PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s golfer Lila Galeai carded a hole-in-one on her way to posting rounds of 66 (-6) and 70 (-2) on the first day of the Dick McGuire Invitational at the UNM Championship Course.

The Cougars sit in fourth place at 2-over par after the first 36 holes and are seven shots off the lead held by San Jose State (-5). Sitting between the Cougars and the Spartans of San Jose State are the San Diego State Aztecs (-3) and host New Mexico (+1). 

“The girls showed some resilience today bringing it back in the 2nd round,” said BYU head coach Carrie Roberts. “Lila was solid all day and is leading a great field."

Sophomore Galeai rode the momentum from two big summer victories at the Utah Women’s State Amateur Championship and the Utah Women’s Stroke Play into the season opener posting a 6-under par round to begin the day including a hole-in one on the par-3 11th hole. She holds a one-shot lead going into the final round tomorrow.

“Today’s rounds were solid,” Galeai said. “I was striking the ball well and felt super confident all day. I’m happy with the way I played because I came into this tournament knowing exactly where I needed to be.”

Freshman Addie Anderson sits tied for 23rd at 2-over par after posting rounds of 76 (+4) and 70 (-2). Annick Haczkiewicz shot rounds of 76 (+4) and 71 (-1) and is tied for 25th. Senior Allysha Mae Mateo is tied for 40th after rounds of 73 (+1) and 76 (+4). Utah Open Champion Kerstin Fotu carded rounds of 78 (+6) and 77 (+5) putting her tied for 73rd entering Tuesday’s final round.

BYU tees it up Tuesday with a 7:30 a.m. shotgun start in the 18-hole final round at the UNM Championship Course. Live scoring is available at Golfstat.com.

Day One Team Standings (Top 4)

PROVO, Utah – BYU women's golf will take the course for its first event of the 2021-22 season at the Dick McGuire Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M.

The two-day event will be hosted by the University of New Mexico at the UNM Championship Course and will feature a strong field including the Lobos, Cal Berkeley, Colorado, Colorado State, Denver, Fresno State, Iowa, Kansas, New Mexico State, Oregon State, Pepperdine, San Diego State, San Jose State, Texas State and UNLV.

The Cougars are lead by seniors Allysha Mae Mateo, Kerstin Fotu and Annick Haczkiewicz, sophomore Lila Galeai and freshman Addie Anderson.

BYU will play 36 holes on Monday at the par 72 course that measures 6,317 yards. The final 18 holes are set for Tuesday.

The Cougars enter the 2021-22 campaign on a wave of momentum from a summer of success, with five Cougars winning tournaments during the off-season. Annick Haczkiewicz started off the summer with a victory at the Southern Nevada State Amateur, Lila Galeai followed suit by taking home the Utah State Amateur Championship in July. Galeai kept the momentum going by capturing the Utah Women’s Stroke Play just weeks later before Allysha Mae Mateo won the Oahu Country Club Invitational. 

Kerstin Fotu added her name to the history books as the first woman to ever win both the Utah State Amateur Championship (2019) and the Utah Women’s Open (2021). With her victory at the Women’s Open, Fotu received an exemption to play in the Utah Open, where she made additional history becoming the first woman to make the cut in the 97-year history of the event.

BYU returns five players from its 2020-21 roster, including Mateo who tallied seven top-10 finishes, Fotu with 4 top-25, Galeai with 3 top-25 and Soifua 2 top-25.

Follow live scoring for the Dick McGuire Invitational Monday and Tuesday at Golfstat.com.