Tuesday, September 13
ALBUQUERQUE,
All Day
Colorado
vs
Third Round
Senior Esther Lee won her program record third tournament of her career on Tuesday.
Lee Claims Title, Buffs Finish Seventh At New Mexico Invitational
September 13, 2016 | Women's Golf
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – University of Colorado senior Esther Lee earned medalist honors here Tuesday at the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational, shattering the school record with a 198 or 18-under par final scorecard as the women's golf team finished in seventh place to open the 2016-17 season.
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Lee, a winner for a program-best third time in her career, claimed the title by five strokes on the par 72, 6,317-yard New Mexico Championship Golf Course. Her win is tied for the second largest margin of victory in CU history.
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WHAT HAPPENED: The Buffaloes carded a 281-296-287—864 or even-par team total en route to their seventh place finish. Colorado started the day closing out the second round, which was cut short on Monday due to inclement weather. The Buffs struggled on their final few holes, but rebounded nicely in the last round to collectively post a 1-under 287. Colorado tallied 168 pars and 47 birdies, fourth-most in the 16-team field.
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TOURNAMENT FIELD: Ninth-ranked Oklahoma State won the tournament quite comfortably with an 844 or 20-under par team score, nine strokes ahead of second place finisher Arizona State at 11-under par, 853. Baylor took third, one stroke behind the Sun Devils at 1-under par followed by Northwestern in fourth place, shooting an 855 or 9-under par. Arizona rounded out the top five with a 3-under, 861 team performance.
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ESTHER LEE (61-69-68—198, -18): A day after tying an NCAA record with a 61, Lee continued her dominance, shooting 4-under par in the final round to secure the victory. In the third round, she made five birdies and 12 pars against only one bogey. In total, the Los Alamitos, Calif. native recorded 30 pars, 21 birdies and just three bogeys at the event. Her 21 birdies marks a program record in a single tournament, topping the previous record of 18 set by Emily Childs (2008). Lee also became the first Buff to notch three rounds in the 60s at an event and sets the program record for the most consecutive rounds in the 60s with her 61-69-68 scorecard.
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BRITTANY FAN (71-74-73—218, +2): Fan finished the season opener with a 218 or 2-over par and tied for 30th place. She shot plus-1 in the final round. After a bogey on her 11th hole of the day, Fan turned in a solid finish, paring the seven remaining holes. The CU junior made 39 pars and seven birdies over the 54-hole tournament.
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KIRSTY HODGKINS (72-75-71—218, +2): Hodgkins also carded a 2-over par, 218, tying her for 30th overall in her first tournament as a Buff. She saved her best for last, recording a personal-low 71 in Tuesday's final round. Hodgkins put together an impressive start as she was 1-under through 11 holes. The freshman then went bogey-birdie-bogey over the next three holes before closing strong with three straight pars and a birdie on her final hole.
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TORI GLENN (77-78-75—230, +14): Glenn recorded a career best 14-over par to finish tied for 78th place. She also played her best 18-holes in the final round at 3-over par, 78. Overall, the redshirt junior tallied 33 pars and six birdies as she competed in her first career tournament in which her score counted toward the team total.
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GILLIAN VANCE (77-79-75—231, +15): Vance, still playing under the weather, posted a 231 or 15 over-par scorecard. She was plus-4 with six holes left on Tuesday, but rallied with a strong finish, going 1-under the rest of the way as she recorded five pars and one birdie. Vance tied for 81st in the standings.
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LAURYN KEATING (77-84-76—237, +21): Keating, playing as an individual, finished 88th overall. She shot 4-over on Tuesday with her round consisting of 13 pars and one birdie against three bogeys and a double.
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TOP INDIVIDUALS: Finishing in second, behind Lee was Sirene Blair from San Diego State with a 13-under par, 203. A quartet of golfers tied for third place, each recording a 206 or 10-under par 56-hole tournament score.
