Garner leads team to ninth-place finish

Day 1 Recap

YORBA LINDA, Calif. – BYU’s women’s golf team shot a final round 326 (+38), to finish in ninth place at The Gold Rush, one stroke behind eighth-place CSU Fullerton.

Long Beach State, who hosted the tournament, shot a 54-hole total 917 (+53) to win the tournament by 10 strokes over second-place Gonzaga. BYU finished with a 54-hole total 967 (+103), while conference foe Santa Clara (+100) finished in seventh place, three strokes better than BYU.

“It’s disappointing,” BYU head coach Carrie Roberts said. “I thought we should have played better. We started off rough and finished rough again. I would have liked to have seen something better.”

Freshman Lea Garner had her best tournament as a Cougar, finishing The Gold Rush tied for 34^th and shooting a 54-hole total 243 (+27). She showed consistency throughout the tournament and shot a final round 82 (+10).

“Lea’s going to be really good for us,” Roberts said. “She just needs a little more experience and is pretty steady and has a pretty consistent game. She’ll for sure be a leader on this team.”

Junior Annika Afoa Kahaiali’i had the best round of the day for the Cougars converting 13 pars to shoot an eight-over-par 80. Kahaiali’i shot a 54-hole total 244 (+28) to finish tied for 37^th. Senior Amanda Keith and junior Selu Fotu both finished tied for 49^th shooting a 54-hole total 248 (+32).

BYU resumes spring tournament play on Feb. 25-26 as they travel to Santa Ana, Calif., to compete in the 2013 UC Irvine Invitational. The winner of the tournament will receive a sponsor exemption into the 2013 Kia Classic of the LPGA tour.

Live stats of the UC Irvine Invitational can be followed at golfstat.com.

Individual Scores

Team Scores