Cougars Rally to Ninth-Place Finish

Day 1 Recap

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (Sept. 17, 2010) – The BYU women’s golf team rallied to a ninth-place finish Saturday on the final day of competition of the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational.

“The girls played a lot of golf this week and their last round was one of their best," said BYU head coach Carrie Roberts. "It says a lot about their game, both mentally and physically."

Senior Jade Bollinger continued to lead the Cougars in round three, shooting an even-par 73. Bollinger recorded three birdies on the day en route to capturing a 6th place individual finish, concluding the tournament at 1 under par. It is Bollinger’s second top-10 finish of the fall season.

Junior Maggie Yuan finished the tournament tied for 19th place, shooting a 1-over 74 with three birdies in her final round. She finished play with a combined 4 over par on the weekend.

BYU showed noticeable improvement over the two-day event, posting a final-round 298 to best their first and second round totals of 307.

"Today was a big improvement from the first two rounds," said BYU assistant coach Jake Ellison. "It was good to see all the girls in the hunt with competitive scores on the last day."

Sophomores Amanda Keith and Annika Afoa completed solid showings, shooting 76 and 75 respectively during final-round action. Both Keith and Afoa posted three birdies in the final round.

Senior Sara Romero improved on a second-round 82 to shoot a 6-over 79. She also recorded one birdie in round three.

Golfing independently, senior Emily Copier shot a final-round 80 to tie for 53rd place.

The Cougars return to the links October 8 at the Heather Farr/CU Memorial Women's Intercollegiate in Erie, Colo.

The Field

1. Oregon

2. Ohio State

3. Colorado

T4. UC Davis

T4. Denver

6. TCU

7. San Diego State

8. UNLV

9. BYU

10. New Mexico

11. Northwestern

12. Colorado State

13. Georgia State

14. UC Irvine

15. Indiana University

16. Wyoming

17. Hawaii

9 Brigham Young University

1st rd. 2nd rd. 3rd rd. total

6 Jade Bollinger 71 74 73 218

T19 Maggie Yuan 75 74 74 223

T49 Amanda Keith 76 80 76 232

T69 Annika Afoa 85 79 75 239

T88 Sara Romero 90 82 79 251

Team 307 307 298 912

1st rd. 2nd rd. 3rd rd. total

T53 Emily Copier* 73 81 80 234

*golfing as an independent