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NOTEWORTHY: Colorado's seventh place team finish in the tournament marks the seventh consecutive time the Buffaloes have opened the fall season in the top 10. Lee's 130 (61-69) is a new 36-hole record, four strokes better than the previous mark (134). Her 54-hole 198 score is the first sub-200 score in school history. She broke her own previous record by eight strokes (206), set in 2015. She holds the school record for most strokes under par in a tournament after this week's performance at 18-under, besting Jenny Coleman (2012), who posted an 11-under par. She has now played 19 rounds under par for her career, which ranks third on the all-time list.
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QUOTABLE: Head coach Anne Kelly: "Overall, I think it was a good tournament. I think the finish to the second round hurt us a little bit, but everybody got some good experience. Esther, to finish 18-under par is pretty amazing. It's not a piece-of-cake golf course."
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Senior Esther Lee: "I actually got off to a slow start [in the third round]. I think I made all of my birdies on the last seven or eight holes. You just have to be patient, and I was patient. I knew that my putts would start going in eventually. It's an incredible feeling to know I'm starting off my senior year with a win, having that kind of experience and having the confidence going into the rest of the season. This is the most fun I've had playing golf in a tournament because of how well I played."
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"I think finishing seventh as a team is pretty good. I feel like this was a strong field. It's about gaining momentum going into the rest of our season. I'm excited and happy for all my teammates. We have a lot more to show in the next couple months."
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NEXT UP: The Buffaloes return to the links next week for their second tournament of the fall season at the Julie Inkster/San Jose State Invitational, Sept. 19-20 in San Jose, Calif.
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Lee, a winner for a program-best third time in her career, claimed the title by five strokes on the par 72, 6,317-yard New Mexico Championship Golf Course. Her win is tied for the second largest margin of victory in CU history.
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WHAT HAPPENED: The Buffaloes carded a 281-296-287—864 or even-par team total en route to their seventh place finish. Colorado started the day closing out the second round, which was cut short on Monday due to inclement weather. The Buffs struggled on their final few holes, but rebounded nicely in the last round to collectively post a 1-under 287. Colorado tallied 168 pars and 47 birdies, fourth-most in the 16-team field.
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TOURNAMENT FIELD: Ninth-ranked Oklahoma State won the tournament quite comfortably with an 844 or 20-under par team score, nine strokes ahead of second place finisher Arizona State at 11-under par, 853. Baylor took third, one stroke behind the Sun Devils at 1-under par followed by Northwestern in fourth place, shooting an 855 or 9-under par. Arizona rounded out the top five with a 3-under, 861 team performance.
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ESTHER LEE (61-69-68—198, -18): A day after tying an NCAA record with a 61, Lee continued her dominance, shooting 4-under par in the final round to secure the victory. In the third round, she made five birdies and 12 pars against only one bogey. In total, the Los Alamitos, Calif. native recorded 30 pars, 21 birdies and just three bogeys at the event. Her 21 birdies marks a program record in a single tournament, topping the previous record of 18 set by Emily Childs (2008). Lee also became the first Buff to notch three rounds in the 60s at an event and sets the program record for the most consecutive rounds in the 60s with her 61-69-68 scorecard.
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BRITTANY FAN (71-74-73—218, +2): Fan finished the season opener with a 218 or 2-over par and tied for 30th place. She shot plus-1 in the final round. After a bogey on her 11th hole of the day, Fan turned in a solid finish, paring the seven remaining holes. The CU junior made 39 pars and seven birdies over the 54-hole tournament.
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KIRSTY HODGKINS (72-75-71—218, +2): Hodgkins also carded a 2-over par, 218, tying her for 30th overall in her first tournament as a Buff. She saved her best for last, recording a personal-low 71 in Tuesday's final round. Hodgkins put together an impressive start as she was 1-under through 11 holes. The freshman then went bogey-birdie-bogey over the next three holes before closing strong with three straight pars and a birdie on her final hole.
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TORI GLENN (77-78-75—230, +14): Glenn recorded a career best 14-over par to finish tied for 78th place. She also played her best 18-holes in the final round at 3-over par, 78. Overall, the redshirt junior tallied 33 pars and six birdies as she competed in her first career tournament in which her score counted toward the team total.
