Cougars fall to the Elements

Day 1 Recap

Day 2 Recap

BOULDER CITY, Nev. — Epic winds proved to cause havoc for the field at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown as the BYU women’s golf team fought hard for a 12^th place finish.

“The wind was gusting at incredible speeds,” BYU coach Carrie Roberts said. “That type of wind is super rare and even more difficult to play in. It was mentally exhausting but the girls kept working hard.”

Junior Maggie Yuan led the Cougars, finishing tied for sixth overall. Yuan shot rounds of 72, 72 and 74 to finish 2-over in a tournament that saw only five people shoot under par.

Freshman Lauren Atkinson who shot a team best 71 in round two, struggled against the elements on the final day, but was still able to come in second or the Cougars.

Senior Ashley Malaska, sophomore Amanda Keith and freshman Maria Yacaman all battled hard against the wind, and never gave up.

“There were times when I thought I was going to get blown over by the wind,” Yuan said. “I would aim 50 yards to the left of the pin, the wind was blowing so hard.”

Even though the Cougars shot their highest score in the final round there were a lot of positive takeaways. The mental game was improved and the team showed a resiliency. Yuan set the tone with her stellar play and the rest of the team followed suit.

“Maggie motivates everyone to play better,” Roberts said. “ She was awesome today, making the shots she needed to make to keep us in it.”

UC Davis won the event by 15 strokes over second place San Diego State University and West Coast Conference foe, Pepperdine.

The team will return to action on Nov. 1 when they travel to Hawaii for the Rainbow Wahine Invitational.