The women’s golf team finished 11th at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational in Washington this week.
After the first two days of the tournament, the Cougars sat in 11th place. On the final day of the tournament, the team tried to rise up the leaderboard, but couldn’t as the team shot a 77-over par throughout the three rounds.
The event was comprised of 12 teams and three rounds over three days.
Nationally ranked No. 17 Colorado took first place in the tournament with a score of 13-over.
The tournament field included many strong teams, such as No. 34 Oregon, which placed second, and No. 16 California and No. 21 Washington, tied for third.
Women’s golf coach Carrie Roberts said she thinks even though the team did not perform its best, there were a lot of positives.
“We struggled the first round, but everybody had some highlights and took away some positives,” Roberts said. “We all learned something, which is what we want.”
The leader for the Cougars was junior Maggie Yuan, who finished 11th overall and shot an 11-over par.
Yuan believes the mentality of the team is one of the factors which caused them to not perform as well.
“It was a tough course,” Yuan said. “We thought about how hard it was instead of focusing on our game.”
Yuan went into the final day of the competition tied for 29th place and had a solid final round, which moved her up the leaderboard.
Yuan was disappointed with her performance during the first rounds of the tournament but was happy to make a comeback during the final day of competition.
“I struggled at first so I was glad I finished strong,” Yuan said. “I just tried to fight on the course and make the best that I could with my bad drives.”
The second-best performer for the Cougars was senior Ashley Malaska, tied for 35th. She shot a 20-over.
Sophomore Amanda Keith showed great improvement over the tournament. After the first day of competition she was in 60th. The second day she shot a 73, which was the lowest score of the team, and moved up to 41st. She remained in 41st the final day.
Other golfers who competed for the Cougars were sophomore Annika Afoa and freshman Lauren Atkinson.
Yuan believes the team is comprised of talented golfers who have great potential for future tournaments if they forget their fears.
“Everyone is a good golfer, we just need to believe and be more mentally tough,” Yuan said.
Roberts said the team is committed to working harder for the next tournament.
The team will next compete Oct. 24 at the UNLV Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown.
