Tuesday, September 20
San Jose, Calif.
All Day
Colorado
vs
Third Round
Photo by: Chip Bromfield, ProMotion Ltd.
Youth Served As Buffaloes Finish Third in San Jose
September 20, 2016 | Women's Golf
SAN JOSE, Calif. – While the University of Colorado would prefer a tournament title over anything else, the Buffaloes had a great glimpse into their future over the last two days.
Led by a sophomore and a pair of freshmen, Colorado placed third out of 11 teams at the 2016 Juli Inkster Spartan Invitational at the Almaden Golf & Country Club.
WHAT HAPPENED: The underclassmen trio of sophomore Gillian Vance and freshmen Robyn Choi and Kirsty Hodgkins registered top 15 finishes to lead Colorado to a 29-over par 893 for the 54-hole tournament which wrapped up with Tuesday's final round.
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Missing All-American Esther Lee for this event due to an illness, and a squad that's less than 100 percent for that matter, the Buffaloes finished the day with a 13-over 301, 11 shots better than fourth place Nevada, who joined BYU and San Jose State as the only three schools to shoot under 300 in the final round.
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Hodgkins, playing in her second collegiate tournament led the way, tying for fourth overall. Vance had a career-best seventh place showing while Choi, playing in her first collegiate event tied for 15th.
TOURNAMENT FIELD: Brigham Young, which had taken the tournament lead during the second half of Monday's first round, stayed in that spot through the end, closing with an 18-over 294. The Cougars outlasted host San Jose State by three strokes for their first Juli Inkster Spartan title.
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BYU and San Jose State pulled away from the field in the final round, shooting 4-over and 5-over respectively.
KIRSTY HODGKINS (74-71-73—218, +2): Hodgkins shot a team-best 1-over 73 in the final round. She had a great back nine, playing at 3-under, logging three birdies and six pars. Hodgkins closed out her round in style with a birdie on the 473-yard par 5 No. 18, draining a 25-to-30 foot putt to close it out. The 18th proved to be the fourth-toughest hole of the round as Hodgkins registered one of only six birdies for the day at the final hole. She matched her three-round score from last week's Dick McGuire Invitational. Hodgkins put in Colorado's lone sub-par round of the tournament, carding a 1-under 71 during Monday's second round. Her 12 birdies ranked second in the field.
GILLIAN VANCE (73-74-74—221, +5): Vance logged her best three-round score as a Buffalo, finishing with a 5-over 221. She matched her second-round output, shooting 2-over on the day. She placed seventh place in the overall standings, her highest career finish. Vance scored back-to-back birdies on the par-3, 144-yard No. 15 and the par-4, 384-yard No. 16, giving her three red numbers for the day. She tied Choi for the tournament lead on the par 3's during the tournament, shooting 2-under over those 12 holes. Vance, who played within the top 10 individuals for the entire event, improved on her previous three-round total of 223, set at the 2016 NCAA West Regional.
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ROBYN CHOI (72-77-76—225, +9): Choi, competing in her first tournament for the Buffaloes, shot a 4-over 76 in the final round to finish in a tie for 15th with a 9-over 225. Coming off a week where she played for her native Australia at the World Amateur Team Championships in Mexico, Choi started steady, playing the front nine at 1-over and registered eight straight pars between holes No. 3 and No. 10. She ran into a little trouble down the stretch. After logging a birdie at the 161-yard par 3 No. 13, she bogeyed on the next three. Choi rebounded to play the last three holes at even par. She took advantage of the par 3's for the event, as she tied Vance for the overall invitational lead at 2-under over those 12 holes.
TORI GLENN (76-79-78—233, +17): Glenn finished tied for 36th place overall after shooting a 6-over 78 in Tuesday's final round. She played 1-over for her first five holes, including four straight pars, but fell into trouble on the turn, carding a double-bogey on the par 3 No. 8 and bogeys on par 4's No. 9 & No. 11. Glenn closed out the back nine on a strong note, shooting seven straight pars.
