The BYU women’s golf team competes in its last tournament of the fall season today at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational in Kapolei, Hawaii.
The tournament is composed of two rounds today and one round Wednesday.
There are 12 teams participating in this meet. BYU’s toughest competition will be nationally ranked No. 1 UCLA. The Cougars will also face Washington and San Jose State, who beat them at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational earlier this season. The Cougars finished 11th, Washington finished third and San Jose State took sixth.
Junior Maggie Yuan believes the team’s performance at its last tournament in Last Vegas prepared the players for this tournament.
“This tournament (Las Vegas Showdown) was a good practice for Hawaii,” Yuan said. “It was windy and Hawaii always has strong winds which we need to practice in to play well.”
According to Yuan, Hawaii is known for tough playing conditions and could be the most difficult weather challenge for the team.
“The wind will cause us trouble,” Yuan said. “It can make a little mistake an even bigger mistake.”
Yuan also believes in order for the team to play well in the tournament, the players will need to focus on the basics of golf.
“We will need to strike the ball better to be able to play in the wind,” Yuan said. “We need to focus during putting because the wind makes our focus go away. If we can do this, we will play well.”
The Cougars have competed in Hawaii for the past two seasons. Last season the team finished third at the Turtle Bay College Invitational, and Yuan finished fifth.
Yuan said the experience of playing in Hawaii has helped the players to know how to physically and mentally prepare.
“We have played there the past two years and we know what conditions to expect,” Yuan said. “We need to adjust our rounds and keep them short. We will have a good outcome if we do this.”
