White takes gold at home, BYU finishes second

Day One Recap

ST. GEORGE, Utah – A tournament record from Alex White helped the Cougars win silver in the BYU Entrada Classic Tuesday.

White came back from a second place start Tuesday morning to reclaim her first round lead from day one of the tournament. She shot 208 (68, 73, 67) in total, putting her eight-under-par and two strokes ahead of second-place Lucia Gutierrez (210) of Cal.

“To have an individual winner is huge,” said BYU head coach Carrie Roberts. “It’s just awesome. It was the lowest total anyone has ever shot at this tournament, and she birdied 15, 17 and 18 to win by two, which is absolutely awesome. She deserves every bit of it.”

Gutierrez’s teammates Hannah Suh (213) and Marthe Wold (214) took third and fourth, respectively. Cal’s dominating top three gave the Golden Bears a convincing win with 856 total team points.

BYU took second with 876 (290, 291, 295), having four women in the top-20: White, Lea Garner (218), Kendra Dalton (225) and Brooklyn Hocker (225), who competed as an individual.

“Lea had a great day.” Roberts said of Garner, who shot three under in round three. “But it was really just a great performance for the whole team, exactly what a coach wants to see.”

Combine White’s individual win with team victories over schools like Minnesota and Dixie State, and you get a happy BYU squad. Mix in twin aces from Oldroyd and Sierra Harr and you get an ecstatic one.

“It’s very cool,” Roberts said. “It’s exciting. You don’t see things like this very often, especially with teammates at the same tournament.

“I was even there for Carly’s shot on number eight and it was beautiful. The shot was downhill, it was beautiful in the air, just right of the pin, and it landed perfectly and rolled right in — her first ace. It was pretty sweet.”

The Cougars travel this weekend, March 20-21, to the Mountain View Collegiate tournament, hosted by Missouri and Kansas State, in Tucson, Arizona.