) and on Facebook at MizzouWomensGolf.