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BYU Women’s Golf in contention after Day 1 of NCAA Regionals

By Shaun Gordon

ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 31: Andrea Lee and teammate Casey Danielson of Stanford walk the fifth playoff hole up the 10th fairway during day 1 of the 2016 East Lake Cup at East Lake Golf Club on October 31, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 31: Andrea Lee and teammate Casey Danielson of Stanford walk the fifth playoff hole up the 10th fairway during day 1 of the 2016 East Lake Cup at East Lake Golf Club on October 31, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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BYU Women’s Golf shot well in the first round of the NCAA Regionals, putting them in contention to advance to the NCAA Championships in late May.

So far, so good for the BYU Women’s Golf team.

After the first round of the NCAA Regionals on Monday, the Cougars currently sit in a tie with No. 4 seed Florida for sixth place at three-over par. For BYU to make the NCAA Championships later this month, they’ll have to finish in that sixth spot or better.

Of the 18 teams competing in the Austin Regional, including BYU, only three teams managed to shoot a combined score under par.

The University of Texas Golf Club is hosting the regional, and the home team has the lead so far. Texas, the No. 2 seed in the region, leads all teams at seven-under. No. 1 seed Arkansas isn’t far behind at four-under, followed by No. 3 seed Michigan State at three-under.

The surprise of the first day was Virginia Tech. The Hokies entered the regional unranked nationally, but managed to shoot even par and sit in a tie for fourth with No. 9 seed Baylor.

BYU is seeded No. 11 in the regional, and ranked No. 41 in the nation. They shot better in their opening round than five teams that are ranked and seeded higher (Auburn, Oklahoma, Houston, Miami, and Texas A&M).

In the regionals, five players compete for each team, but only the four best scores count in each round. The Cougars individual scores for the first round were:

  • Kendra Dalton – 71 (-1)
  • Rose Huang – 71 (-1)
  • Naomi Soifua – 74 (+2)
  • Annie Yang – 75 (+3)
  • Anna Kennedy – 76 (+4)

It’s no surprise that both Dalton and Huang are leading the Cougars, and they sit in a tie for 15th individually. They’re three strokes behind leader Maddie Szeryk of Texas A&M. Even if BYU doesn’t advance as a team, the top three individual golfers advance to the NCAA Championships.

While Dalton and Huang paced BYU, it was the strong play of all five golfers that have them in position to advance, and all five will have to continue golfing at a high level if the Cougars have any chance to finish sixth or better after all three rounds are complete.

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