TCU rallied from a three-stroke deficit entering Saturday’s final round to win the 2011 Mountain West Conference Women’s Golf Championship.
The Horned Frogs’ final-round 4-under-par 284 was their fourth-lowest round in program history. TCU was at 1-over 865 for the tournament, its second-best score all time and surpassed only by an 859 at the 2008 Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown.
TCU won its second Mountain West Conference championship in the last five years. Both titles saw the Horned Frogs stage a late rally. In 2007, TCU trailed by six strokes entering the final round before capturing the championship by one shot.
TCU’s 865 finished five strokes ahead of runner-up UNLV.
It’s the fourth conference championship in the 17-year tenure of TCU head coach Angie Ravaioli-Larkin. In addition to the 2007 MWC title, the Horned Frogs also won the 2002 Conference USA and 1998 WAC Championships.
Three Horned Frogs shot below par Saturday, led by Rachel Raastad’s 69.
Raastad recorded her third sub-70 round of the season. The junior from Asker, Norway, had four birdies over her final 10 holes.
With a final-round 71, Prisela Campbell was the Horned Frogs’ top finisher as she placed fourth. It was the second straight top-four finish for the Fossil Ridge High School graduate from Keller, Texas.
Sanna Nuutinen, the 2011 MWC Freshman of the Year, also recorded a 71 for TCU.
Brooke Beeler and Melissa Loh tied for seventh individually for the Horned Frogs. Beeler shot par on 15 holes Saturday en route to a 73.
UNLV’s Therese Koelbaek took medalist honors with a 7-under-par 209.
The two-lowest conference tournament rounds TCU has shot occurred this weekend with Saturday’s 284 and Thursday’s opening-round 288.
Combined with a victory at the Alamo Invitational, TCU has won two tournament championships in the same season for the first time since the 1997-98 campaign when it captured the Dick McGuire Invitational and WAC Championship.
TCU will be making its 16th-consecutive postseason appearance when NCAA Regional play begins May 5.
Team Scores
1. TCU – 288-293-284=865
2. UNLV – 286-292-292=870
3. BYU – 292-294-296=882
4. New Mexico – 303-289-292=884
5. San Diego State – 301-296-290=887
6. Colorado State – 300-297-292=889
7. Wyoming – 305-300-305=910
TCU Scores
4. Prisela Campbell – 70-74-71=215
T7. Brooke Beeler – 73-72-73=218
T7. Melissa Loh – 72-72-74=218
T12. Rachel Raastad – 73-79-69=221
T15. Sanna Nuutinen – 76-75-71=222
