Women's golf travels to New Mexico for first tournament of the season

PROVO, Utah – BYU women's golf will take the course for its first event of the 2021-22 season at the Dick McGuire Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M.

The two-day event will be hosted by the University of New Mexico at the UNM Championship Course and will feature a strong field including the Lobos, Cal Berkeley, Colorado, Colorado State, Denver, Fresno State, Iowa, Kansas, New Mexico State, Oregon State, Pepperdine, San Diego State, San Jose State, Texas State and UNLV.

The Cougars are lead by seniors Allysha Mae Mateo, Kerstin Fotu and Annick Haczkiewicz, sophomore Lila Galeai and freshman Addie Anderson.

BYU will play 36 holes on Monday at the par 72 course that measures 6,317 yards. The final 18 holes are set for Tuesday.

The Cougars enter the 2021-22 campaign on a wave of momentum from a summer of success, with five Cougars winning tournaments during the off-season. Annick Haczkiewicz started off the summer with a victory at the Southern Nevada State Amateur, Lila Galeai followed suit by taking home the Utah State Amateur Championship in July. Galeai kept the momentum going by capturing the Utah Women’s Stroke Play just weeks later before Allysha Mae Mateo won the Oahu Country Club Invitational. 

Kerstin Fotu added her name to the history books as the first woman to ever win both the Utah State Amateur Championship (2019) and the Utah Women’s Open (2021). With her victory at the Women’s Open, Fotu received an exemption to play in the Utah Open, where she made additional history becoming the first woman to make the cut in the 97-year history of the event.

BYU returns five players from its 2020-21 roster, including Mateo who tallied seven top-10 finishes, Fotu with 4 top-25, Galeai with 3 top-25 and Soifua 2 top-25.

Follow live scoring for the Dick McGuire Invitational Monday and Tuesday at Golfstat.com.