Cougars capture Gonzaga Match Play title

SPOKANE, Washington – BYU women’s golf won 18 of its 22 individual matches and went undefeated in team play to win the Gonzaga Match Play title on Monday at the Manito Golf and Country Club in Spokane.

“It was a great team win. We were pretty dominant throughout our matches,” BYU head coach Carrie Roberts said. “It was good to beat a conference foe in Gonzaga and we had to play well to beat them. Match play is a different environment, but it provided a lot of excitement for us.”

The Cougars faced Eastern Washington in the first match of the tournament on Saturday morning, Oct. 1. Aiko Leong, Anna Kennedy, Brooklyn Hocker, Alexandra White and Kendra Dalton all won their matches while Rose Huang finished her match in a tie, giving BYU a decisive 5-0-1 victory.

In the second match of the day, BYU defeated the Idaho Vandals 4-2-0. Leong, Hocker, Huang and Dalton won, while Kennedy and White fell to Idaho’s Clara Moyano and Sophie Hausmann, 2-1 respectively.

“We got off to a slow start in the second match, but we came back and played well,” coach Roberts said. “Rose was our highlight versus Idaho. She shot 6-under-par through 13 holes and played incredible, winning 6 & 5. Kendra played well and Brooklyn was solid. Aiko won both of her matches on Saturday.”

In the final match on Monday, Oct. 3, against WCC foe Gonzaga, the Cougars clinched the tournament title with a 4-2-0 victory over the Bulldogs. Leong, Kennedy, Huang and White won their matches, while Hocker and Dalton came up short.

“Match play is a little different because it’s head-to-head,” coach Roberts said. “It’s fun and it changes things up. All season we play stroke play and then when we get to nationals the final two days are match play, so this was good practice for us. Overall I’m real proud of how our team played. Our goal was to win all three matches.”

The Cougars captured the Gonzaga Match Play with a perfect 3-0 record, followed by Seattle and Portland State who tied for second at 2-1. Gonzaga and Idaho finished 1-2, followed by Eastern Washington at 0-3.

BYU will head to Lakewood, Washington, on October 10-11, to compete in the Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational at the Tacoma Country & Golf Club.