Colorado University Athletics
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HOCH RECORDS THIRD TOP-10 FINISH
April 06, 2004 | Women's Golf
ST. GEORGE, Utah ? Hannah Hoch tied a program best finish here when she recorded her third career top-10 finish as the freshman shot 76-72-75-223 and finished fifth at the18th annual BYU Dixie Classic on the 6,150-yard Entrada at Snow Canyon here Monday while the University of Colorado's women's golf team carded a third and final round 320 here Tuesday to finish 10th in the team's regular season final with a two-day 320-321-320-961. Hoch's finish matches Erin Kerr's fifth place finish here during the 2001-02 season.
The Buffs got a strong start to today's final round as all but one player were no more than 4-over on their respective front nines, but akin to Monday, struggled on the back.
“The back nine was really hard with holes in lava rocks and the second hole got us pretty good. It was a par 4 with water and tough drives,” said Anne Kelly. “We had a tough tournament, and are using this season as a learning experience to build from with a young team.”
With players taking medalist and runner-up honors, UNLV (296-291-289-876) shot a tournament low 289 in today's final loop to improve its lead on the field and win the team trophy, with a commanding 27 stroke advantage over runner-up
Hoch continued to play her strongest tournament of the spring season as the freshman overcame three straight bogeys on her first three holes to make the turn at 2-over on her front nine, giving her a share of fourth place with nine to play. She shot par on five holes and birdied 13, but fell victim to a pair of bogeys on 14 and 2 to drop to fifth place with a final round 75 and 54-hole total 223 for the second best finish of her young career, best since a runner-up effort in September at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate.
“Hannah had a very, very strong finish in a very, very strong field. For anyone, none less a freshman, to finish fifth in this tournament is a statement.”
Shaving 10 strokes off her second round 87, Maria Persson Gulda made the team's biggest second to third round improvement and was a team best 1-over on the front nine and had moved up 10 places on the leader board to 47th when she bogeyed three of her next four holes, but ended strong with three straight pars to finish the final round 5-over and in 43rd place with a two day total 244.
“Because of her maturity, we sometimes forget that Maria is only a sophomore and is still learning that she's got to play in the present. And today she really focused a lot better, and a lot better than her score reflected.”
Robin Worthington got off to the team's best start Tuesday as the senior shot par to open the final round, then birdied her next hole and remained at 1-under until she doubled five and seven to stand at 4-over approaching the back nine. She fell victim to the back of the course again today, doubling two of her final three holes to finish the round 11 over, with her final round 83 contributing to the team score for a career best 17th time this season in 21 tournament loops.
Looking to make a stand before closing out her freshman season, Regina Rodriguez (83-79-85-247) stood 2-over through seven holes and finished 53rd, her strongest finish in three tournaments, with a final round 85 to round out CU's scorecard Tuesday.
Taking a lead from Rodriguez, Jessie Malcolm stood at 2-over through her first four holes, but ran into some trouble on five, six eight and nine with three bogeys and a double, to drop to 7-over on the front nine, a deficit she fought to overcome on the back, but was unable to and finished 81-90-86-257 for a share of 60th place.
With the regular season in the books, the Buffs will have 17 days to prepare for the Big 12 Championships, April 23-25 in College Station, Texas.
“We're looking forward to the Big 12 Tournament. We'll go in as underdogs with a young team, but a talented team that wants to be competitive that will learn from its mistakes, make some improvements and is willing to see what happens.”
BYU
1. UNLV............................. 296-291-289- 876
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4. BYU............................... 300-314-308- 922
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COLORADO PLAYERS
t-5. Hannah Hoch................. 76-72-75- 223
t-43. Maria Persson Gulda..... 80-87-77- 244
t-48.
t-53. Robin Worthington......... 87-83-83- 253
t-60. Jessie Malcolm............... 81-90-86- 257
