Golfers In Seventh At Big 12 Championships

LUBBOCK, Texas ? The University of Colorado women's golf team is tied for seventh after the first round of play here Friday at the 13th Annual Big 12 Women's Golf Championships at the Rawls golf course.

Reigning Big 12 champs and No. 5 Oklahoma State is the team leader after one round of play, shooting 295 (+3) to give them a comfortable lead over Texas A&M by nine strokes (304) and third place Kansas State (311). CU shot 317 and sits in a tie for seventh after day one.

Caroline Hedwell of OSU leads the medalist race with a 3-under 70. She is followed by Ashley Freeman of Texas A&M and Morgan Moon of Kansas State, who both shot 1-under 72's.

“It was a very windy day,” said head coach Anne Kelly. “When we started at 8:00, it was blowing about 30 mph and was gusting even more, but then it died down to probably about 20 mph on the back nine. We didn't handle the wind too well to start with, with the exception of (Emily) Talley. We need to play tougher when it comes to handling windy conditions. We started on the back nine and it was not good, but then I think they settled in a little better and finished stronger in the end.”

In her first-ever Big 12 Tournament appearance, buffalo freshman Emily Talley led the way for CU individually. Talley posted a round one total of 76 (+3), which puts her in a tie for eighth place overall. Starting out on hole 10, Talley was 1-over through 13 holes, but an unfortunate double bogey on the back nine held her back from carding an even stronger first round score.

“My main objective today was to be completely patient,” said Talley. “I just focused on playing my game and when holes are playing longer, I treated it as a par-5 instead of a par-4 and reminded myself that everyone was in the same boat. I made two birdies on the back nine, but nothing was falling on the front nine. I just tried my best to get in the fairway, get on the green and set up shots. I just had one bad shot on a hard hole and a few more putts could have fallen, but other than that I was pretty happy with how I played.”

Junior Christine Kim followed closely behind with a first round total of 77 and she currently sits in a tie for 11th place. Kim, after playing the front nine 4-over, carded an even-par 36 on the back nine and finished just one stroke out of the top-10.

“I tried to take advantage of my opportunities going downwind because you could almost reach the green on the shorter holes,” said Kim. “I just tried to make pars. Against the wind I tried to avoid big numbers and learned how to play knockdown shots and it worked. I was also able to putt pretty well today.”

Fellow junior Julie Kim recorded a team-high three birdies on the day, but a number of bogeys and a double on her second hole kept her from having the first round showing that she would have liked. Kim will enter round two tied for 22nd individually.

Junior Dominique Pytlewski and sophomore Stephanie Simich rounded out the scoring for the Buffs, and the pair finished with a first-round total of 85, placing them in a tie for 55th.

“Talley played well and only had one hole that she was disappointed with,” said Kelly. “Other than that, she played solid golf and had a lot of birdie opportunities that didn't drop. Christine and Julie both battled after tough starts and handled the conditions much better. We showed a lot of toughness and heart today and I'm definitely expecting Domi and Steph to make good comebacks tomorrow.

The 2009 Big 12 Women's Golf Championship will resume Saturday morning as the teams continue to battle it out during the second round of play. CU golf fans can follow Saturday's action at www.golfstat.com.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS

T8 Emily Talley 76

T11 Christine Kim 77

T22 Julie Kim 79

T55 Stephanie Simich 85

T55 Dominique Pytlewski 85

TEAM SCORES

1 Oklahoma State 295

2 Texas A&M 304

3 Kansas State 311

4 Kansas 312

T5 Nebraska 315