Taylor's 68 Card Sparks Tech to Third-Place Finish

Monday, March 12

St. George, Utah

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Texas Tech Athletics

BYU at Entrada Classic

Taylor's 68 Card Sparks Tech to Third-Place Finish

March 13, 2018 | Women's Golf

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By: Matt Dowdy

LUBBOCK, Texas – Through the first 36 holes of the Entrada Classic, Texas Tech had been led by its three upperclassmen in Gabby Barker, Lauren Mason and Mami Yamamoto.

On Tuesday, however, the Red Raiders relied on a pair of freshmen as Amy Taylor sank six birdies en route to a 4-under-par 68 round while Louisa Brunt chipped in a 1-over card to push Tech to a third-place finish from the Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club in St. George, Utah.

"I'm really happy for the team and their finish this week," Tech head coach JoJo Robertson said. "They played well in all three rounds. This was the kind of course that you could have some tough breaks during your round. Our team hung in there and had a great finish today."

Taylor was stellar early in the round as she recorded four-straight birdies beginning with the par-5 9th, just her third hole of the day. She added her other two birdies on the course's other two par-5 locations at the 1st and 16th holes.

Taylor's 68 card was her lowest of the year and matched the third-lowest round of the season for the Red Raiders, who climbed up one spot on the leaderboard following a 3-over 291 team score. Tech picked up head-to-head wins over the likes of No. 26 North Carolina and No. 49 SMU after finishing 17-over for the tournament.

Besides the two freshmen, Tech collected a 2-over round from Yamamoto and a 4-over card from Mason as the duo posted top-15 finishes following a strong second round Monday. Yamamoto closed the tournament in a tie for 12th overall at 1-over for the tournament, while Mason was two strokes back in a tie for 15th individually.

Taylor jumped all the way up to a tie for 23rd at 8-over for the tournament, her second top-25 finish in just three collegiate tournaments. Brunt was 12-over during the three rounds to finish tied for 34th, while Barker was two strokes back of her in a tie for 40th after an 8-over final round.

BYU rallied to top Kent State for the tournament title as the host Cougars were even for the tournament, two strokes up on the Golden Flashes. The Red Raiders topped Oregon State by three strokes for third place while North Carolina rounded out the top five at 22-over.

Tech is back in action in less than a week as the Red Raiders travel to Charleston, South Carolina, for the Briar's Creek Invitational which begins next Monday. The two-day tournament will have live scoring available at www.Golfstat.com.