Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Round Three
Buffs Win Heather Farr, Wallace Medalist
October 09, 2010 | Women's Golf
ERIE, Colo. - Junior Jess Wallace, who woke up Saturday morning not knowing if she would play, ended up shooting even par to come away with an individual victory while helping lead the University of Colorado women's golf team to a team championship at the 13th annual CU/Heather Farr Memorial Invitational Saturday at here the Colorado National Golf Club.
The Buffs topped the field by 16 strokes, giving CU its sixth career tournament win, second of the season, and its largest margin of victory in program history. Colorado (893) finished at 29-over par while Colorado State (909) finished 45-over par and Fresno State (916) 52-over par. Portland State (927) and Northern Iowa (929) round out the top five.
Almost immediately the Rams cut the Buffs lead to two strokes early in the round. Once the wind picked up half way through the round, the Buffs were able to slowly and surely extend their lead and it ballooned up to 16 strokes by the end of the round.
The Buffaloes were nearly forced to withdraw from the event after five players were involved in a car accident leaving the course Friday night. It wasn't until about 15 minutes before the start of the final round Saturday that the Buffs knew they could field a team.
Sophomore Taylor Doyle and juniors Devin Dougherty, Meaghan Kari, Emily Talley and Wallace were involved in a multi-car accident shortly after leaving the course Friday night. It happened at the corner of Colorado Highway 7 (Baseline Road) and Lowell Boulevard, about a half-mile from the golf course. Doyle, Dougherty and Kari withdrew from the final round while Talley and Wallace decided to play. With Doyle out, that meant the Buffaloes would need Talley, Wallace and freshman twins Jenny and Kristin Coleman, to play, otherwise the team would have to withdraw.
Until Wallace first and then Talley decided to play and then were subsequently cleared by CU's training staff, the Buffs didn't have enough players to qualify a full team. Even with those four, it meant every stroke would count from those four players, making the Buffs five-stroke lead that much more in jeopardy as teams with five golfers drop its lowest score each round.
"This has been a roller coaster ride of emotions," CU coach Anne Kelly said. "After yesterday, getting through two weather delays and still leading the tournament, then getting the phone call last night and having to go and see that car wreck. Then the relief of them walking away from that OK and realizing golf isn't the most important thing in the world. I then resigned myself to the fact that we weren't going to have at team today. Then getting the phone call from Jess and then Emily, rushing them out here, having them get cleared to play, then Jess winning and the team winning, it's been roller coaster.
"Getting them cleared was the main thing. This just shows how tough our team is, probably tougher than I thought. We showed a lot of heart and played for each other. It's like a movie plot. In all my years of golf, this is one of the gutsiest performances I've ever seen."
Wallace (73-75-72-220) won with a comeback that saw her tied for eighth entering the day and down seven shots with 10 holes to play behind Fresno State's Louisa Lies. It was about then that the wind picked up and Lies played her final 10 holes at 7-over par while Wallace played her final seven holes at 1-under par. Wallace had three birdies and a bogey before also getting a bogey on her final hole of the day, making the Buffs hold their breath as to if she held on for the individual win.
"I wasn't even thinking about the scores," Wallace said. "I didn't know where we stood as a team, or where I stood individually, I just wanted to go out and play golf today. But this does mean so much. It was great to pull out the team win; the individual win is just a side thing.
"Golf is what I do, so it was the best way for me to keep my mind off things. I just wanted to go out and hit the golf ball around; I wasn't concerned with the score or anything."
Wallace's individual win is fifth in CU history and first since Dominique Pytlewski won the Texas Tech Invitational exactly three years ago on October 8-9, 2007. Ironically, Pytlewski also won with a score of 220 in that event. Wallace got her third consecutive top 5 finish, setting a new CU record. Her even par third round was the second best round of the day.
"I managed to play pretty well with the wind," Wallace said. "It got a little complicated with a few shots. There were a few holes you couldn't even get there in regulation, my putter held it together for me today. I made a few putts that weren't easy. That helped me out a lot."
"She was awesome," Talley said of Wallace. "Good for her. She's a rock star; she can go out and shoot even in today's condition after last night. It was really windy, there were some tough pins. It was awesome."
Talley (75-75-77-227) got out to the course with the least amount of time to warm up, and ended up in 10th place with a 5-over par 77 in the final round. It marks her fifth straight top 10 performance and ninth straight top 20 placement, both bests in CU history.
"I didn't actually decide to play," Talley said. "I didn't have an alarm set; I wasn't planning on waking up. I was hurting last night when I went to bed, I didn't think there was any way I'd feel well enough to play. My dad woke me up and asked me how I was and I was feeling better.
"He said 'OK, they need you out there.' I didn't know Jess was going to show up, I didn't think she was going to play. Once I knew she was going to get out here, I knew we just needed one more person. I heard Taylor couldn't go, so I decided to suck it up and play."
Talley and Wallace both reflected on their decision to play after the events of the previous 12 hours.
"I got up a bit later than I should have, and I felt like I could go out and play today," Wallace said. "I knew I wanted to play yesterday, but I wanted to give it a bit of time, I woke up and I felt like I could go out and play 18 holes, especially in a cart."
"We didn't play too hot yesterday but we had a five stroke lead," Talley said. "And then the accident happens within five minutes after leaving the course. That shocked us and gave us a mentality that the scores don't really matter. It could've been much worse. Our mentality was 'Let's just go out and play, enjoy it, make sure you feel OK.'
"It actually worked out great. I grew up playing golf cold turkey, walk out of the car and tee it up, so I hit about five balls and my dad gave me some breakfast. I ended up making some good putts, got some birdies, it could've gone better but I'll take it."
Doyle was in third place after Friday and was on pace for a career-best finish. Kari was also on pace to set a record. She was tied for 10th headed into Saturday. If she could've maintained that Saturday, she would have matched the best finish by an individual in the history of the Heather Farr and would have been the second best individual finish in CU history.
Jenny Coleman stepped up in the final round, shooting a 3-over par 75. She finished tied for 12th individually with a three-round total of 229. Kristin Coleman finished Saturday at 7-over par 79 and finished tied for sixth individually with a three-round 226.
"Jenny was a big key for us today," Kelly said. "She played good in the first round with a 74, but shooting a 75 today was a very good round."
Tessa The played very well individually, shooting a 5-over par 77 to finish with a 231, tied for 14th, which is the second-best finish for an individual in Heather Farr Memorial history and third-best finish in CU history for an individual scorer. Jamie Befort finished tied for 36th with a three-round 239.
Wallace ended up with a one stroke advantage over Colorado State's Emily Roering (221) while Lies (222) ended up third. Fresno State's Krysta Clark and the Rams' Brianna Espinoza (225) finished tied for fourth.
The Buffs now have three weeks off before the fifth and final fall tournament in San Antonio, Texas, as The Alamo Invitational at Briggs Ranch is scheduled for November 1-3.
Players Mentioned
