Vines Tied for First, Cougars in Second at Mountain View Collegiate

TUCSON -- The BYU women’s golf team got off to a hot start at the Mountain View Collegiate on Friday, posting a season-best score of 291 in the morning round. An 18-hole total of 305 in the afternoon was equally impressive as the winds picked up making scoring very difficult at the Mountain View Golf Course in Tucson, Ariz. A two-round total of 596 has the Cougars in second place just 1-shot behind Texas Tech with one round to play on the 6,227-yard, par 72, golf course.

“We set a team goal to shoot 290 today so I was very pleased with the way we played in the morning round,” said head coach Robbie Bosco. “The wind made club selection very difficult in the afternoon, and I thought the team did a great job of scoring.”

Freshman Kelsey Vines from St. George, Utah, led the way for BYU with rounds of 70-76—146 for a first-place tie heading into the final round. Her 2-under-par morning round of 37-33—70 tied for the best round of the day and included three birdies.

Two other Cougars joined Vines in the top 20 in the field. Sophomore Maggie Yuan of Sichuan, China, finished the day at 4-over par with scores of 73-75—148, good for a tie for seventh place. Two-time AGCA All-American Scholar Athlete Jade Bollinger is tied for 19th. The junior from Wellington, Fla., had rounds of 76-74 for a 6-over-par 150.

Rounding our the scoring for BYU was Shayla Forsey, a junior from Morristown, Tenn., at 72-86—158 and Amanda Keith, a freshman from Burbank, Calif., at 83-80—163.

Just five strokes separate the top six teams heading into Saturday’s final round. Following Texas Tech (296-299—595) and BYU (291-305—596) is UNLV (298-299—597), Colorado State (292-305--597), Iowa State (306-294--600 and Baylor (302-298—600).

“We are playing very well,” said Bosco. “I’m looking forward to Saturday to see how we compete in the final round.”

Final-round action will begin Saturday, March 27, with the Cougars teeing off at 7:30 a.m. MST.