BRITTANY FAN (80-75-82--237, +21). Fan shot a 10-over 82 in the final round to finish tied for 50th overall. After starting 4-over for her first five holes she evened out, playing par over the next five. Fan ran into trouble coming into the clubhouse, shooting 6-over on holes No. 14 through 18. The 82 matches her career high round at Colorado, coming at Stanford in February 2015.
TOP INDIVIDUALS: BYU's Kendra Dalton took individual medalist honors with a 4-under 212. Dalton was one of only two golfers to shoot under par in the final round, recording a 1-under 71. San Jose State's My Leander, who had been tied for the lead with Dalton after two rounds, finished second with a 2-under 214. BYU's Alex White, who carded the day's other 1-under 71, was third with an overall 1-over 217. Hodgkins finished tied for fourth with Gonzaga's Ciera Min at 218.
NOTEWORTHY: Colorado had three players finish in the top 15 for the first time since the 2014 Minnesota Fall Invitational where Esther Lee finished tied for eighth and Alexis Keating and Jamie Oleksiew were tied for 14th. The Buffaloes led the tournament on the par 3's shooting a total of 4-over with an average score of 3.07. Vance and Choi led the tournament at 2-under while Hodgkins was tied for fourth at even par. Choi was also solid on the par 5's where she was tied for second at 2-under for the tournament. Choi's first round 72 tied for the seventh-best low score for a first round as a Buff, a spot she shares with current teammates Esther Lee and Hodgkins, who made her debut at last week's Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational. Choi missed that tournament while competing for Australia at the World Amateur Team Championships where she tied for 35th with a 9-over 297. Australia tied for 12th out of 55 teams. Juli Inkster, the tournament's namesake and 31-time winner on the LPGA Tour, was in attendance during the final round. After the tournament, when solicited by Colorado coach Anne Kelly for any advice for the Buffaloes on how to get better, the 7-time major champion obliged, responding "Short game, short game, short game!"
QUOTABLE: Head coach Anne Kelly: "It was a great experience for them. Gillian played some really solid golf and I was really proud of her, but then she wasn't quite satisfied with it. And then Kirsty, in just her second college tournament, to finish fourth is very good, but then she's talking about shots she could have made. It's great, they're making progress, but it's good too that they're not satisfied with it."
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ON KIRSTY: "The last couple days she played that back nine really well. It brings me back to recruiting her, what a fighter she was, to have a rough start today but to just keep fighting and plugging away and then making those birdies coming in was huge."
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ON THE COURSE: "The pin locations were pretty tough; it is a championship course for a reason. They had some pretty difficult hole locations today.
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ON BRITTANY FAN & ROBYN CHOI: "I think Brittany was disappointed in her finish, and Robyn too. I think she (Robyn) just ran out of gas. That was a lot of golf and travel in a 10-day period for her."
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OVERALL: "I think they gained great experience no matter how well, or not, they played. It's the experience that counts this early in the season. For these younger players, the experience is going to pay off for them in the long run. So, no, we're not happy with a third place finish, but it's early in the season and everybody gained some great experience. Now it's time to get home, get everyone healthy and get some practice in because our next two tournaments of the fall are the big ones."
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KIRSTY HODGKINS:
"I'm really sick at the moment and was really tired this morning, so I wasn't really with it this morning. And on the back nine, I took the mindset that there's still nine more holes and I could turn it around. I just got back to the thought of regulation golf, get on in two and two-putt."
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ON HER TOP 5 FINISH: "It's really cool, I didn't know how I'd match up against the Esther Lee's of American golf. But it's really fun to get a couple red scores in there and top 5 finish."
NEXT UP: The Buffaloes are off for three weeks and will return to action at the Stanford Intercollegiate, Oct. 14-16, in Stanford, Calif.
WHAT HAPPENED: The underclassmen trio of sophomore Gillian Vance and freshmen Robyn Choi and Kirsty Hodgkins registered top 15 finishes to lead Colorado to a 29-over par 893 for the 54-hole tournament which wrapped up with Tuesday's final round.
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Missing All-American Esther Lee for this event due to an illness, and a squad that's less than 100 percent for that matter, the Buffaloes finished the day with a 13-over 301, 11 shots better than fourth place Nevada, who joined BYU and San Jose State as the only three schools to shoot under 300 in the final round.
