Women's Golf in Third at TTU Invite

LUBBOCK, Texas ? The University of Colorado women's golf team played to a strong second round here Monday and currently sits in third place at the McHaney/Morehead Invitational.

Texas Tech University plays host to 14 teams plus seven individuals, with the 54-hole event taking place at the 6525-yard, par-73 Rawles Golf Course.

“We did everything that we could do,” said assistant coach Brent Franklin. “The hard thing that made it a little more difficult today is that this course is a link style golf course. The wind blows one direction 330 days out of the year and today it blew another. It took us a little while, but these girls are good players and they did fine.”

The Buffs were tied for second place after one round with a first round total of 312. They were just five strokes behind the leader, Georgia State University.

Host Texas Tech (609) jumped up to first after two rounds of play thanks to a tournament-low second round score of 296. Georgia State follows with 613 and Colorado is third, just eight strokes back of the Red Raiders with a two round total of 617. Oklahoma (623) and the University of Arkansas-Little Rock (627) round out the top five.

The Buffaloes were led by sophomore Dominique Pytlewski, who shot a 148 through the first two rounds and sits in a tie for second place. Pytlewski was tied for ninth at the end of the first round after carding a 77, and improved six strokes in the second round that led to her shooting a two-under 71 in the afternoon round. Pytlewski's 71 is the tournament-low, with the other two-under par score coming from the current leader, Megan Dowdy of Texas Tech.

“We had a good practice round yesterday and we did really well overall today as a team,” said Pytlewski. “We had a good mindset coming in to today. We knew that the wind was going to be different from what it was yesterday and that the course wasn't going to play the same. Brent told us what to expect and that kept us from getting as frustrated.”

Pytlewski was followed by sophomore Julie Kim who was tied for third in the morning with a 76. Kim finished the day with a two day total of 153, good for a tie in seventh place, after shooting a 77 in the second round.

Behind Pytlewski and Kim was senior Lindsay Senger, who shot 79 in the morning round and followed up with a 77 in the afternoon. Senger's two round total of 156 ranks her in a tie for 14th after the first day.

Rounding out the team was Stephanie Simich and Cierra Ko, who finished the first two rounds in a tie for 31st and 40th place, respectively. Simich recorded an 80 in both rounds, while Ko improved from a first round score of 83 to match Simich's 80 in the afternoon.

“I think leading up to this tournament we prepared well,” said Pytlewski. “We putted a lot, which helped since these greens are tricky. With the wind being the way it was everyone really learned how to play well in these conditions and it didn't really affect us.”

Teams will tee off at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday in the final round in a shotgun start.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS

T2 Dominique Pytlewski ... 77-71 ?148
T7 Julie Kim .................... 76-77 ?153
T14 Lindsay Senger ........... 79-77 ?156
T31 Stephanie Simich ........ 80-80 ?160
T40 Cierra Ko .................... 83-80 ?163

TEAM RESULTS

1 Texas Tech................. 313-296 ?609
2 Georgia State ............. 307-306 ?613
3 Colorado.................... 312-305 ?617
4 Oklahoma.................... 312-311 ?623
5 Arkansas-Little Rock ... 318-309 ?627
6 Redlands CC .............. 322-314 ?636
7 Colorado State............. 320-318 ?638
8 Florida International .... 322-318 ?640
9 Oral Roberts ............... 321-322 ?643
10 Nevada........................ 327-320 ?647
11 New Mexico State........ 328-323 ?651
12 North Texas................ 330-329 ?659
13 Southern Mississippi ... 342-325 ?667
14 Texas El Paso............. 344-327 ?671

TOP-10 INDIVIDUALS

1 Megan Dowdy (Texas Tech)................ 76-71 ?147
T2 Dominique Pytlewski (Colorado)....... 77-71 ?148
T2 Iliska Verwey (Georgia St)................... 74-74 ?148
T2 Anna Scott (Georgia St)....................... 76-72 ?148
5 Sara Wikstrom (Arkansas-Little Rock).. 74-75 ?149
6 Nicola Race (Redlands CC) ................. 79-72 ?151
T7 Ulrika van Niekerk (Texas Tech) ......... 76-77 ?153
T7 Julie Kim (Colorado) ......................... 76-77 ?153
T7 Ellen Mueller (Oklahoma) .................... 77-76 ?153
T7 *Chelsey Collins (Oklahoma) ............... 79-74 ?153