Vines Leads Cougars' Second-Place Clip in Hawaii

KAHUKU -- Kelsey Vines shot a 1-under 71 and the BYU women’s golf team moved into second place Tuesday after the first round of the Turtle Bay Collegiate Invitational in Kahuku, Hawaii.

Vines, a sophomore, finished a strong round one with an eagle on the 12th hole and three birdies to move the Cougars, who are coming off of a ninth place finish at the McGuire Invitational, within four strokes of tournament-leader Princeton. All five of BYU’s golfers finished day one in the top-20.

“We had a really good showing today,” said BYU head coach Carrie Roberts. “We had some good scores, led by Kelsey (Vines) and we are fired up.”

Senior Jade Bollinger, who finished sixth at the McGuire Invitational, finished the first round tied with teammate Maggie Yuan for ninth place. Both Bollinger and Yuan posted four birdies to tally 2-over 74’s.

Sophomores Amanda Keith and Annika Afoa kept pace for BYU, shooting 3-over and 4-over respectively. Keith posted three birdies to move into a tie for 13th place while Afoa finished day one tied for 17th.

The 7,143-yard, 72-par Arnold Palmer Course is host to the Cougars' second consecutive trip to Turtle Bay.

Seniors Sara Romero and Emily Copier, who are golfing independently, finished day one tied for 30th place and 41st place respectively.

“We are feeling good and I think it’s all about consistency,” Roberts said. “If we continue to improve over the next two days and stay consistent, then I think we will have a good shot at winning the tournament.”

The Cougars take to the links again Wednesday for the second of the three-day competition with the shotgun starts beginning at 8 a.m. HST. Follow second-round action live by clicking HERE or by visiting www.golfstat.com.

The Field - 2010 Turtle Bay Collegiate Invitational
1.  Princeton
2.  Brigham Young
3.  UC Irvine
4.  Portland State
5.  Southern Illinois 
6.  Hawaii
7.  British Columbia
2     Brigham Young University
                                   1st rd.     total
T3  Kelsey Vines                      71             71
T9  Jade Bollinger                    74             74
T9  Maggie Yuan                       74             74
T13 Amanda Keith                      75             75
T17 Annika Afoa                       76             76
              Team                    294            294
T30 Emily Copier*                     80             80
41  Sara Romero*                      92             92
* golfing independently