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Hodgkins, playing in her second collegiate tournament led the way, tying for fourth overall. Vance had a career-best seventh place showing while Choi, playing in her first collegiate event tied for 15th.
TOURNAMENT FIELD: Brigham Young, which had taken the tournament lead during the second half of Monday's first round, stayed in that spot through the end, closing with an 18-over 294. The Cougars outlasted host San Jose State by three strokes for their first Juli Inkster Spartan title.
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BYU and San Jose State pulled away from the field in the final round, shooting 4-over and 5-over respectively.
KIRSTY HODGKINS (74-71-73—218, +2): Hodgkins shot a team-best 1-over 73 in the final round. She had a great back nine, playing at 3-under, logging three birdies and six pars. Hodgkins closed out her round in style with a birdie on the 473-yard par 5 No. 18, draining a 25-to-30 foot putt to close it out. The 18th proved to be the fourth-toughest hole of the round as Hodgkins registered one of only six birdies for the day at the final hole. She matched her three-round score from last week's Dick McGuire Invitational. Hodgkins put in Colorado's lone sub-par round of the tournament, carding a 1-under 71 during Monday's second round. Her 12 birdies ranked second in the field.
GILLIAN VANCE (73-74-74—221, +5): Vance logged her best three-round score as a Buffalo, finishing with a 5-over 221. She matched her second-round output, shooting 2-over on the day. She placed seventh place in the overall standings, her highest career finish. Vance scored back-to-back birdies on the par-3, 144-yard No. 15 and the par-4, 384-yard No. 16, giving her three red numbers for the day. She tied Choi for the tournament lead on the par 3's during the tournament, shooting 2-under over those 12 holes. Vance, who played within the top 10 individuals for the entire event, improved on her previous three-round total of 223, set at the 2016 NCAA West Regional.
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ROBYN CHOI (72-77-76—225, +9): Choi, competing in her first tournament for the Buffaloes, shot a 4-over 76 in the final round to finish in a tie for 15th with a 9-over 225. Coming off a week where she played for her native Australia at the World Amateur Team Championships in Mexico, Choi started steady, playing the front nine at 1-over and registered eight straight pars between holes No. 3 and No. 10. She ran into a little trouble down the stretch. After logging a birdie at the 161-yard par 3 No. 13, she bogeyed on the next three. Choi rebounded to play the last three holes at even par. She took advantage of the par 3's for the event, as she tied Vance for the overall invitational lead at 2-under over those 12 holes.
TORI GLENN (76-79-78—233, +17): Glenn finished tied for 36th place overall after shooting a 6-over 78 in Tuesday's final round. She played 1-over for her first five holes, including four straight pars, but fell into trouble on the turn, carding a double-bogey on the par 3 No. 8 and bogeys on par 4's No. 9 & No. 11. Glenn closed out the back nine on a strong note, shooting seven straight pars.
BRITTANY FAN (80-75-82--237, +21). Fan shot a 10-over 82 in the final round to finish tied for 50th overall. After starting 4-over for her first five holes she evened out, playing par over the next five. Fan ran into trouble coming into the clubhouse, shooting 6-over on holes No. 14 through 18. The 82 matches her career high round at Colorado, coming at Stanford in February 2015.
TOP INDIVIDUALS: BYU's Kendra Dalton took individual medalist honors with a 4-under 212. Dalton was one of only two golfers to shoot under par in the final round, recording a 1-under 71. San Jose State's My Leander, who had been tied for the lead with Dalton after two rounds, finished second with a 2-under 214. BYU's Alex White, who carded the day's other 1-under 71, was third with an overall 1-over 217. Hodgkins finished tied for fourth with Gonzaga's Ciera Min at 218.
