Women’s Golf set for annual Claud Jacobs Invitational

The UHV women's golf team will look to build off a strong final round in their previous tournament when they open play at the Claud Jacobs Invitational on Monday at The Club at Colony Creek.

The Jaguars took off 22 strokes in the final round of the Jack Brown Memorial Invite in Laredo on Feb. 6. It was the biggest improvement in the field of mostly NCAA Division II teams.

"It was good to see us battle back to make those improvements," said head coach Garrett Adair. "Now we get a chance to build on that against a field that will rival our conference tournament field. I'm excited to see how the girls handle the challenge."

Junior Emmily Bickelmann turned in a 79 in the opening round of the Jack Brown, marking the fifth time in eight rounds the Weisbaden, Germany, native has shot in the 70s.

Bickelmann and senior Mia Lerma finished T-3 in their last home tournament, the UHV Fall Classic at the Victoria Country Club.

"Mia and Emmily have played a lot of golf and use that experience to their benefit," Adair said. "I hope they continue to lead from the front for us next week."

Cecelia Niemietz made a 15-stroke improvement between the two rounds at the Jack Brown, the biggest improvement for the Jaguars.

Big improvements like that helped UHV finish second at the UHV Fall Classic in October.

"These are good things to see because our team can challenge Our Lady of the Lake and other good teams," Adair said. "Now that we've seen us play like that, we need to take the next step. We're looking forward to that opportunity."

The 36-hole tournament will kick off at 9 a.m. Monday before concluding Tuesday.