BYU women’s golf begins the Red Raider Invitational on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at The Rawls Course in Lubbock, Texas. There is no announced television stream or radio broadcast. The useful way to follow is the official Clippd leaderboard, which will update team and individual cards after the host publishes scores.
Texas Tech lists a 7:30 a.m. Mountain shotgun start Tuesday for 36 continuous holes. The final round begins at the same time Wednesday. BYU’s event row currently shows 8 a.m. Mountain, a 30-minute conflict, so use the host’s 7:30 time and open the leaderboard a few minutes early.
That small disagreement is exactly why a golf follow guide needs more than a date. There will not be one BYU tee time, one opponent or one final score arriving after two hours. Six Cougars will be spread across the course, five in the team lineup and one playing as an individual, with four team cards counting in each round.
BYU Red Raider Invitational follow information
| Event detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Event | 2026 Red Raider Invitational |
| Dates | Tuesday-Wednesday, Sept. 22-23, 2026 |
| Tuesday | 7:30 a.m. MDT shotgun start; 36 holes of continuous play |
| Wednesday | 7:30 a.m. MDT shotgun start; 18-hole final round |
| Venue | The Rawls Course, 3720 4th Street, Lubbock, Texas |
| Live scoring | Official Clippd team leaderboard |
| TV/stream | No official broadcast listing published |
| Radio | No official radio listing published |
| Admission | Free, with free parking, according to Texas Tech |
| BYU event | Official event record 25404 |
| Permanent schedule | BYU women’s golf schedule |
Texas Tech expects Tuesday’s play to run until about 5 p.m. Mountain. Wednesday’s final round should finish near noon Mountain. Those are estimates, not guaranteed finish times. Weather, pace and score posting can move the practical end of a college golf round.
The start-time conflict deserves a clean explanation. Texas Tech’s host preview says both days use an 8:30 a.m. Central shotgun, which converts to 7:30 a.m. Mountain. BYU’s event API stores a 14:00 UTC start, which converts to 8 a.m. Mountain. BYU’s Sunday preview says first-round tee times had not been announced, but a shotgun does not require staggered tee times. The host controls tournament operations, so 7:30 is the better working time. Check Clippd and the official schedule again Tuesday morning in case either school posts an adjustment.
The BYU lineup changed in two places
BYU will count scores from seniors MJ Barragán, Whitney Banz and Berlin Long, plus freshmen Kate Walker and Tatum Otto. Sophomore Nya Palmer will play as an individual, so her card can appear on the player leaderboard but cannot count toward BYU’s team total.
That is a different five from the season opener at The Bruzzy. Barragán, Banz and Walker remain. Long and Otto enter the team lineup in place of Kanyanol “Naji” Aramkul and Palmer, while Palmer moves to the individual slot.
Otto’s move is the clearest development to track. She shot 75-76-76 for an 11-over 227 in her college debut at The Bruzzy. Those rounds did not affect the team score because she was an individual. In Lubbock, every Otto round is eligible to become one of BYU’s four counters.
Long did not appear in BYU’s opening-event card. Her inclusion gives the Cougars another senior beside Barragán and Banz, but the lineup announcement does not explain the earlier absence. There is no need to invent one. The scorecard question is whether Long can give BYU a fourth number closer to par than it found in Trophy Club.
One brilliant card did not fix the opener
Barragán enters Lubbock after a career-best 9-under 207 and sixth-place finish at The Bruzzy. She shot 71-68-68, made 11 birdies against two bogeys and finished one stroke behind the five-way winning total.
BYU still placed ninth at 5-over 869. Banz was the next Cougar at 1-over 217, 10 shots behind Barragán. Walker finished at 5 over, Aramkul at 8 over and Palmer at 16 over. The full opener scorecard showed a team with one title-level card and too much room beneath it.
The Red Raider Invitational gives BYU a cleaner field for testing that gap. Twelve teams are entered: BYU, host Texas Tech, Abilene Christian, Houston Christian, Incarnate Word, New Mexico, Prairie View A&M, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, UT Arlington and UTEP.
Texas Tech won this tournament on its home course last year at 12 over, 12 shots ahead of Houston Christian. BYU did not play the 2025 edition, but it has a recent receipt in Lubbock. The Cougars finished third in 2024 at 4 over, and Barragán tied for second at 6 under after rounds of 71-71-68.
