Day One a Success for Cougar Golfers

SAMMAMISH -- The BYU women’s golf team carded a round-one score of 320 on Monday to place seventh after the first 18 holes of competition at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational.

“Overall, I thought it was a good day,” said BYU head coach Sue Nyhus. “Our scores aren’t what we expect them to be, but the golf course is very difficult and it takes a lot of experience and mental maturity to score well on this course. We don’t even have a senior on the trip this time, so there’s a lot of learning going on. I can see us getting better and better; it just takes a little time. We’re in a real good place.”

Freshman phenom Kelsey Vines continued her hot start to the 2009 season as she paced the Cougars with a 6-over-par 78 on the day to tie for 20th place. While Vines did not record a score under par on any individual hole, she still proved to be the most consistent BYU golfer. On the season, Vines leads the team and ranks ninth in the Mountain West Conference in stroke average (74.17).

Coming off a strong fifth-place finish in the Cougars’ last tournament, junior Jade Bollinger was the second-highest BYU finisher in round one with a score of 80, 8-over-par and good enough to tie for 33rd place. She birdied the par-4 15th hole and was an even +4 on both front and back nine.

Sophomore Maggie Yuan and freshman Amanda Keith both tied for 38th place, going 9-over-par at 81. Yuan, a team co-captain, stayed at even par through the first six holes but struggled making the turn, going +7 on holes 9-13. However, she ended her round in fine form with a birdie on the par-5 18. Keith had a roller-coaster first round to finish at 81 but showed strokes of brilliance with birdies on the par-4 8th hole and the par-3 13th.

Junior Emily Copier finished the day in 60th place at 13-over-par (85) with a birdie on the 18th hole, and junior Sara Romero, competing independently, went 16-over-par to place 65th.

The Cougars will return to action Tuesday morning for round two. Tournament play will conclude with the third round on Wednesday.