LARAMIE, Wyo. (Feb. 23, 2018) -- The University of Wyoming women's golf team will begin its second tournament of the spring season in Las Vegas on Monday. They will be competing in the Rebel Beach Invitational, which is co-hosted by UNLV and Long Beach State.
"This tournament is new to us so it will be quite unique to be a part of," head coach
Josey Stender said. "It is once again a very competitive field. As far as teams and individuals ranked, it may be the toughest outside of the Mountain West tournament and our event. It will no doubt be a challenge for us, but I think this group is up to the task. This course may favor a little bit to an accurate, yet aggressive type player, so we've taken that in to account and have been able to prepare quite a bit in our facility. We'll take our time during the practice round and go from there. I'm confident in this group's abilities to adjust when they need to. We are a solid group from top to bottom, so I'm excited to see them compete."
Next on the Tee
The Rebel Beach will take place at the Spanish Trail Country Club in the Entertainment Capital of the World. On Monday, the field will play 36 holes on the 6,355-yard, par 72 course, with the final 18 on Tuesday. A shotgun start will highlight each day, as the tournament begins at 9:30 a.m. MT on both days.
Live scoring will be provided through BirdieFire and can be found using the link above. The 12-team field will consist of Wyoming, UNLV, Long Beach State, BYU, Idaho, Kennesaw State, Nevada, New Mexico, Northern Arizona, Ole Miss, UC Irvine and Colorado State.
From Golfstat.com, four teams within the top-50 are scheduled to compete in the Rebel Beach. Ole Miss is ranked 38th in the nation, as UNLV is 40th. Kennesaw State holds the 42nd spot, while BYU is ranked 48th. Individually, New Mexico's Ingrid Gutierrez leads the field with a 71.00 scoring average, good for 20th in the NCAA. Idaho's Sophie Hausmann is 52nd at 72.07, as Sofia Anokhina of NAU is sitting 81st with a 72.53 scoring average and Darian Zachek of UNM is 83rd at 72.58.
Weather Forecast
The Weather Channel predicts Monday to have plentiful sunshine with a high of 63 degrees. Tuesday will feature a high of 53 degrees with sunshine and mixed clouds as well as a slim to none, but entirely possible 20 percent chance of rain throughout the morning.
Cowgirl Lineup
The Brown and Gold lineup in Vegas will be
Gabrielle Gibson,
Megan Knadler,
Erin Sargent,
Caitlyn Skavdahl and
Kaylee Knadler.
Sarah Hankins will compete as an individual for UW.
UW Leaders
Gibson has led the squad in four separate tournaments this year. She has a team-best 72.9 scoring average, and is followed by Sargent at 75.7.
Megan Knadler averages 77.2 after playing in all 15 rounds this year, with twin Kaylee close behind at 77.6. Furthermore,
Hankins, who has also played in 15 rounds also has a 77.9 scoring average.
Last Time Out
Wyoming women's golf team held steady during the final day of the Battle at the Rock to claim tenth place as a team. UW was led by Gibson who posted her fourth top-10 finish of the year. Gibson tied for tenth after shooting a 77 (+5) during the final round at the Oak Quarry Golf Club. Wyoming closed out the tournament with a 309 (+21) for a three-round total of 912 (+48).
Up Next
The Cowgirls will next take part in the BYU Entrada Classic beginning Monday, March 12. The two-day event will take place in St. George, Utah.
