Women's Golf in Second at The "Mo"Morial

Monday, September 8

Bryan, Texas (Traditions Club)

All Day

University of Houston

The "Mo"Morial

9/8/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf

Sept. 8, 2014

Live Scoring \| First-Round Results \| Schedule

Team		Rounds				Score
		1	2	3	F
1.	Auburn	291			291	+3
2.	Houston	294			294	+6
3.	Florida State	296			296	+8
4.	Kentucky	298			298	+10
5.	UTSA	299			299	+11
T6.	TCU	303			303	+15
T6.	Texas A&M	303			303	+15
8.	Stephen F. Austin	307			307	+19
9.	Troy	310			310	+22
10.	ULM	311			311	+23
11.	Tulsa	315			315	+27

HOUSTON LEADERS
		1	2	3	F
T5.	Raegan Bremer	72			72	E
T5.	Maddy Rayner	72			72	E
T13.	Megan Thothong	74			74	+2
T26.	Emily Gilbreth	76			76	+4
T26.	Courtney Tibiletti (Ind.)	76			76	+4
T43.	Yuka Kajiki	78			78	+6

OVERALL LEADERS
		1	2	3	F
1.	Kayla Jones Florida State	69			69	-3
T2.	Alex Harrell Auburn	71			71	-1
T2.	Haley Mills Kentucky	71			71	-1
T2.	Lana Hodge ULM	71			71	-1
T5.	Raegan Bremer Houston	72			72	E
T5.	Maddy Rayner Houston	72			72	E
T5.	Clara Baena Auburn	72			72	E
T5.	Jamie Yun Auburn	72			72	E
T5.	Mackenzie Steiner Stephen F. Austin	72			72	E

BRYAN, Texas - Competing in its first event in which it's eligible for the team title, the University of Houston Women's Golf program enjoyed a good showing Monday during the First Round of The "Mo"Morial, played at Texas A&M's Traditions Club.

The Cougars posted a team score of 294 to stand just three strokes back of first-day leader Auburn through 18 holes on the 6,206-yard, par-72 course. Junior Raegan Bremer and freshman Maddy Rayner each posted even-par 72s to lead the Cougars as Rayner made her collegiate debut.

"It has been nice to have all the `first-evers', but now it's nice to get them over with. Our young women handled all of that well, and it was a great round today," Head Coach Gerrod Chadwell said. "There is a lot of golf left, and this is a course that does not give up a lot. Our attitude was great, and we stuck to the game plan, and the results showed that."

Following the Cougars, Florida State (296), Kentucky (298) and UTSA (299) rounded out the top-5 team leaders.

With their First-Round 72s, both Bremer and Rayner were tied for fifth on the individual leaderboard. Bremer, who competed in match play during the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship in early August, was a steady leader for the Cougars all day.

Starting her day on No. 10, the Anaheim, Calif., native birdied her second hole of the day at No. 11. Although she endured a pair of bogeys in her round, she answered with a birdie on the par-3 second hole and closed out her day with seven straight pars.

"Our challenge to Raegan has been to validate what she did last year," Chadwell said. "She had a good round to start the season, especially after her run at the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship. Raegan was solid all day, and we look for her to continue to improve in this tournament and throughout the season."

Rayner was equally impressive in her first tournament wearing the Scarlet and White. The Southlake, Texas, native fought through a bogey on the 13th hole but settled down to sink birdies on Nos. 16, 2 and 7 to move to -2 with only a double-bogey 6 on her final hole of the day to blemish her scorecard.

"Maddy was rock solid all day today. It was good to get her out early, because she doesn't like to wait around," Chadwell said. "She got the ball rolling for us."

Like Rayner, freshman Megan Thothong made her collegiate debut Monday and was tied for 13th with a 74. Sophomore Emily Gilbreth and freshman Courtney Tibiletti - who competed as an individual - were tied for 26th with 76s, while freshman Yuka Kajiki was tied for 43rd with a 78.

Florida State's Kayla Jones held the First-Round individual lead with a 69, while Alex Harrell (Auburn), Haley Mills (Kentucky) and Lana Hodge were tied for second with 71s. Bremer and Rayner joined Auburn teammates Clara Baena and Jamie Yun, TCU's Alexandra Bonetti and Mackenzie Steiner of TCU in a group with 72s.

While the 2014-15 season is not the first year of Houston Women's Golf's existence, it is the first time the Cougars will compete for team championships at tournaments. A year ago, the Cougars competed with only four student-athletes on its roster - in accordance with NCAA rules for new programs - and were only eligible for individual titles.

Under Head Coach Gerrod Chadwell and Assistant Coach Lucy Nunn, the Cougars welcomed six newcomers to Houston this season and will compete for both team and individual titles this season.

SECOND-ROUND SCHEDULE
The Second Round begins at 8 a.m., Tuesday. Houston will compete in threesomes with student-athletes from Auburn and Florida State and start off No. 1.

Kajiki will start the round for Houston at 9:03 a.m., and be followed by Gilbreth (9:12 a.m.), Thothong (9:21 a.m.), Rayner (9:30 a.m.) and Bremer (9:39 a.m.). Tiblietti will tee off No. 10 at 9:21 a.m., playing with ULM's Lana Hodge and Nadia Majidizadeh of Tulsa.

Fans can follow the Cougars by visiting BirdieFire.com and following the appropriate links or by clicking here. The three-day tournament runs through Wednesday.

STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive live scoring updates throughout the season and more by following @UHCougarWGolf on Twitter and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team's Facebook page at HoustonCougarWomensGolf.