It's time to knock off the winter rust for the Mizzou Women's Golf Team, as the Tigers get back to action this weekend in Arizona, where they'll open the 2020 spring season at the Westbrook Invitational. Mizzou will tee it up against 15 other programs in a 54-hole, two-day competition that begins with 36 holes on Sunday (Feb. 23) and a final 18 on Monday (Feb. 24). The annual tournament will take place at the Westbrook Village Golf Club - Vistas Course, which offers a scenic and challenging par 72, 6,252-yard layout.
Live results will be available online at Birdie Fire (https://birdiefire.com/tournament/63152/), with shotgun starts scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. (central time) both days.
Mizzou Head Coach Stephanie Priesmeyer will be taking a new-look lineup to Westbrook, as only one Tiger in this week's starting five played in this tournament last season.
Leading the way for Mizzou in the spring is junior Noelle Beijer (Assendelft, The Netherlands), who opens as No. 1 in the lineup, and for good reason as the transfer from Florida Tech led the Tigers in most every way during the fall season. Her 71.93 scoring average in 14 fall rounds (five tournaments) was 10th-best in the Southeastern Conference, with 10 of her rounds coming home at par or better. Three of Beijer's tournaments ended in top-20 finishes, including a best of third place at the 2019 Johnie Imes Invitational.
Playing in the number two slot for the Tigers is senior Cherise Otter (Bloomington, Ind.), who turned in a solid fall after battling back from a wrist injury that cut her junior season short. Otter was third on the team in the fall with a 75.17 scoring average in four starts (12 rounds), which featured a career-best fourth-place finish at the Johnie Imes.
Also making their first Westbrook Invitational appearances will be the freshman tandem of Bri Bolden (Mokena, Ill.) and Sophia Yoemans (Red Wing, Minn.). Both rookies cracked the starting five this past fall and excelled, as they each made five starts. Bolden, who will play in the Westbrook Invitational in the No. 3 spot in the lineup, was fourth in the fall on the squad with a 75.71 average, while Yoemans, who will play in the No. 4 spot, finished with a fall average of 73.86 - good for second-best on the team.
Bolden will have a special honor at the Westbrook, 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 35 heading into the Westbrook Invitational.
Sophomore Keagan Dunn (Braselton, Ga.) will get her first start this season for Priesmeyer, and she is the only returning Tiger who played in last year's Westbrook Invitational. Dunn, who played in one tournament this fall as an individual, had her best collegiate showing so far in last year's Westbook, when she tied for 35th (second-best on the team) with a career-best three-round total of 218 (73-74-71).
Six top-50 teams according to the Golf Stat team rankings will be part of the 16-team field, including No. 19 Illinois, No. 29 Mississippi State, No. 33 Oklahoma, No. 42 Tennessee, No. 44 Ohio State and No. 47 Denver. Nine more schools - including the 82nd-ranked Tigers, are inside the latest top-100 team rankings and are vying for spots in the post season this spring. Wisconsin is the tournament host school.
The Tigers are looking to improve on a 13th-place finish at the 2019 Westbrook Invitational, when Mizzou shot rounds of 289-291-291 for an 871 total that left them just four shots shy of 10th place.
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.