Stiff Competition in Vegas

LAS -- After another cold day in Las Vegas, the BYU women’s golf team continued to battle the chilly conditions and tough competition en route to a 12th-place finish after the second round of the UNLV Spring Invitational.

The Cougars are currently at 48-over-par at Boulder Creek Golf Course with one round remaining to play on Wednesday.

“It’s still pretty cold, but not so windy,” said BYU head coach Sue Nyhus. “We played a pretty good round of golf and it was nice to not have the 40 mile-an-hour winds.”

BYU improved as a team by 18 strokes in the second round compared to the 33-over-par first round that was played in heavy wind conditions. The Cougars combined to score a 15-over-par second round.

Freshman Maggie Yuan leads the Cougars as she finished the second round tied for ninth place at 5-over-par. She improved by seven strokes from the opening round by making two birdies and just one bogey in the second round, shooting the rest of the holes at par.

Jade Bollinger showed consistency by staying at the No. 48 spot at 14-over-par after she improved by six strokes herself from the first round. She had a birdie and five bogeys on Tuesday.

Camille Gardner also played a solid round and is tied with Bollinger at the No. 48 spot. She improved by two strokes after she made two birdies and three bogeys on the day.

Senior Natalia Jimenez and Sara Romero rounded up the final spots for the team as Jimenez finished with two birdies. Shayla Forsey is golfing individually.

Nebraska’s Natalie Gleadall and Georgia’s Marta Silva are tied for first place overall at even-par. Host UNLV leads the field at 19-over-par with Texas Tech trailing by two strokes.

The final round will be played Wednesday and can be followed on golfstat.com.. The Cougars begin at approximately 10 a.m. MT.

2009 UNLV Spring Invitational
BYU  12th/18  +48
T9  Yuan      78-71  +5
T48 Bollinger 82-76  +14
T48 Gardner   80-78  +14
T54 Jimenez   81-78  +15
T89 Romero    88-79  +23
80  Forsey*   85-79  +20
* - golfing individually
The field
1  (43) UNLV             +19
2       Texas Tech       +21
3  (8)  Georgia          +28
4       Tulsa            +32
5  (38) Oregon           +36
T6 (36) Washington       +37
T6 (22) Kent State       +37
T6      Oregon State     +37
9       Campbell         +41
10      Nebraska         +42
11      Missouri         +46
12      BYU              +48
13      Fresno State     +51
14      Coastal Carolina +58
15      Idaho            +59
16      Washington State +61
17      SMU              +63
18      UNLV - B         +65