Buffs Sixth At Dick McGuire Invitational

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of Colorado women's golf team rebounded from a rough first round to shoot the second best team score in the field and currently sits in sixth place through two rounds at the 31st Annual Branch Law Firm Dick McGuire Invitational, played on the par 73, 6,187-yard University of New Mexico Championships Course.

The Buffs were 10-over par after shooting a 302 in the first round and shaved eight strokes off in the second round, posting a 2-over par 294, the second best round of the second round and tied for third best round of the day. At 12-over par 596, the Buffs are in sixth place but just five strokes out of second place.

“We got off to a rough start,” CU coach Anne Kelly said. “We basically started on the hardest part of the course. Our ball striking was good all day, we just didn't make many shots.”

Ohio State (3-over par 587) currently holds a four-shot lead over San Diego State (591) with Oregon holding onto third (592), Denver (594) fourth and UC Davis (595) just ahead of Colorado (596). There is then a 10-stroke cushion between the Buffs and seventh place UNLV (606).

Junior Jessica Wallace led the way in both rounds for the Buffaloes, shooting a 1-under par 72 in the first round and 2-under par 71 in the second. Her first round consisted of 17 pars and one birdie, while in her second round, she had 14 pars, three birdies and one bogey. She is one of just four players to shoot under par in both rounds and currently sits in fifth place with a 3-under par 143.

Junior Emily Talley had some bad luck in her first round. Playing even through the first five holes, she got a triple bogey on the 18th hole after suffering from two different mistakes. She couldn't find her ball, which she was told to the right of the rough and in wasteland. Then after she dropped a new ball, the old ball was found in the rough (and not the wasteland). At that point, she couldn't go back to the original ball. She then had another questionably-ruled mistake and wound up with an eight on the 466-yard par 5. The rest of the day, she played at 4-over par and is tied for 37th at 7-over par 153, although she's just three shots out of the top 20.

“I feel so bad for Emily,” Kelly said. “It was just a disastrous hole, and it wasn't her fault at all. The ball she originally hit wasn't that far off line, she was just told it went into the hazard and it was just in the rough. But I was good that she came back from that, that really shows a lot.”

Freshman Kristin Coleman is at 5-over par through the first two rounds and is in 26th place, while junior Taylor Doyle is tied with Talley at 7-over par in 37th place. Jenny Coleman shot 1-over par 74 in the first round, second best on the team, and then shot an 8-over par 81 and is tied for 47th place.

“Jenny, along with Jess, were the highlight of the first round,” Kelly said. “Jenny definitely played her best round and that was great to see.”

Kristin Coleman shaved five strokes off her first round score with an even par 73 in the second round. She was playing under par most of the round after opening her round with a birdie on the 15th hole. She got to 2-under par after back-to-back birdies and came back to even par with a bogey on her final hole of the round.

Doyle shot a 5-over par 78 in the first round and a 2-over par 75 in the second round, when she had three birdies and five bogeys. Jenny Coleman was a bright spot for the Buffs in the first round, shooting 1-over par 74, including an eagle on the par 479 10th hole.

Freshman Tessa The is playing individually and currently sits in 75th place with a 16-over par 162 through two rounds. She posted rounds of 80 and then 82.

The tournament concludes Saturday morning at which point the Buffs will have played 144 holes in competition in the last six days.

Team Scores

        1.    Ohio State                                   292-295―587
     t-2.    Oregon                                         295-296―591
     t-2.    San Diego State                         294-297―591
   4.    Denver                                         303-291―594
   5.    UC Davis                                      298-297―595
   6.    Colorado                                      302-294―596
   7.    UNLV                                            307-299―606
   8.    Northwestern                           302-307―609
   9.    TCU                                                301-309―610
   10.    New Mexico                               314-299―613
   11.    Brigham Young                        307-307―614
   12.    Colorado State                          307-311―618
   13.    Georgia State                             315-306―621
   14.    UC Irvine                                     315-314―629
   15.    Indiana                                         323-308―631
   16.    Wyoming                                    315-319―634
   17.    Hawai'i                                         328-318―646

Top Five Individuals

        1.    Therese Koelbaek, UNLV           70-70―140
     t-2.    Malin Enarsson, San Diego St.  71-71―142
     t-2.    Erica Omild, Oregon                    70-72―142
     t-2.    Rachel Rohanna, Ohio State     69-73―142
     t-5.    Jessica Wallace, Colorado         72-72―143
     t-5.    Christine Wong, San Diego St.  70-73―143

Colorado Buffaloes

     t-5.    Jessica Wallace                              72-71―143
  t-26.    Kristin Coleman                             78-73―151
  t-37.    Taylor Doyle                                   78-75―153
  t-37.    Emily Talley                                   78-75―153
  t-47.    Jenny Coleman                               74-81―157
   75.    *Tessa The                                       80-82―162
*-playing as an individual