2014-15 Women's Golf Season Review

PROVO, Utah – The BYU women’s golf team had a strong 2014-15 season including having the team’s top performer, Lea Garner, compete as an individual in the NCAA Regional Championships. The Cougars look to improve their standings with the help of their returning experienced players for the 2015-16 campaign.

“There were a lot of highlights during the season,” BYU head coach Carrie Roberts said. “We had two individual winners, which shows a lot of work and effort on their part. Our team had some great finishes and some poor finishes. We improve our scoring averages every year, so I am looking forward to how we will perform next season.”

The Cougars finished in the top five in eight of the 12 tournaments they competed in and the top three in five of those events. The team’s best finish was second place, which they achieved both at the Cougar Cup hosted by the University of Washington and the BYU Entrada Classic. At the West Coast Conference Championships, the Cougars finished in fifth place.  

BYU had two players on the 2015 All-WCC First Team. Junior Lea Garner and freshman Alexandra White both won individual titles this season and were named WCC Player of the Month for October and March, respectively. 

“Alex and Lea’s wins were big highlights,” Roberts said. “I don’t think we’ve ever had two individual winners in a year. Both of their performances were very impressive. For Lea to be able to make regionals shows how hard she works.”

Garner had her best season of her collegiate career. She finished in the top 20 nine times, six of which were top-10 finishes. At the Gold Rush Tournament, she won the individual title shooting par. She shot 69 in four different rounds, twice at the NM Aggie Invitational, where she took fourth place. Garner was named WCC Women’s Golf Player of the Month for October.

After a successful season, Garner was selected as an individual to compete in the 2015 NCAA Regional Championships. She played in the St. George regional and finished in a tie for 50th.

White missed the fall season due to injury, but she came back strong for the spring competition. In seven tournaments, she finished in the top 20 five times, three of which were top-10 finishes. She won the individual title at the BYU Entrada Classic where she set a tournament record of 208, including a career-low 67 in the first round. She had the best finish on the team at the WCC Championships with a tie for eighth. White was named WCC Women’s Golf Player of the Month for March.

Senior Maria Yacaman was named to the WCC Women’s All-Academic Team for the second-straight year with the highest GPA of a women’s golf student-athlete in 2014-15. She earned a 3.98 in information systems. This season, she finished in the top 20 in four tournaments, her highest finish coming at the Cougar Cup where she tied for eighth.

In her freshman season, Kendra Dalton showed great potential. In five tournaments, she finished in the top 20. She tied for fourth at the Mountain View Collegiate, which was her best outing of the season. She shot a career-low 69 in that event.

Annie Yang and Carly Oldroyd received honorable mentions on the WCC All-Academic Team. Yang, a sophomore, had her best finish at the Cougar Cup where she tied for 32nd. For Oldroyd, she finished in the top 20 twice during her junior season, tying for 12th at the Hobble Creek Fall Classic and tying for 19th at the Cowgirl Classic.

The Cougars look forward to building off of the success from this season to perform even better next season.