Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Round Three
Talley Sets School Record; Buffs Surge To Finish Third At UNM
September 18, 2010 | Women's Golf
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Junior Emily Talley shot a school record 6-under par in the final round here Saturday, helping the University of Colorado women's golf team to a third place finish at the 31st Branch Law Firm Dick McGuire Invitational. Colorado shot 4-under par as a team, the second best in the field and third best team round in school history, improving from sixth to third.
Talley shot a 67 on the par 73, 6,187-yard UNM Championship course. It matches the school record as the fourth round of 67 in school history, but is is the first time a CU player has posted a 6-under par round.
After a first round 302 as a team, the Buffs collectively shot 3-under par over the final two rounds of the tournament, four strokes better than any other team in the field. Oregon won with a three day total of 5-over par 881. Ohio State, the leader heading into the third round, edged out the Buffs by one stroke (7-over par 883 to CU's 8-over par 884) for second place. UC Davis and Denver finished tied for fourth with final team scores of 16-over par 892.
“To be honest, I thought we played better in this tournament than when we won at the Ptarmigan,” CU coach Anne Kelly said. “It was a tough course and tougher competition. There were a lot of teams ranked in the top 25 last year in this field.”
Talley was even par through 10 holes in the final round, then scorched the final eight holes with six birdies and a pair of pars. She finished tied for eighth individually, jumping 29 spots in the individual standings in the final round. Her 67 was the best individual round of the tournament and one of just five rounds under 70 in the field in all three rounds.
She lipped out two other birdie attempts earlier in the round, but the highlight was definitely the final hole of the round, when she hit a 45-footer with a 10-foot break to get the birdie.
“I just wanted to get it close,” Talley said. “I was excited because (assistant coach) Brent (Franklin) was there, and I asked him what I should do, and he just looked at me and said 'Don't ask me, you know what to do.' That just shows me how far I've come. I remember my final hole of my freshman season, Brent was there and coaching me on exactly what to do.”
Despite her school-record round, Talley wasn't the highest finisher for the Buffs, that honor went to junior Jessica Wallace, who finished fifth individually. She was in contention early in the final round as she was 2-under par through six holes. She unfortunately then had a seven hole stretch when she was 5-over par. She rebounded and finished 1-over par 74 on the round and 2-under par 217 in the tournament.
“I got off to a good start and was right there in the individual race,” Wallace said. “I threw away a few shots there and had to grind it out to work back to around par. It was definitely an up and down day for me.”
“Jess played well,” Kelly said. “It shows a lot that she came back to get a couple of birdies late in her round. She almost had a hole in one and she also made a great save for par on the final hole.”
Freshman Kristin Coleman shot 2-under par in the final round and improved from 26th entering the day to tied for 15th. She finished overall at 3-over par 222 and was 2-under par over the final two rounds.
“Kristin is proving to be a very solid competitor,” Kelly said. “She had five birdies and finished two under par.”
Sophomore Taylor Doyle finished tied for 39th at 10-over par 229 while freshman Jenny Coleman finished tied for 59th at 17-over par 236. Freshman Tessa The, playing individually, finished tied for 69th at 20-over par 239.
At 2-under par for the tournament, Wallace was six strokes behind the medalist, Erica Omlid from Oregon, who shot a final round 4-under par 69 for a three round total of 8-under par 211. Ohio State's Rachel Rohanna took second, just one stroke back with a 7-under par 212, while Malin Enarsson from San Diego State and Therese Koelbaek from UNLV tied for third at 4-under par 215.
“The thing I'm really thrilled about, is that we still have some room for improvement,” Kelly said. “It's early and it will take a lot of hard work, but this is a special group. Right now they're all thinking about how they could find three strokes to win this. They're happy that they're playing well, but they know they can do better.”
“In the past, I feel like we would've been excited for a third place finish,” Talley added. “This year it's kind of a bummer that we missed out on first place by three strokes. Everybody could have found a shot here or there. That's why I'm excited for the rest of the season.”
After playing 108 holes of competition golf in six days, the Buffs now have a little time off, as the next tournament won't take place until October 4-5, when the Buffs will travel to Columbia, Mo., for the Johnie Imes Invitational. Just a few days after that, the Buffs will host the Heather Farr/CU Memorial Invitational, set for Oct. 8-9 in Erie, Colo., at Colorado National Golf Club.
“Playing 36 holes in a day is tiring and we've done that twice this past week,” Wallace said. “It will be good to rest up, get in class mode for a little bit and get back at it in practice.”
Team Scores
1. Oregon 295-296-290―881
2. Ohio
State 292-295-296―883
3. Colorado 302-294-288―884
t-4. UC
Davis 303-291-298―892
t-4. Denver 303-291-298―892
6. TCU 301-309-287―897
7. San Diego
State 294-297-309―900
8. UNLV 307-299-302―908
9. BYU 307-307-298―912
10. New
Mexico 314-299-300―913
11. Northwestern 302-307-305―914
12. Colorado
State 307-311-299―917
13. Georgia
State 315-306-297―918
14. UC
Irvine 315-314-305―934
t-15. Indiana 323-308-311―942
t-15. Wyoming 315-319-308―942
17. Hawai'i 328-318-319―965
Top Five Individuals
1. Erica Omlid,
Oregon 70-72-69―211
2. Rachel Rohanna, Ohio
State 69-73-70―212
t-3. Malin Enarsson, San Diego
State 71-71-73―215
t-3. Therese Koelbaek,
UNLV 70-70-75―215
5. Jessica Wallace,
Colorado 72-71-74―217
Colorado Buffaloes
5. Jessica
Wallace 72-71-74―217
t-8. Emily
Talley 78-75-67―220
t-15. Kristin
Coleman 78-73-71―222
t-39. Taylor
Doyle 78-75-76―229
t-59. Jenny
Coleman 74-81-81―236
t-69. *Tessa
The 80-82-77―239
*-playing
as an individual
Players Mentioned
