BYU finishes seventh, Mateo and Galeai grab top-20 finishes

COVERCOVER

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — BYU women’s golf posted an 8-over-par 296 in the final round of the Dale McNamara Invitational to finish tied for seventh, Tuesday.

“It’s taking us longer than expected to get into a groove this season,” said BYU head coach Carrie Roberts. “We played two solid rounds this week, but we need to continue to clean it up a bit; and we will.”

Tulsa (292-286-290—868) began the final round three shots off the 36-hole lead held by South Florida (291-284-299—874). After USF fell to third with an 11-over final round, the Golden Hurricanes rode a 2-over-par 290 to a 1-shot victory over Nebraska (298-291-280—869) who shot 8-under on the final day to finish second.

Sacramento State (302-300-284—886) and North Texas (292-294-300—886) finished tied for fourth, rounding out the top-5 with UTSA (303-292-293—888) taking sixth alone. BYU (307-291-296—894) shot 8-over-par on the final day to finish in a tie for seventh.

Allysha Mae Mateo was the low finisher for the Cougars for the third-straight event as she finished tied for 16th at 5-over-par. The former WCC Golfer of the Year fired rounds of 75-71-75—221 to grab her second top-20 finish of the season.

Lila Galeai finished one shot back of Mateo as she carded a 6-over-par total with scores of 75-75-72—222. The junior from Lehi recorded four birdies in her even-par final round to finish tied for 20th.

Freshman Berlin Long, playing in her first collegiate event, finished just outside the top-25 in a tie for 27th. The Lone Peak product turned in a 9-over total with rounds of 79-73-73—225 to begin her Cougar career.

“It is good to see Allysha and Lila continue to play solid golf,” said Roberts. “It also makes me excited to see Berlin finding her form at the college level as we will need her to contribute often down the road.”

Kerstin Fotu finished in a tie for 32nd in Tulsa after posting rounds of 78-72-77—227. Sunbin Seo rounded out the scoring for BYU with scores of 81-78-76—235 to finish tied for 63rd in just her second collegiate start.

“The girls played steady golf the last two rounds and were able to handle the conditions well, said BYU assistant coach Lea Garner. “They got more comfortable and confident as they played, and we’re looking to take that into Kansas next week.”

The Cougars will be back in action Oct. 17-18 in Kansas for the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational at Lawrence Country Club.

Individual Leaderboard

PlacePlayerR1R2R3TotalTo Par
T-16Allysha Mae Mateo757175221+5
T-20Lila Galeai757572222+6
T-27Berlin Long797373225+9
T-32Kerstin Fotu787277227+11
T-63Sunbin Seo817876235+19

Team Leaderboard (Top 5)

PlaceTeamR1R2R3TotalTo Par
1stTulsa292286290868+4
2ndNebraska298291280869+5
3rdSouth Florida291284299874+10
T-4Sacramento State302300284886+22
T-4North Texas292294300886+22
6thUTSA303292293888+24
T-7BYU307291296894+30

*13-Team Field