The women’s golf team placed fifth out of 13 teams in this week’s Hobble Creek Invitational in Springville, drawing from sophomore Lea Garner’s strong performance in the team’s opening tournament.
San Francisco took the invitational championship with a team total of 28-over-par over two rounds, followed by Gonzaga with 34-over-par. BYU placed fifth with 63-over-par.
In the final round Tuesday, the Cougars golfed a combined 20-over-par total, securing the fifth-place finish for BYU.
Garner ended the tournament Tuesday afternoon with a score of one-over-par, giving her the tournament’s top score individually. Grand Canyon’s Charlotte Jaengkit carried out her closest competition with six-over-par.
“This is my first college tournament win, and it’s awesome. The fact that it’s our home tournament makes it even better,” Garner said. “I’m proud of our team and myself. Hopefully we can continue to improve during the season.”
Garner holed a birdie on hole 18 of her last round Tuesday, finishing the tournament with 12 birdies total.
Coach Carrie Roberts credits Garner’s success to hard work and dedication over the summer.
“It’s an awesome win for Lea. I’m very excited for her,” she said. “She played solid in this tournament, and it shows that she spent the summer working hard to prepare for the year. She was clutch down the stretch today, which shows what a solid player she is.”
Roberts said the team’s performance overall left her optimistic that great things are to come in the fall season.
“We had a rough start but finished well. We have a lot to improve upon, but we did a lot of good things as well,” Roberts said. “This is a great start for the team.”
Senior Annika Afoa Kahaiali’i golfed fourteen-over-par in the tournament, tying for 13th place. Carly Oldroyd tied for 31st, senior Selu Fotu tied for 53rd and freshman Annie Yang tied for 56th place.
Next up for the team is the Cougar Cup at the Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman, Washington.
