For the better part of two years, BYU head coach Carrie Roberts has had a window into the kind of success her team has enjoyed publicly this past month. At times, it was that knowledge, which inspired a deep belief in her team, that kept her going through a start-and-stop and often unpredictable season.
“Very difficult time,” Roberts said in describing the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic brought to college athletics and to life in general, “and the teams that could stick together during those times, I think you’re going to see thrive this year.”
BYU is a living example, having won its first two starts of the fall season and then putting itself in position to win a third on Wednesday at the Golfweek Red Sky Challenge.
Nearly two years have passed since there was any normalcy in college golf. When the 2019-20 season ended abruptly at the start of the pandemic, BYU had finished fourth or better in six of eight starts and was ranked No. 66 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.
Scores: Golfweek Red Sky Classic
“We were a pretty good team before the break,” Roberts said. “The exact same team came back and different situations in different states, you weren’t allowed to play golf, you didn’t have tournaments. So just maybe some motivation was waning. . . . They came back and weren’t ready to play – we competed but weren’t ready to compete.”
Familiarity has allowed BYU to become closer and closer as a team, particularly this season. Roberts calls it an evolvement of culture over time.
“You have to evolve as a team – this team has evolved and has gone through a lot of downs and realized they didn’t like that.”
Playing in their first tournament of the season, the Dick McGuire Invitational, the Cougars went 8 under for 54 holes and overtook San Jose State for a six-shot victory.
Six days later, BYU teed it up across the country at the Tennessee-hosted Mercedes-Benz Invitational. Roberts’ team edged Miami by three shots to start its season 2-and-2 – the first time since the fall of 2016 that BYU has won consecutive tournaments.
Now, back in the mountains at Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott, Colorado, BYU has put itself in contention for a third win.
“We’re at 4,300 feet (at home) in Provo – it wasn’t a big adjustment, maybe half a club to a club,” Roberts said of the elevation.
Even when it’s rainy it still looks good at @redskygolf pic.twitter.com/ofZJt4rrSr
— Lance Ringler (@GolfweekRingler) September 29, 2021
BYU trailed Northern Arizona and East Tennessee State by two shots after the first round. When weather moved through Red Sky in the second round, it chopped up the day enough that the tournament was shortened from 54 holes to 36. BYU had a handful of holes to play Wednesday, but the topic of a third win was very much on the table.
That speaks to an openness in the team room.
“We talk about it all the time, you just have to roll with things,” Roberts said. “Just go with the flow and be ready when it comes. They were prepared.”