Cougars Finish on a Good Note

Day 1 Recap

KAPELOI, Hawaii. — The BYU women’s golf team ended its fall season, showing promise for the upcoming winter as it placed sixth overall at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational.

Each round of golf improved upon the previous as the Cougars shot rounds of 305, 301 and 299. The final round 299 was an all-around effort by each member of the team.

"It was just like the tale of our season," BYU coach Carrie Roberts said. "We kept getting better with each tournament. Ashley had a great score yesterday, Amanda today and Maggie was Maggie."

Amanda Keith led the charge on the final day, shooting a team-low 70 in the last round. The 70 propelled Keith into the top-20 for the first time during the fall season.

Maggie Yuan led the Cougars for the fourth consecutive tournament. Her 13th-place finish was her highest finish of the season. Yuan has finished in the top 15 every tournament, including two top-10 finishes.

Consistency helped Yuan to compete with several of the best NCAA golfers. Yuan shot rounds of 74, 73 and finished with a 74. She had seven birdies throughout the course of the tournament.

“The team did really well,” Yuan said. “We struggled at the beginning, but settled in after the rain and the wind. I know I finished pretty well, but I believe that I can do a lot better.”

Senior Ashley Malaska and freshman Maria Yacaman also put in solid final rounds. While Malaska did not birdie in the final round, she battled to a solid finish of 24th. Yacaman did her part, placing the best she has all season at 40th.

After struggling against the elements in their last tournament, the Cougars came alive and hope to ride the momentum into the upcoming winter season.

"We'll play a lot of team matches until finals and then we'll work on our short game," Roberts said. "Hopefully we can use this experience to jumpstart our winter season."

Fellow Utah school, Utah Valley University, also participated in the event. It finished 12th, shooting 99-over for the tournament.