The BYU women’s golf team closes off its fall season finishing eighth at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational in Hawaii on Wednesday.
“I’m pleased,” BYU Coach Carrie Roberts said. “We’ve improved our scoring average by quite a bit from last year, and that’s definitely a great spot. I think we’re definitely getting better, and we’ve just go to keep getting better. This would have been a real good time if that second round had been good, but it’s promising.”
The Cougars played a great first round finishing with a combined total of 304, totaled 314 in the second round, and a solid 302 in the final round.
“Obviously our second round was something that hurt us,” senior Amanda Keith said. “I would really like to go back and make sure we approach that second round with more diligence and more desire to finish the golf tournament well. We had that desire the first and last rounds, but it was that middle round that kind of hurt us.”
Two of the three rounds played were what the teamed called a success.
“We played two good rounds out of the three which is positive,” Roberts said. “If we had played like that the second round we’d come close to winning. It’s encouraging in a way, but also at the same time you kind of grit your teeth. I think it’s encouraging to finish well though, it’s always a confidence booster to have your last round be your best round so that’s something to look forward to in the spring.”
Keith led the Cougars finishing 21st, followed by sophomore Lauren Atkinson who took 33rd and junior Selu Fotu who took 41st.
This tournament ended the fall season for the Cougars who won’t start tournament play again until February. Until then, the girls have specific skills they said they would like to work on to ensure a positive spring season.
“Definitely we need to work on conserving energy and energy levels,” Keith said. “Working to create more stamina throughout the day, especially on those long 36 holes which are key for us. (We need) to be more aggressive, but to pick and choose your battles a little better, understanding when and where is the best place to really go for it and bring a little risk to the the game, and when not to would be huge for us.”
While Roberts is only allowed eight hours a week with the team due to NCAA rules, she plans on taking them back to the basics.
“Just fundamentals,” Roberts said. “We’re going to hit fundamentals pretty hard and do some competitions to kind of keep the girls sharp. That’s basically what we work on until January just trying to make sure the fundamentals are sharp.”
After a successful close to their fall season the Cougars will practice through January in preparation for their first spring tournament February 11-12.
