Bollinger, Cougars Tie For First

Day 1 Recap

WORLEY -- A first place tie and three top-20 individual finishes capped the final day of competition for the BYU women’s golf team Tuesday at the Circling Raven Collegiate Invitational in Worley, Idaho.

“We finished the tournament well today,” said BYU assistant coach Jake Ellison. “We were obviously disappointed about the end result because in my mind we tied for first. I am really proud of how we competed.”

Senior Jade Bollinger led the Cougars on day two, shooting an even-par 72 to capture fourth place overall, just two strokes behind individual champion Lauren Hernandez of Nevada.

“I felt really good today,” Bollinger said. “We played really well as a team and everyone contributed to make it a very successful first event.”

Going into the final round of play, the Cougars looked to hold on to a one-stroke lead over Northern Arizona for first place and after a close day of competition the two teams finished tied for the lead. However, Northern Arizona edged the Cougars based on the fifth golfer’s scores, or the “drop score." The Cougars finished five strokes ahead of future West Coast Conference opponent Gonzaga, which finished in third place.

Also finishing in the top 20 for the Cougars were sophomores Annika Afoa and Amanda Keith. Keith finished tied for 12th, shooting a final-round 78 with a three-round score of 226, 10-over-par. In her first collegiate event, Afoa shot rounds of 77, 75 and 76 to tie for 18th place.

Junior Maggie Yuan and sophomore Kelsey Vines both finished tied for 45th with final rounds of 83 and 79 respectively.

“We have a lot of potential and we are very excited for the season,” Bollinger said. “It is great to see younger players doing so well and everyone supporting each other.”

The Cougars return to action Friday in the Maguire Invitational held at the par-73 University of New Mexico Championship Course in Albuquerque, N.M. Shotgun starts at 8 a.m. are scheduled for both days, with 36 holes scheduled for Friday and finishing with 18 holes on Saturday.

Follow first-round action live by clicking HERE or by visiting www.golfstat.com.

The Field

T1. Northern Arizona

T1. Brigham Young Univ.

3. Gonzaga University

4. Nevada, University of

T5. San Francisco, Univ. of

T5. CSU-Northridge

7. Washington State Univ.

8. Portland State Univ.

9. Oregon State Univ.

10. Montana, Univ. of

11. Santa Clara Univ.

12. UC - Riverside

13. Boise State Univ.

14. Montana State Univ.

15. Portland, Univ. of

16. Eastern Washington Univ.

17. Seattle Univ.

18. Southern Utah Univ.

19. British Columbia, Univ. of

20. Weber State Univ.

2 Brigham Young Univ.

4 Jade Bollinger 75 73 72 220

T12 Amanda Keith 75 73 78 226

T18 Annika Afoa 77 75 76 228

T45 Maggie Yuan 76 76 83 235

T45 Kelsey Vines 80 76 79 235

Team 303 297 305 905