Mateo leads BYU in first round at Rebel Beach

LAS VEGAS – BYU’s Allysha Mae Mateo is in a tie for first after carding a 3-under-par 69 in the opening round of play at the Rebel Beach Intercollegiate. 

Mateo birdied three of her final five holes to close out the morning round at 69, the second-best score of her BYU career. Mateo is tied for the lead with Harriet Lynch of Fresno State and Lorena Tseng of Tulsa.

As a team, BYU scored an first-round total of 295, placing the Cougars in a four-way tie for third with New Mexico, Grand Canyon, and Tulsa. Fresno State led the field with an opening-round score of 287, followed by the Cougars conference rival Gonzaga in second at 292.

BYU’s scoring on Monday consisted of Kerstin Fotu and Cynthia Tu with 75s, Naomi Soifua’s 76 and Lila Galeai’s 79. Fotu and Tu’s scores of 75 a piece were good for a top-30 finish amid golfers from diverse conferences such as the Big Ten, WCC, Mountain West and the American Athletic. 

BYU’s Annick Haczkiewicz competed as an individual and finished the first round with a 75 as well. 

“Today we took a small step forward,” said head coach Carrie Roberts. “We’re hoping for a solid third round tomorrow.” 

Round two of the 54-hole tournament was in-progress when play was suspended on Monday evening, due to darkness at Spanish Trail Country Club in Las Vegas. The second and third rounds will be completed on Tuesday, beginning with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. PST. Keep up to date with the Cougars’ final day at Rebel Beach through live stats from Golfstat.