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GILLIAN VANCE (77-79-75—231, +15): Vance, still playing under the weather, posted a 231 or 15 over-par scorecard. She was plus-4 with six holes left on Tuesday, but rallied with a strong finish, going 1-under the rest of the way as she recorded five pars and one birdie. Vance tied for 81st in the standings.
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LAURYN KEATING (77-84-76—237, +21): Keating, playing as an individual, finished 88th overall. She shot 4-over on Tuesday with her round consisting of 13 pars and one birdie against three bogeys and a double.
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TOP INDIVIDUALS: Finishing in second, behind Lee was Sirene Blair from San Diego State with a 13-under par, 203. A quartet of golfers tied for third place, each recording a 206 or 10-under par 56-hole tournament score.
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NOTEWORTHY: Colorado's seventh place team finish in the tournament marks the seventh consecutive time the Buffaloes have opened the fall season in the top 10. Lee's 130 (61-69) is a new 36-hole record, four strokes better than the previous mark (134). Her 54-hole 198 score is the first sub-200 score in school history. She broke her own previous record by eight strokes (206), set in 2015. She holds the school record for most strokes under par in a tournament after this week's performance at 18-under, besting Jenny Coleman (2012), who posted an 11-under par. She has now played 19 rounds under par for her career, which ranks third on the all-time list.
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QUOTABLE: Head coach Anne Kelly: "Overall, I think it was a good tournament. I think the finish to the second round hurt us a little bit, but everybody got some good experience. Esther, to finish 18-under par is pretty amazing. It's not a piece-of-cake golf course."
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Senior Esther Lee: "I actually got off to a slow start [in the third round]. I think I made all of my birdies on the last seven or eight holes. You just have to be patient, and I was patient. I knew that my putts would start going in eventually. It's an incredible feeling to know I'm starting off my senior year with a win, having that kind of experience and having the confidence going into the rest of the season. This is the most fun I've had playing golf in a tournament because of how well I played."
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"I think finishing seventh as a team is pretty good. I feel like this was a strong field. It's about gaining momentum going into the rest of our season. I'm excited and happy for all my teammates. We have a lot more to show in the next couple months."
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NEXT UP: The Buffaloes return to the links next week for their second tournament of the fall season at the Julie Inkster/San Jose State Invitational, Sept. 19-20 in San Jose, Calif.
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS | ||
| Rank | Name | Score |
| 1. | Esther Lee | 61-69-68—198 |
| T30. | Brittany Fan | 71-74-73—218 |
| T30. | Kirsty Hodgkins | 72-75-71—218 |
| T78. | Tori Glenn | 77-78-75—230 |
| T81. | Gillian Vance | 77-79-75—231 |
| 88. | *Lauryn Keating | 77-84-76—237 |
| TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS | ||
| Rank | Name | Score |
| 1. | Esther Lee, Colorado | 61-69-68—198 |
| 2. | Sirene Blair, San Diego State | 69-64-70—203 |
| T3. | Krystal Quihus, Arizona | 68-68-70—206 |
| T3. | Monica Vaughn, Arizona State | 67-66-73—206 |
| T3. | Haley Moore, Arizona | 70-71-65—206 |
| T3. | Linnea Johansson, Oklahoma State | 66-72-68—206 |
| TEAM SCORES | ||
| Rank | Team | Score |
| 1. | Oklahoma State | 274-287-283—844 |
| 2. | Arizona State | 284-281-288—853 |
| 3. | Baylor | 282-289-283—854 |
| 4. | Northwestern | 287-287-281—855 |
| 5. | Arizona | 290-287-284—861 |
| 6. | Oklahoma | 290-285-287—862 |
| 7. | COLORADO | 281-296-287—864 |
| 8. | New Mexico | 299-285-283—867 |
| 9. | California | 290-289-291—870 |
| 10. | San Diego State | 296-292-284—872 |
| 11. | Iowa State | 290-294-293—877 |
| 12. | Pepperdine | 296-298-286—880 |
| 13. | Denver | 301-293-287—881 |
| 14. | Washington State | 301-303-286—890 |
| 15. | UNLV | 301-299-297—897 |
| 16. | UC Davis | 302-315-288—905 |
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Players Mentioned
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