NOTEWORTHY: Colorado had three players finish in the top 15 for the first time since the 2014 Minnesota Fall Invitational where Esther Lee finished tied for eighth and Alexis Keating and Jamie Oleksiew were tied for 14th. The Buffaloes led the tournament on the par 3's shooting a total of 4-over with an average score of 3.07. Vance and Choi led the tournament at 2-under while Hodgkins was tied for fourth at even par. Choi was also solid on the par 5's where she was tied for second at 2-under for the tournament. Choi's first round 72 tied for the seventh-best low score for a first round as a Buff, a spot she shares with current teammates Esther Lee and Hodgkins, who made her debut at last week's Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational. Choi missed that tournament while competing for Australia at the World Amateur Team Championships where she tied for 35th with a 9-over 297. Australia tied for 12th out of 55 teams. Juli Inkster, the tournament's namesake and 31-time winner on the LPGA Tour, was in attendance during the final round. After the tournament, when solicited by Colorado coach Anne Kelly for any advice for the Buffaloes on how to get better, the 7-time major champion obliged, responding "Short game, short game, short game!"
QUOTABLE: Head coach Anne Kelly: "It was a great experience for them. Gillian played some really solid golf and I was really proud of her, but then she wasn't quite satisfied with it. And then Kirsty, in just her second college tournament, to finish fourth is very good, but then she's talking about shots she could have made. It's great, they're making progress, but it's good too that they're not satisfied with it."
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ON KIRSTY: "The last couple days she played that back nine really well. It brings me back to recruiting her, what a fighter she was, to have a rough start today but to just keep fighting and plugging away and then making those birdies coming in was huge."
Â
ON THE COURSE: "The pin locations were pretty tough; it is a championship course for a reason. They had some pretty difficult hole locations today.
Â
ON BRITTANY FAN & ROBYN CHOI: "I think Brittany was disappointed in her finish, and Robyn too. I think she (Robyn) just ran out of gas. That was a lot of golf and travel in a 10-day period for her."
Â
OVERALL: "I think they gained great experience no matter how well, or not, they played. It's the experience that counts this early in the season. For these younger players, the experience is going to pay off for them in the long run. So, no, we're not happy with a third place finish, but it's early in the season and everybody gained some great experience. Now it's time to get home, get everyone healthy and get some practice in because our next two tournaments of the fall are the big ones."
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KIRSTY HODGKINS:
"I'm really sick at the moment and was really tired this morning, so I wasn't really with it this morning. And on the back nine, I took the mindset that there's still nine more holes and I could turn it around. I just got back to the thought of regulation golf, get on in two and two-putt."
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ON HER TOP 5 FINISH: "It's really cool, I didn't know how I'd match up against the Esther Lee's of American golf. But it's really fun to get a couple red scores in there and top 5 finish."
NEXT UP: The Buffaloes are off for three weeks and will return to action at the Stanford Intercollegiate, Oct. 14-16, in Stanford, Calif.
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| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS | ||
| Rank | Name | Score |
| T4. | Kirsty Hodgkins | 74-71-73—218 |
| T7. | Gillian Vance | 73-74-74—221 |
| T15. | Robyn Choi | 72-77-76—225 |
| T36. | Tori Glenn | 76-79-78—233 |
| T50. | Brittany Fan | 80-75-82—237 |
| TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS | ||
| Rank | Name | Score |
| 1. | Kendra Dalton, BYU | 70-71-71—212 |
| 2. | My Leander, San Jose State | 71-70-73—214 |
| 3. | Alex White | 74-72-71—217 |
| T4. | Kirsty Hodgkins, Colorado | 74-71-73—218 |
| T4. | Ciera Min, Gonzaga | 70-73-75—218 |
| TEAM SCORES | ||
| Rank | Team | Score |
| 1. | Brigham Young | 294-296-292—882 |
| 2. | San Jose State | 299-293-293—885 |
| 3. | COLORADO | 295-297-301—893 |
| 4. | Nevada | 296-310-298—904 |
| 5. | UC Irvine | 299-303-303—905 |
| T6. | Santa Clara | 297-305-306—908 |
| T6. | Gonzaga | 302-304-302—908 |
| 8. | Colorado State | 304-301-308—913 |
| 9. | Long Beach State | 300-307-311—918 |
| 10. | Cal Poly | 303-311-305—919 |
| 11. | San Francisco | 308-305-315—928 |
Players Mentioned
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