Golfers Eighth In Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown

Monday, October 26

Boulder City, Nev.

All Day

Colorado

Round One

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

October 26, 2009 | Women's Golf

By: Allie Musso, Assistant SID

Boulder City, Nev. - The University of Colorado women's golf team shot a season-low first round score of 291 on Monday and is in a tie for eighth place after one round at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown.

Louisville, ranked 19th in the country according to Golfstat, is in first place with a 5-under first round score of 283. No. 17 Arizona and No. 36 UC Davis follow closely behind with 284 first round totals, while No. 29 Kent State (285) and No. 23 Washington (287) round out the top-five.

Colorado is just four-strokes out of the top-five after carding a 3-over 291 on day one at the Boulder Creek Golf Club. The Buffs, who have been have ran into first-round troubles this fall, came out strong Monday and are looking to continue in that direction over the next two days in order to finish the fall schedule in the top portion of an elite field that includes a number of top-50 teams.

"It was a very good first round today," said head coach Anne Kelly. "I was happy with the round in the sense that they really reduced the mental mistakes, which is something that we've been working on. We've been working hard on the shots into the green and I've seen definite improvement."

Senior Christine Kim leads the way for the Buffs with a 2-under 70 out of the gate, which is currently her lowest round of the 2009-10 season. Kim got off to a rough start and bogeyed three of the first five holes, putting her at 2-over on the front nine. She managed to turn things around significantly on the back nine, birdying five holes and recording just one bogey for a 2-under par round one total. Kim is tied for seventh individually.

"Holes 10 and 11 are really good birdie holes and the rest of them were reachable par-fives and I tried to make sure that I did well one those," said Kim. "On the first nine holes I didn't make any putts, but then they started dropping on the back nine and that really helped."

"Both Emily and Christine played very solid today," added Kelly. "Christine birdied the last hole, which is definitely the hardest hole on the golf course."

Sophomore Emily Talley was on pace to match Kim's first round score, but an unfortunate bogey on her 18th hole put her in a tie for 12th in the individual standings with a 1-under 71 day one score card. Talley, who continues to be Colorado's most consistent golfer, played 15 holes to par, with two birdies and just one bogey in her opening round.

"I was really hoping for a bogey-free round, but as a whole I think the team made a lot of good mental decisions out there today and that definitely made all the difference," said Talley.

Senior Julie Kim turned in a 2-over 74 scorecard in round one, which puts her in a tie for 44th place individually. Kim, who was even through 14 holes, totaled three birdies in round one before bogeying two of her final four holes.

Junior Stephanie Simich and senior Dominique Pytlewski rounded out the scoring for the Buffs, and are tied for 62nd and 70th, respectively.

In the individual standings, Kelli Shean of Arkansas and Alice Kim of UC Davis are tied for first place with 5-under 67's in the opening round, good for a one-stroke lead over Kasey Claussen of Colorado State (68).

The second round of the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown will tee off at 8:30 a.m. MST on Tuesday, Oct. 27 and live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com. The third and final round is set for a 9 a.m. shotgun start on Wednesday, Oct. 28.

COLORADO INDIVIDUALS

T7 Christine Kim 70

T12 Emily Talley 71

T44 Julie Kim 74

T62 Stephanie Simich 76

T70 Dominique Pytlewski 77

TEAM LEADERBOARD

1 Louisville 283

T2 Arizona 284

T2 UC Davis 284

4 Kent State 285

5 Washington 287