Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Round Three
Golfers Take First At Wolfdancer, Wrap Up Fall Season
November 03, 2008 | Women's Golf
AUSTIN, Texas ? The University of Colorado women's golf team was able to maintain its composure on a challenging and tricky golf course and the Buffs took first place at the Texas State Challenge at Wolfdancer here Monday afternoon.
Colorado (307-313-308?928) was followed by Texas Tech (929), host Texas State (929), College of Charleston (931), and the University of Idaho (931) to round out the top five.
The win marks just the fourth time in the program's 14-year history that the Buffs have played to a first place finish.
“Although the win came as a bit of a surprise, I am very proud of the team,” said head coach Anne Kelly. “We had a frustrating finish to the second round but they all kept fighting. Even though it felt like we weren't having a very good day, they all hung in there and that was key. Everyone helped in the win and didn't give up.”
Freshman Emily Childs led the way for Colorado, shooting 76-74-77?227. Childs was fourth overall after two rounds, but dropped back two places in the standings after the final 18 holes to finish sixth individually. Childs was just two over on the front nine, but she was never able to gain the momentum that she needed to match her second round score and make any significant movement in the standings. Childs, just six strokes out of the lead, managed to record her third top-10 finish of the season.
“I didn't play my best in this tournament, but I was able to keep it together and I am happy that I made the top-10,” said Childs. “The greens were very firm and fast and you couldn't really land second shots because they would roll right off. It was also really windy, so the combination of a lot of these things made this course a lot more difficult.”
Fellow freshman Emily Talley finished in a tie for 11th place after turning in a 75-78-77?230 scorecard. Talley wrapped up the fall portion of the season with three top-10 finishes and was just one stroke away from doing so today.
Junior Dominique Pytlewski matched her second round score of 68 in round three, staying right around the top-25 both days. Pytewski finished in a tie for 24th place after shooting 79-78-78?235 on the challenging Wolfdancer golf course.
Stephanie Simich (77-86-80?243) and Christine Kim (85-83-76?244) rounded out the scoring for the Buffaloes. Kim's third round proved to be a team-low for Colorado in the final round of play. After a pair of scores in the 80's, Kim turned things around in round three, improving drastically on the front nine and closing out her final round with a birdie on the 18th hole.
“Christine settled in and played very well in the last round which was a big key for us,” said Kelly. “Her round was a huge factor in the win.”
Senior Cierra Ko played as an individual for the Buffs in the tournament and she shot 79-85-86?250, good for 65th individually.
With four top-five finishes and one sixth place finish as a team, this marks the first time that Colorado has wrapped up the fall tournament schedule with all top-10 finishes since the 2004-05 season and it is the only time that CU has finished sixth or better in every fall tournament in program history.
“We came into this tournament hoping that we would win because we were the highest ranked team in the field,” said Kelly. “Although we aren't completely satisfied with how we played, it's always fun to win and we will try and use that energy to keep them working over the off season and get ready for the spring. We have some great tournaments lined up and we will be looking forward to getting back out there.”
The Buffs will now break for the semester before coming back on Sunday, Feb. 15 to re-commence play in the San Diego State Spring Invitational in San Diego, Calif.
“I think this course showed us our weaknesses,” said Pytlewski. “We all know what we need to work on in the offseason and we should be ready to go in the spring. Our program ranking is higher than it's ever been. The freshmen knew that they were coming to a good team and the people that were already here knew how good we could be. Now that we've gotten that extra push, we were able to end on a win and this will hopefully set us up for some more in the spring.”
COLORADO INDIVIDUALS
6. Emily Childs............... 76-74-77?227
T11. Emily Talley................ 75-78-77?230
T24. Dominique Pytlewski... 79-78-78?235
T42. Stephanie Simich........ 77-86-80?243
T45. Christine Kim.............. 85-83-76?244
T65. Cierra Ko ( I ).............. 79-85-86?250
TEAM STANDINGS
1 Colorado................... 307-313-308?928
T2 Texas Tech ................ 324-296-309?929
T2 Texas State................ 318-303-308?929
T4 Charleston, Coll. Of ... 318-308-305?931
T4 Idaho......................... 306-312-313?931
6 Iowa State ................. 316-315-303?934
7 Nebraska.................... 318-312-308?938
8 Michigan.................... 314-312-314?940
9 Northwestern ............. 323-315-312?950
10 Baylor........................ 327-315-318?960
11 Iowa........................... 327-312-324?963
12 Illinois........................ 331-319-318?968
13 Missouri State............ 322-326-322?970
14 Kansas State ............. 330-326-333?989
15 McNeese State .......... 340-337-326?1003
16 Southern Methodist..... 343-345-329?1017
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS
T1 Megan Dowdy, Texas Tech......... 76-73-72?221
T1 Victoria Stefansen, Iowa State .... 76-73-72?221
3 Caitlin Bliss, Texas State............. 77-71-76?224
T4 Hannah Burke, Baylor.................. 77-77-72?226
T4 Milena Savich, Michigan ............. 75-77-74?226
