Women's Golf in Second at Big 12 Championship

Monday, April 16

Waco, Texas

All Day

Colorado

Round One

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

April 16, 2007 | Women's Golf

By: Lindsay Lew, Associate SID

WACO, Texas ? Despite some windy conditions, the University of Colorado women's golf team got off to a solid start here Monday at the 2007 Big 12 Women's Golf Championship, shooting a 308, good for a spot in a three-way tie for second place after one round.

Defending team champion and No. 14 Texas A&M currently leads with a 300, followed by CU, No. 11 Oklahoma State and host school and No. 26 Baylor all tied for second with 308. Kansas State is fifth with a 309. Colorado teed off on the first hole and was paired with Nebraska and Missouri. Kansas' Amanda Costner leads the individual standings with a one-under par 71. A&M's Christa Spedding is in second at even par 72.

CU head coach Anne Kelly was happy with the way her team responded to what were statistically very challenging conditions for the entire field. The Buffs teed off on No. 1 and as a result played the last three holes of the course the latest in the day when the conditions had become very windy.

“The greens here are the Big 12 version of Augusta National,” said Kelly. “They are really fast and if you are putting downhill on the last three holes it is fast even without the wind. Some of those putts you can't even stop. That was a tough stretch of holes there for us. The day started out breezy and the wind generally increased so when we were the last to play we got the brunt of it.”

A trio of Buffs are tied for 10th place with a four over par 76. Sophomore Lindsay Caljouw, CU's stroke average leader for the season, was the last off the course with that score for Colorado. That score is a three stroke improvement from her opening round 79 a year ago, where she went on to finish ninth at that championship. Caljouw was two shots out of the lead at two-over with three holes to play, but a double bogey on 16 followed by a pair of pars pushed her back to 10th.

Freshman Julie Kim got her first Big 12 Championship underway in good fashion, also shooting a four-over par 76. Her front nine was the more difficult of the two for Kim as she played it to four over with three bogeys, a double and one birdie. She righted the ship on the back, shooting even par to close out her round with just one bogey on 12 which she cancelled out with a birdie on 16. It was the best nine holes for any Buffalo on day one.

“Julie Kim going even on the back...that's a heck of a back nine,” said Kelly. “That was probably the high point of the day was her play on the back nine. She birdied 16, which everyone else on the team at least bogeyed so that was a big hole for her.”

“On the front nine I was thinking too much about where I shouldn't miss and where the trouble was,” said Kim. “On the back I was just trying to enjoy it and just make par. I knew that if it was tough for me it would be tough for the field. I was just trying to hang in there and it worked on the back nine. It was a battle out there today I had to fight for every stroke. The wind affected the shots but tired to not fight against the wind and played more with it. so it kept me out of the trouble. I was trying to put it on the fairway. The rough isn't bad but the greens aren't holding anything. It's hard to chip on the green out of trouble.”

Hannah Hoch, the lone Buffalo senior in the lineup this week, had a solid outing in her final Big 12 Tournament finishing with the first four-over par 76 for CU. She got off to a great start on the front with a pair of bogeys and a birdie to come in at a one over par 37. Hoch had a more difficult time on the back, shooting a three over 39, but she closed out her round with a birdie to give her some momentum heading into Tuesday's second round. It ties her best opening round at the conference tournament as she opened with a 76 in 2004 as a freshman.

“As a senior it's great and I'm excited about how we've started because it's a tournament that means a lot to me personally,” said Hoch. “There are other girls who are new to the championship and maybe didn't get the magnitude of it out of the gate and still we got off to a great start so it's very promising. I was making a lot of putts on the front nine, I made some really good par saves. On nine I put it close and missed a good birdie chance but it still got me going on the back. That was frustrating to miss birdie putts, but I'm happy with how I played. If I missed a green, I barely missed. Never put myself in a bad situation and stayed away from bad situations. Not too upset with anything about today.”

Junior Lindsay Senger opened her round with a two-over par 38 on the front, with a birdie, a bogey and a double. The back nine, which proved to be the more challenging of the two was also a struggle for Senger, who managed four holes at par and finished with an 80. It's a two-stroke improvement to her opening round a year ago in Lincoln, which was her first conference tournament.

Freshman Dominique Pytlewski struggled in her first conference tournament. She played the front nine to a four-over par 40, followed by a six over on the back for a 10-over 82. That score actually bodes well for the young Canadian as she has three other rounds of 80-plus on the year and she has posted an average improvement of better than four strokes in the next round.

“Domi and Senger are very disappointed with their play,” said Kelly. “If Domi commits to what she's doing in her game she's fine. I think the pressure today was tough but she'll bounce back tomorrow. Senger needs to step up and play with confidence and she could post an amazing score.

“Overall, they played tough. They aren't satisfied at all, but with how difficult things got in the afternoon they proved they can play pretty well in tough conditions. All in all I am proud of them. They hung tough.”

“As a team it is nice to know where you're at and that you have time to practice today and develop your plan off attack for tomorrow,” said Hoch. “It's a less stressful than 36-hole days where you don't have time to figure stuff out. Everyone has things they are out here working on for tomorrow. I hadn't really done anything but glance at the scoreboard so it's good to be in this position with a lot of room to improve. We have 36 holes left and a lot can happen so we are working on what we feel we need to do.”

Hoch and the Buffs will have a chance to put that work into action tomorrow morning when they tee off for round two. The Buffaloes will be paired with Kansas State and Texas Tech and will tee off at 9 a.m. on holes six through nine. For fans wanting to follow the action, they may do so at www.golfstat.com.

11th Annual Big 12 Championships (Ridgewood Country Club)

Par 72, 6,142 Yards

Colorado

T10 Lindsay Caljouw.................. 76

T10. Hannah Hoch...................... 76

T10. Julie Kim........................ 76

T37. Lindsay Senger ................... 80

T51. Dominique Pytlewski.............. 82

Team Scores

1. Texas A&M........................ 300

T2. COLORADO......................... 308

T2. Oklahoma State................... 308