SANTA CLARITA -- Playing against one of the top fields they will face this season, the BYU women's golf team concluded the Bruin Wave Invitational Wednesday with an eighth-place finish and a top-10 individual performance.
"We improved throughout this tournament," said BYU head coach Carrie Roberts. "If we just continue to get better, we will be in good shape."
With each of the seven teams that finished ahead of the BYU being ranked in the top-50, the Cougars improved on a second-round 307 by two strokes on the final day.
Sophomore Kelsey Vines finished round three with a 1-under 72 to tie for eighth place overall. Vines, who captured a sixth-place finish at the Gold Rush just two weeks ago, finished with a 3-over 219 for the tournament, only seven strokes off the lead, for her second-consecutive top-10 finish.
"Kelsey play great against a really tough field," Roberts said. "This was a very tough field and she showed a lot of character."
Senior Jade Bollinger and junior Maggie Yuan both finished tied for 39th place after shooting final rounds of 78 and 77 respectively.
Emily Copier carded a 79 in the final round, finishing tied for 59th while sophomore Amanda Keith shot a third-round 80 to tie for 70th. Annika Afoa, a freshman who competed as an individual, tied for 75th after a 14-over 86 on the final day.
BYU returns to action on Mar. 7 in the UNLV Spring Invitational, a tournament in which they placed 11th last season. Follow first-round action live by visiting www.golfstat.com.
The Field - 2011 Bruin Wave Invitational
1. UCLA
2. Arizona
3. Pepperdine
4. Stanford
5. San Diego State
6. Texas
7. New Mexico
8. BYU
9. Oklahoma State
10. New Mexico State
11. Long Beach State
12. Oregon State
13. UNLV
14. CSU Northridge
15. Washington State
8 Brigham Young University +51 303 307 305 915
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T8 Kelsey Vines +3 72 76 71 219
T39 Jade Bollinger +15 73 80 78 231
T39 Maggie Yuan +15 78 76 77 231
T59 Emily Copier +22 80 79 79 238
T70 Amanda Keith +26 86 76 80 242
T75 Annika Afoa* +32 84 78 86 248
* competing as an individual