Buffs Second At NCAA Stanford Regional On Heels Of Fan's 66

SAN FRANCISCO – University of Colorado's Brittany Fan entered elite company by stepping on the No. 1 tee box Monday. By the time she walked off the No. 18 green, she was alone at the top.

Fan shot a personal-best, and CU women's golf regional round record, 6-under, 66, to pace the Buffaloes in the first round of the NCAA Stanford Regional Monday at the TPC Harding Park Course.

Fan, only the second Buff to make four NCAA Regional appearances, is tied for the overall lead after round one, joining Stanford's Andrea Lee and UCLA's Mariel Galdiano.

More importantly, No. 26 ranked Colorado is tied for second with No. 16 Kent State, after shooting 4-under, 284, four strokes behind top-ranked UCLA, which finished the day's best round at 8-under, 280. The Buffaloes are five strokes ahead of the all-important sixth spot, which is the cut line to advance to the NCAA Finals.

"One of the best all-around team efforts we've had this semester," Colorado head coach Anne Kelly said. "We have a battle ahead of us and we just need to take this event a day and a hole at a time. The course is a good test of golf – tough but fair."

Fan's round was relatively flawless, carding an eagle, four birdies and 13 pars. Her 66 was two strokes better than Colorado's previous low 18-hole score at an NCAA event, a 68 shot by Emily Talley at the 2012 NCAA Regional at Colorado National.

She made her move early on the front with a trio of birdies at the par-4 No. 2, par-5 No. 4 and par-4, No. 6 to get to 3-under. Fan then closed out the front in record fashion. She made an eagle at the 490-yard par-5 No. 9 to finish the front with a 31, Colorado's best 9-hole score at an NCAA event. After a solid drive, Fan attacked the green with a 3-wood from about 240-yards, landing on the green about 15-feet from the pin where she sank the eagle putt.

"A lot of (today) was the approach and putting for sure," Fan said. "I wasn't as sharp off the tee on the back, but I took advantage of some short clubs and made some putts. I probably left three or four shots out there, but I'm satisfied with my 66 and I'm excited for the next two days."

Fan stayed at 5-under through 14 holes and then grabbed a share of the lead with a birdie at the par-4 No. 15. She played even over the final three to seal her 66, one stroke better than her previous best, 67, in the first round of the Meadow Club Collegiate in March.

"Brittany got off to a great start on the front nine and played solid golf on the back," Kelly said. "She was very consistent and made clutch up and downs when needed."

While Fan neared perfection, the Buffaloes as a whole enjoyed an extremely clean round. Colorado had only 12 bogeys among its four scoring golfers and zero double-bogeys, or worse, overall.

The Buffaloes had been looking for that complete round, where all five golfers contributed, and it happened Monday. Junior Gillian Vance, Colorado's fifth golfer, had her second-best round of the spring and scored for the team on Monday with a 2-over, 74. Freshman Alisha Lau, making her NCAA debut, put in a solid 4-over, 76.

"The big key to today's round was Gillian and Alisha," Kelly said. "They both played well and hung in there all day. Alisha got off to a tough start but played well on the back nine. Gillian was very consistent all day and really played well finishing the round – the closing four holes are very challenging out here."

Sophomore Kirsty Hodgkins had Colorado's second sub-par round of the day at 1-under, 71. She was 1-over after three holes, but made consecutive birdies at the par-5 No. 4 and the par-4 No. 5. Hodgkins remained at 1-under through the front nine after registering her third birdie of the round at the par-5 No. 9.

She made par on the next six holes and moved up to 2-under after a birdie at the par-5 No. 16, but dropped a stroke at No. 18 to finish day one in a tie for 10^th place.

Sophomore Robyn Choi had a steady round, finishing at 1-over, 73. Choi was even through three and moved up to 1-under after a birdie at the par-5 No. 4. She dropped back to even with a bogey at the par-3 No. 8, but gained that stroke back immediately with her second birdie of the round at No. 9. Choi wasn't able to take advantage of the back, though. She had seven pars, but made bogey at No. 11 and No. 18 to end her round in a tie for 33^rd place.

"Robyn and Kirsty had good rounds, but both felt like they let a few shots slip away," Kelly said.

Vance was 2-over through six holes, but finished off the front nine with three-straight pars. She birdied the par-5 No. 10 to climb to 1-under and made par over the next three. She dropped a pair of strokes with bogeys at No. 14 and No. 15, but rallied with her second birdie of the day, at the par-4 No. 16 and closed off her round with pars on the last two holes to enter round two in 42^nd place.

Lau was 4-over after seven holes thanks to a stretch of three-straight bogeys, but she played even the rest of the way. After No. 7, Lau made five pars in a row heading into her best stretch. She had birdies on a pair of par 4s, first at No. 13 and then again at No. 15 to drop to 2-under. Lau made bogey on her final two holes to finish in a tie for 61^st place.

"We're all pretty satisfied that we're in second, but there are still two days to go, so we're not celebrating anything yet," Fan said. "We still have the mindset that we're going to go out the next two days and play exactly the same way. Nothing is done until then; we'll celebrate after."

Colorado will pair with UCLA and Kent State for Tuesday's second round beginning from the No. 1 hole at 10:50 a.m. MT.

NOTES: Fan is shooting 6-under collectively over her last 13 rounds. Fan's 31 on the front nine tied for the second-best known 9-hole score in team history. It was the fourth time a Buff had shot 31, Choi made 31 on the back nine in the second round of the Coeur d'Alene Collegiate in September. Fan's 66 was the third-best round of the season. Choi and Hodgkins both shot 65 at the Coeur d'Alene Collegiate…Colorado's 14 birdies in round one tied for the lead in the field with North Carolina and UCLA…The Buffaloes were the second-best team of the day on the par-5s, shooting 8-under with an average score of 4.6…With her 11^th under-par round of the season today, Hodgkins caught Choi for the team lead and the school's single-season record.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
T1.	Brittany Fan	66
T10.	Kirsty Hodgkins	71
T33.	Robyn Choi	73
T42.	Gillian Vance	74
T61.	Alisha Lau	76
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
T1.	Brittany Fan, Colorado	66
T1.	Andrea Lee, Stanford	66
T1.	Mariel Galdiano, UCLA	66
4.	Patty Tavatanakit, UCLA	68
T5.	Kathleen Scavo, Oregon	70
T5.	Maya Walton, Princeton	70
T5.	Kenzie Neisen, Oklahoma State	70
T5.	Chloe Salort, Kent State	70
T5.	Ava Bergner, North Carolina	70
TEAM SCORES
Rank	Team	Score
1.	UCLA	280
T2.	Colorado	284
T2.	Kent State	284
T4.	Louisville	287
T4.	Stanford	287
T4.	Oregon	287
T7.	San Diego State	289
T7.	North Carolina	289
9.	Ole Miss	290
10.	Oklahoma State	291
T11.	South Carolina	296
T11.	North Carolina State	296
T13.	Pepperdine	297
T13.	California	297
15.	Long Beach State	304
16.	Princeton	305
17.	Grand Canyon	306
18.	Fairleigh Dickinson	315

Buffs Second At NCAA Stanford Regional On Heels Of Fan's 66

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Players Mentioned

Robyn Choi

Brittany Fan

Kirsty Hodgkins

Alisha Lau

Gillian Vance