The University of Missouri Women's Golf team will close the fall portion of its 2019-20 season this weekend at the Battle at the Beach tournament, set for Nov. 1-3 in San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico. The tournament, which will feature 54 holes (18 holes each day), will be contested at the San Jose Club Campestre, a par 71 course set up to play 6,250 yards. All three rounds will have a morning shotgun start. Live scoring will be available for the tournament at https://www.birdiefire.com/tournament/61348/
The 16-team field features four top-20 teams according to the latest Golf Stat rankings, including: No. 11 Vanderbilt, No. 14 Ole Miss, No. 18 LSU and No. 20 Virginia Tech. Other opponents for Mizzou will include Augusta, Denver, Kansas State, Indianapolis, Iowa, Nebraska, San Jose State, Texas A&M, TCU, Texas Tech and UAB.
This will mark the second consecutive year that Head Coach Stephanie Priesmeyer's club will play in the Battle at the Beach. In 2018, her Tigers tied for seventh place in a 17-team field, with a three-day team score of 879 (302-285-292). Junior Jessica Yuen (out this season with a wrist injury) led all Tigers, as she tied for fifth place individually in the tournament, with a three-day total of even-par 213 (76-70-67). The only Tiger currently in this year's lineup who played in 2018 is senior Cherise Otter (Bloomington, Ind.), who tied for 53rd last year with a 54-hole score of 228 (81-71-76). Otter will play in the No. 2 spot in the Tiger lineup this year. She carries a fall scoring average of 74.89 into the Battle at the Beach in nine rounds overall, which is third-best on the squad coming in.
Playing in the No. 1 spot in the Tiger lineup is junior transfer Noelle Beijer (Assendelft, The Netherlands). In her first year with the program, Beijer leads the Tigers, and ranks fifth in the SEC with her season stroke average of 71.27. Beijer has a pair of top-10 finishes, and has finished no worse than 22nd in all four fall outings thus far. Seven of her 11 rounds to date have been under par, and Beijer has been low performer in three of the team's four tournaments this fall.
Beijer will have a special honor at the Battle at the Beach, 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 25 heading into the Battle at the Beach.
Following at No. 3 in the order is freshman Sophia Yoemans (Red Wing, Minn.), who has the second-best stroke average on the team this fall, at 73.82 in 11 rounds. Yoemans has turned in top-20 finishes in two-of-four tournaments in her first fall with the program, including a tie for 12th at the Mason Rudolph Challenge, followed by a tie for 18th at the Johnie Imes Invitational.
Fellow freshman Bri Bolden (Mokena, Ill.), who will celebrate her birthday on Halloween Day, occupies the No. 4 spot in the lineup. Bolden has a season stroke average of 75.36 and is looking to improve on her season-best finish of T-13 at the Johnie Imes, where she shot a personal-best 222 over 54 holes (75-74-73).
Rounding out the Tiger lineup will be sophomore Julia Bower (Columbia, Mo.) in the No. 5 spot. Bower is looking to follow up her final round last time out at the Jim West Challenge, when she closed the tournament by firing a season best tying 75 in the final round. Bower's best 54-hole showing this fall was a 227 (75-76-76) at the Johnie Imes, when she finished tied for 35th overall.
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.