HAYLEY, RACHAEL MAKING THEIR MARK FOR BAYLOR AND DENVER

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com

England's Hayley Davis and Scotland's Rachael Watton have not taken long to make their mark for their new universities in America -  Hayley for Baylor University at Waco, Texas, and Rachael for Denver University, Colorado.

Making only their second competitive appearance since they moved across the Atlantic for the next four years, Hayley (pictured left) finished second and Rachael (pictured right) T9 in a field of 93 at the Dick McGuire Invitational which finished early today (USA time) at the University of New Mexico's challenging par-73 championship at Albuquerque.

Sofia Hoglund (New Mexico), playing over her "home" course, led into the third and final round with scores of 71 and 68 but in that she slipped to a 77 for 216, allowing the field to take closer order.
Hayley Davis, who bogeyed her second last hole - the second, came up one short of tieing with Sofia. She had very steady scores of 72, 73 and 72 for 217.
Watton, from Edinburgh and a Mortonhall GC member, finished joint 11th in her US debut the previous week in the Golf Week Conference Challenge. So this was her first top-10 finish for Denver at the second attempt.
Rachael, 19, scored 76, 71 and 74 for 221. She birdied the seventh, ninth and 18th in her final round but too many bogeys meant she finished the round one-over-par. Still, the Scot is improving and is already leading the Denver team.
Hayley Davis's effort enabled Baylor (887) to win the team title, four shots ahead of joint second Denver and Texas Christian on 891. Eighteen teams were in the field.
Another Denver player, Sarah Faller from Ireland, finished 26th on 228 with scores of 75, 75 and 76.

England international Ellis Keenan did not have a good tournament for UNLV. She scored 84, 84 and 79 for 247 - 28 over par for 54 holes.

FROM THE BAYLOR UNIVERSITY WEBSITE:

ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE HAYLEY WINS
It was the first tournament victory of the (new coach) Jay Goble era and Baylor’s first win since April 2010 at the Baylor Spring Invitational. It was also Baylor’s first fall win since September 2005 at the Ptarmigan/Ram Fall Classic.
“Pin placements were very tough, but we played smart golf and hit the ball very well,” Goble said. “I knew we would play well if we had a few putts drop. It’s pretty awesome to win and beat several teams ranked way ahead of us.”
Freshman Hayley Davis turned in her second consecutive second-place performance to begin her collegiate career. Davis shot a final-round 1-under 72 to finish 2-under (72-73-72=217) for the tournament, one stroke behind the individual champion, New Mexico’s Sofia Hoglund (3-under 216). Davis was one of only three golfers to finish the tournament under-par.
Chelsey Cothran carded a final-round 72 to finish the tournament at even-par 219, tying for fourth overall. It is Cothran’s second career top-five finish and fifth top-10 finish. Davis and Cothran were among four golfers (out of 96) to finish the day with a sub-par final round score.
“Once again, Hayley (Davis) and Chelsey (Cothran) continued their good play,” Goble said. “Hayley had a chance to win it, but couldn’t get a few putts to fall. She’s playing her way into contention every time. She’ll get some wins; it’s only a matter of time.”
In two weeks, Baylor returns to New Mexico for the Price’s NMSU Invitational, which will be held Oct. 10-12 in Las Cruces.

LIZI SWEETNAM DOWN THE FIELD AT CHERRY SPRINGS

Lizi Sweenam from London, a student at Arkansas Technical University, finished joint 35th in the NSU Classic at Cherry Springs golf course, Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

Over a par-72, 5806yd course, Lizi had scores of 79 and 86 for 165.

Winner with level par 144 was Kelsey Kirkpatrick (Northeastern State) with scores of 71 and 73, winning by one from team-mate Whitney McAteer (74-71).

Northeastern State (597) won the team title ahead of Midwestern state (609) with Arkansas Tech and Arkansas-Fort Smith joint third on 641 in a field of 14 teams.