BYU Golfers Tied For Sixth After Day One

FORT COLLINS -- The BYU women’s golf team kicked off the fall season on Monday at the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic. After two rounds of play, the Cougars are tied for sixth place at 9-over-par while sophomore Maggie Yuan is tied for 12th at 1-under-par.

“I thought we did good for our first tournament of the year,” said BYU head coach Sue Nyhus. “I think this group is very talented, and they’re just going to get better with time and experience. Three of our five players out here are getting their first taste of Cougar golf so we’re only going to get better the more we play.”

Sophomore Maggie Yuan posted the first Cougar birdie of the day on her second hole, the par-five 5th. However, three bogeys in the next seven holes forced her score up to 2-over-par. But Yuan fought back beginning with a birdie on the 13th hole and continued to steal strokes on the 15th, 2nd and 3rd holes to finish the round tied for eighth place at 2-under-par (70). Yuan also turned in the Cougar low score of the second round as she fired a 1-over-par 73, along with freshman Amanda Keith. One of the team captains, Yuan struggled on the back nine with a double-bogey on No. 17 but went -3 on the front nine to keep her team in contention.

Freshman Kelsey Vines was also solid in the first 18 holes as she proved the most consistent Cougar golfer with three birdies and two bogeys. She finished the first round with birdies on two of her final three holes to record a 1-under-par 71, which tied her for 11th place. Vines’ second round was also solid as she posted just three bogeys and one birdie to finish at 2-over-par for the round and tied for 21st overall at +1.

“Maggie is a premier golfer and is our returning low average from last year,” said Nyhus. “She leads the team on the golf course very well. But I was also thrilled with Kelsey Vines. She turned in her very first round of Cougar golf under par. She’s going to do some great things for us.”

Junior transfer Emily Copier had a solid first round with birdies on the 12th and 18th holes but struggled on Nos. 7 and 10, posting double bogeys on both to finish 2-over-par. In the second round, she learned from experience, parring the 7th and recording a bogey on the 10th, but had just one birdie to go along with six bogeys, finishing the round at +5 and the day at +7.

After a tough triple-bogey start for freshman Keith on the 5th hole, she posted the first birdie of her Cougar career on No. 6. However, freshman jitters proved difficult to overcome as she finished the first round at 7-over-par with three birdies, seven bogeys and the triple bogey. Keith was able to settle down in the second round, and along with Yuan, turned in the Cougar low score of the round at 1-over-par (73), a six-shot improvement over her round-one score.

Junior Jade Bollinger rounded out the Cougar squad with a 2-over-par first round score and a 4-over-par second round to finish the day +6 overall. She fired six birdies on the day to go along with 10 bogeys and one double bogey.