Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Round Three
Buffs Surge To Finish Second In Indiana
April 11, 2010 | Women's Golf
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.— Another all-around team performance put the University of Colorado women's golf team in contention for a title Sunday, but it wasn't quite enough to catch the host Hoosiers here at the 2010 Indiana Invitational. The Buffs did post their best spring round of 292 and passed Iowa State to finish second, the team's highest spring finish in three years.
Indiana held on to win by six strokes with a final three day total of 22-over par 886. The Buffs finished with a three-round total of 892, breaking the 900 stroke mark for the first time this spring and second time this season. Iowa State finished three strokes back of the Buffs at 895, followed by Minnesota in fourth (896) and Michigan in fifth (898).
With just a few holes remaining, the tournament was up for grabs between the Hoosiers and Buffaloes, with Indiana holding a 3-stroke advantage with four holes remaining. Over those final four holes, the Hoosiers' scoring players combined to shoot 1-over par, while the Buffs combined to shoot 4-over par.
“I think we got a little nervous finishing up,” CU coach Anne Kelly said. “But we put ourselves in contention to win and that's a huge step in the right direction.”
“We came into the day knowing if everybody shot in the low 70s, we could win,” junior Stephanie Simich added. “We had a good warm-up, we were really focused, calm and level headed. We were focusing on every shot and knowing what each shot meant.”
The Buffs second place finish is the highest in the spring since the Buffs finished second at the Bajamar Women's Intercollegiate in Ensenada, Mexico, in February 2007. Overall, it's the highest the Buffs have finished since winning the Texas Challenge at Wolfdancer in Austin in November 2008.
“We had a bunch of players trying to shoot their career low rounds,” Kelly said. “With that, I think they did well. We just have to keep putting ourselves in a similar position. We'll take some things we did well and some things we need to work on from this and get ready for the Big 12 in a couple of weeks.”
Sophomore Emily Talley led the way for Colorado, shooting a 1-under par 71 and moved up 10 spots from a tie for 25th to a tie for 15th. Her under par round is the fifth of the season for her and ninth for the team.
“Today I was trying to keep a positive attitude,” Talley said. “It wasn't just about my situation. I knew I wasn't in position to win unlike the last few tournaments, but it was the first time we've had a chance as a whole. That's what kept me going.”
Talley owes her subpar round to assistant coach Brent Franklin, who gave her some good advice on the 17th hole, which she birdied.
“I hit it about 15-20 feet away from the hole and he was waiting on the green,” Talley explained. “He told me to take a different line on the put than I was reading, but I made the put and birdie because I trusted him, so that was pretty cool.”
Playing individually, sophomore Jamie Befort shot an even par round of 72, by far her best round of her young career. Her previous best round was a 76 at the Ptarmigan Ram Classic to kick off the 2009-10 season.
Simich finished off her best tournament of the season, shooting her best three rounds of the season and improving two strokes each round. Sunday, she shot a final round of 73, or 1-over par. She was 4-over par through the first nine holes on Sunday, and responded with two straight birdies and finished 3-under par for her last nine holes.
“I stepped up to the 12th hole and tried to calm myself down and told myself I had to be under par the next nine holes,” Simich said. “My parents came out to watch us, so I was excited about that. I got a few birdies and then made a lot of really solid pars down the stretch.”
Simich and freshman Taylor Doyle both finished with final three-round totals of 9-over par 225. Doyle and senior Christine Kim both finished the final round with 2-over par 74s. Kim finished one stroke back at 10-over par 226 to finish tied for 27th. Senior Dominique Pytlewski finished tied for 31st.
Up next for the Buffaloes is the 2010 Big 12 Tournament, which will take place in Norman, Okla., from April 23-25, 2010.
“We knew coming in that we needed a good finish to the regular season before the post season,” Simich said. “This will really help our confidence headed into the Big 12 Tournament.”
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
T15. Emily Talley 78-76-71—223
T22. Taylor Doyle 77-74-74—225
T22. Stephanie Simich 78-76-73—225
T27. Christine Kim 80-72-74—226
T31. Dominique Pytlewski 73-79-77—229
*T50. Jamie Befort 85-78-72—235
*-playing individually.
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
1. Hailey Koschmann,
Illinois 71-74-69—214
2. Laura Nochta,
Indiana 75-71-69—215
3. Min Yean Tan 72-71-75—218
T4. Stacey Miller,
Illinois 72-75-72—219
T4. Pennapa Pulsawath,
Iowa State 76-71-72—219
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Indiana 304-291-291—886
2. Colorado 304-296-292—892
3. Iowa State 302-297-296—895
4. Minnesota 310-297-289—896
5. Michigan 302-298-298—898
6. Eastern Michigan 312-295-297—904
7. Missouri State 305-303-299—907
8. Illinios State 294-307-307—908
9. Ball State 312-305-294—911
10. Illinois 310-301-302—913
11. Indiana State 312-313-302—927
12. Iowa 317-312-300—929
13. Western Michigan 317-309-305—931
14. UMKC 317-326-314—957
15. Oakland 326-318-322—966
16. Indiana (B) 335-335-316—986
Players Mentioned