That history makes Barragán the obvious BYU player to watch, but repeating her 2024 finish is not the only path to a better team result. College golf counts four scores from five players in every round. BYU can gain more by moving its fourth counter three shots lower each day than by asking Barragán to improve on a top-six opener.
Four scorecard tests to follow
1. Can BYU keep four cards within reach of par?
The team total matters more than the low individual card. At The Bruzzy, BYU’s three rounds were 292, 287 and 290. Barragán supplied red numbers in the final two, but the supporting counters did not stay low enough to pull BYU into the top half.
On Clippd, start with BYU’s fourth counting score. A fifth card can be dropped each round. If the fourth counter stays close to par, the Cougars are building a team round. If the fourth counter drifts several shots over while Barragán is under, Lubbock is repeating the opener’s shape.
2. Does Otto’s first team start hold up over 36 holes?
Tuesday is the heavier day: two rounds without a reset overnight. Otto has already played 54 college holes, but this is her first start inside the five-player team card.
Her opening 75 at The Bruzzy was competitive with several BYU counters. The next step is not a dramatic low round. It is avoiding the costly stretch that turns a usable score into the dropped fifth card. Follow where Otto sits after 18, then whether her second round remains close enough to count.
3. Can Banz give BYU a second anchor?
Banz shot 73-71-73 at the opener. Nothing in that line is flashy, which is part of its value. All three rounds counted, and she never moved more than one shot from par.
BYU needs that floor again. If Barragán attracts the leaderboard attention while Banz keeps posting low 70s, Walker, Long and Otto only need to produce two more counters. If Banz slides, the younger end of the lineup has to cover a much bigger share.
4. Does Walker turn a debut into a trend?
Walker opened her college career with 73-75-73. Two of those rounds counted for BYU. She now gets a second event before the season can turn one tournament into a reputation.
The useful comparison is not Walker against Barragán. It is Walker against her own 5-over debut. Another pair of low-70s rounds would give BYU evidence that its freshman contribution is stable. A first college score in red numbers would raise the ceiling, but BYU does not need to demand one to get value from her card.
How to read the leaderboard
Clippd separates the team and player views. The team number uses the best four BYU scores in each completed round. Palmer’s score belongs only to the individual table because she is not in the counting five.
During a shotgun start, every group begins on a different hole. “Thru 9” does not mean each player has completed the front nine, and two golfers marked through the same number of holes may have faced different parts of the course. Compare totals carefully until the round is complete.
Tuesday’s two rounds should flow continuously. A posted first-round team total is a checkpoint, not the end of the day. The better first-day read will be BYU’s 36-hole position, the gap to the leaders and the spread between its first and fourth counting players.
Wednesday brings the final receipt. Team place matters, but so does the shape of the card. BYU can improve without Barragán matching 9 under if four players stay connected. It can also waste another strong Barragán week if the fourth counter falls away.
The Cougars next play the PD Intercollegiate in Wichita, Kansas, on Oct. 5-6. Lubbock is their second of four fall events and the first chance to see whether two weeks of lineup work closed the ten-shot gap between Barragán and BYU’s next finisher.
Open the leaderboard before 7:30 a.m. Mountain Tuesday. Follow the fourth score as closely as the first. That is where BYU’s real answer will be.
Sources and further reading
- BYU Athletics, Sept. 20: Women’s golf set to tee off at Red Raider Invitational for BYU’s lineup, individual entry, 12-team field, 36/18-hole format, official scoring link and opener context.
- BYU Athletics: official event record 25404 for the stable schedule ID, scheduled status, UTC event window, venue and current 8 a.m. Mountain listing.
- Texas Tech Athletics, Sept. 15: Women’s golf preps to host Red Raider Invitational for the host’s 8:30 a.m. Central shotgun starts, event format, field, admission, parking, estimated finish times and 2023-25 tournament history.
- Clippd: 2026 Red Raider Invitational team leaderboard for official live team and player scoring as published by the host.
- BYU Athletics, Sept. 9: Barragán ties for sixth, Cougars finish ninth at The Bruzzy for BYU’s season-opening team total, individual cards and Barragán’s career-best 207.
- BYU Sport Nuts: women’s golf hub, roster, schedule, The Bruzzy scorecard analysis and all-sports directory.
