The BYU women’s golf team finished their two-day tournament in New Mexico on Tuesday, finishing in twelfth place.
BYU completed the first of three rounds with a solid score of 300, with hopes to finish strong on the second and final day.
“The team’s 300 was good,” coach Carrie Roberts said. “A 300 score, that’s a good score for women’s college golf.”
After players’ confidence began to diminish throughout the tournament, the Cougars had trouble keeping up the intensity in rounds two and three.
“We’ve just got to trust ourselves and have confidence in ourselves,” Roberts said. “We played really well that first round and had a lot of confidence going into it; then you kind of hit a couple of bad shots and your confidence starts to waiver.”
Senior Amanda Keith agreed with the need to make a few changes before the next tournament.
“(This tournament) definitely showed us what we need to work on,” Keith said. “A lot of good came from it, but also a lot of improvement needs to happen for us to reach our goal.”
Keith said their team motto, “whatever it takes,” helped the Cougars look at this tournament with positive eyes.
“Our motto helps us not let the little things bother us and know that a lot of good can come from not-so-good experiences,” Keith said. “We can work and grow through this experience.”
BYU ended the tournament with a total score of 915 and a 39-over par. Iowa State took first with a score of 886 and 10-over par; three teams, UC Davis, UNLV and Ohio State, finished tied for second, scoring 887 with an 11-over par.
Keith performed well for BYU and finished in 9th place with a personal score of 220, one-over par for the tournament.
“It was one of my best finishes ever,” Keith said. “For me personally, it was a huge achievement to know that all of my hard work has paid off and that I can play well. A lot of that has to do with support from my team and believing in myself.”
Other BYU players who competed in the tournament were junior Annika Kahaiali’i, who finished 43rd; sophomore Maria Yacaman, who finished 55th; freshman Lea Garner, who finished 62nd; and sophomore Lauren Atkinson, who finished 85th.
“Amanda obviously played great,” Roberts said. “She had a top-ten finish and worked really hard. We had some good play from everybody. Lea had a solid tournament for her, and everybody I think contributed.”
Next up for the BYU women’s golf team is the Cougar Cup, beginning on Monday in Pullman, Wash. starting on Sept. 24.
