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BYU golfer Lila Galeai (left) laughs with Lone Peak golfer Berlin Long after Galeai won the 2021 Utah State Women's Amateur title at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington on Thursday, July 1, 2021.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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Lone Peak's Aadyn Long watches a teammate finish a round during the 6A Girls State Golf Championships at Riverbend Golf Course in Riverton on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.

Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald

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BYU golfer Kerstin Ngakuru hits a shot during media day for the 2023 State Women's Amateur at Jeremy Ranch golf course in Park City on Wednesday, July 19, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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BYU golfer Lila Galeai (right) hugs Lone Peak golfer Berlin Long after Galeai won the 2021 Utah State Women's Amateur title at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington on Thursday, July 1, 2021.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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Lone Peak sophomore Aadyn Long watches her putt during the final round of the 6A state girls golf tournament at Stonebridge Golf Club in West Valley on Tuesday, May 10, 2022.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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BYU junior Lila Galeai (center), senior Kerstin Ngakuru (right) and Sacramento State's Tess Blair walk toward the green during the final round of the 2023 BYU Riverside Classic at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Tuesday, April 11, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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BYU golfer Kerstin Ngakuru hits a shot during media day for the 2023 State Women's Amateur at Jeremy Ranch golf course in Park City on Wednesday, July 19, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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BYU golfer Kerstin Ngakuru watches her shot during media day for the 2023 State Women's Amateur at Jeremy Ranch golf course in Park City on Wednesday, July 19, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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BYU golfer Kerstin Ngakuru hits a shot during media day for the 2023 State Women's Amateur at Jeremy Ranch golf course in Park City on Wednesday, July 19, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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Summer tournaments usually keep high school and college golfers pretty busy in June and July, sometimes all the way into August. With the fall season looming, there isn’t much time for relaxation.

Take, for example, BYU golfer Berlin Long’s schedule for the next few weeks.

“This summer has actually been like a lot more mellow than they normally are but then these next three weeks became insanely busy,” Long said Wednesday at media day for the 2023 Utah State Women’s Amateur at Jeremy Ranch in Park City. “I leave on Saturday for the Sea Island Amateur in Sea Island, Georgia. Then I’m back for just a couple of day before the state amateur starts and I would love to play to the end of that.

“If I did, the night of the championship I leave for the U.S. Amateur. With two practice rounds, that could go from August 5-13. But this is what I love to do, so I can’t complain.”

That doesn’t even begin to talk about the upcoming Cougar season, which starts in September.

Between practicing and competing, golfers like Long often are zeroed in on the details of their sport. Sometimes, however, it’s good to step back and consider the big picture.

That’s what Long, her BYU teammate Lila Galeai and her younger sister Aadyn Long (a Cougar commit who will be a junior at Lone Peak this fall) did on Wednesday as they talked about their views on BYU and women’s sports in general.

One of the big changes going on is the Cougars moving to the Big 12.

“I’m excited,” Galeai said. “I’m excited to play and see what is out there. But I’m not going to think too much about it and just keep doing the same things I’ve been doing.”

Berlin Long also sees being in the bigger conference as having a slight impact, but for the most part expects her experience to be fairly similar to past years.

“A lot of our regular season schedule stays the same,” Berlin Long said. “You just go to the tournaments you get invited to and play in those, so we are playing in a lot of the same tournaments we played last year.”

She said she’s looking forward to a new conference match-play event and then the Big 12 Conference Championship.

“I think it’s going to be great,” Berlin Long said. “I think the Big 12 is really good for the school, for all athletics. It’s going to be awesome. I’m really excited to be able to compete with some of those teams and play new golf courses. I think it’s going to be really fun.”

Galeai noted that, unlike sports like basketball, football, and soccer, the course is biggest challenge when playing golf.

“We’ll be playing big schools and probably some better competition than what we have had,” Galeai said. “But in golf, it’s still going to come down to playing your own game and worrying about nothing but that. You have to do what you are confident in doing.”

Aadyn Long said she did consider BYU’s Big 12 affiliation when she was deciding where she wanted to play college golf.

“I feel like BYU has always had a really good athletics program but to be able to go to the Big 12 makes it recognized as a good athletics program,” Aadyn Long said. “I feel like that is definitely going to be a good thing and the program is going to get even better.”

While the conference switch is something that will directly impact the three athletes, broader issues regarding women’s sports in general are more abstract for them.

The reality, though, is that issues like equal pay for female athletes and how competitive equality is maintained could significantly change in the next decade when this trio is in their prime.

“I feel like a bunch of different sports have really taken a step forward for female athletics,” Aadyn Long said. “There are still problems in the world but golf is different. I don’t know if I see it as much in Utah but there are a few things that come into play and have made girls’ athletics take a step back. I do think that’s sad because of how much improvement has been made.”

Berlin Long said she hasn’t focused on where women’s sports are at but does understand that money is always going to be a consideration.

“The money comes from somewhere,” Berlin Long said. “It is what it is. I think in terms of sponsorships and things like that, I feel like it’s equal. There are a lot of positive things that have happened for women’s sports but there is always room for improvement.”

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