Women's Golf Second At Ptarmigan To Open Season

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The University of Colorado women's golf team finished tied for second just two strokes behind the leader here at the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic, hosted by Colorado State University at the 6,302-yard, par-72 Ptarmigan Country Club.

The high finish extends the Buffs streak of top five finishes in regular season competition to 11 after the Buffs accomplished that feat in all 10 events last season.

UC Davis won the meet with a 54-hole total of 873, or 9-over par. Just two strokes back were the Buffs at 11-over par 875, a score matched by Illinois. Texas Tech had the best team round of the day, an even par 288 to finish fourth at 16-over par 880 and California rounded out the top five just a stroke behind the Red Raiders at 17-over par 881.

“We got it going there for a little while,” CU head coach Anne Kelly said. “We clawed back into it but had a few bad holes late. We tried to make a comeback, but it wasn't our time. We definitely learned a lot and figured out what we need to work on. We are definitely a talented group, we missed winning by just a couple of strokes with some mediocre play.”

Sophomore Jenny Coleman (71-70-77—218) and senior Emily Talley (73-73-72—218) both finished tied for fifth individually while sophomore Alex Stewart (74-70-75—219) was one stroke back and tied for ninth.

Coleman hit a rough patch after getting a birdie on her second hole, she bogeyed six straight holes and then double-bogeyed the next one, a seven-hole stretch at 8-over par. Still, she responded right away with a birdie and then played at 2-under the rest of her round to take home not just her first top 10 finish, but her first top-five collegiate finish, as well.

“My swing got a little loose, so I had to scramble quite a bit for a little while,” Coleman said. “(Assistant Coach) Brent (Franklin) told me to start fresh, don't think about it and then I starting swinging a lot better and was able to get myself back on track.”

Talley bogeyed her second and third holes of the day and then was at 3-over par through seven holes, but fought her way back to even par with a 25-foot birdie on her final hole of the round.

“My scorecard says it all,” Talley said. “It was extremely boring. I was 1-over in both rounds yesterday and then even today. Today was actually one of my better examples of toughing it out, being 3-over at one point and brining it back. I made some good putts, some good birdies.”

Stewart started her third round off with a birdie on her second hole and then after five pars, she had a stretch of four bogeys in the next six holes to move to 3-over par. She rebounded and played even the rest of the way and finished in the top 10 in her first tournament as a Buff.

“It was pretty solid,” Stewart said. “My first nine yesterday was rusty. Today, I played well on the first seven holes and then had a rough stretch from holes eight through 13, so in all it was kind of up-and-down, but it was OK.”

Senior Jessica Wallace was playing at 1-under par through 13 holes and then hit some rough patches of her own, getting a birdie sandwiched between a triple bogey and double bogey. She rebounded to par out her last three holes and finished at 3-over par 75 on the day and 7-over par 223 in the tournament, tied for 23rd.

Sophomore Kristin Coleman struggled a bit through her final round, posting an 8-over par 80 to finish tied for 38th at 11-over par 227. Also playing for the Buffaloes as individuals were senior Meaghan Kari and junior Taylor Doyle. Kari shot a final round 9-over par 81 to finish tied for 67th at 20-over par 236, and Doyle shot a final round 15-over par 87 to finish at 23-over par 239 and tied for 76th in the 99-player field.

UC Davis' Demi Runas won the meet with a 5-over par 211 after a 2-over par 74 in the final round. She was joined under par by Baylor's Haley Davis (2-under par 214) and Idaho's Kayla Mortellaro (1-under par 215). Illinois' Hailey Koschmann finished at 1-over par 217 while Jenny Coleman and Talley were tied with Texas Tech's Gabriella Dominguez and the Illini's Ember Schuldt at 2-over par 218 and tied for fifth.

The Buffs now have two weeks off before traveling to New Mexico for the Branch Law Firm Dick McGuire Invitational, held at the UNM Golf Course Sept. 25-26.

“This was a good first glimpse of what we can accomplish this year,” Talley said. “If we just show more throughout the entire round, we need to get to that focus point early on rather than waiting until the last few holes.”

“We can be a really good team this year,” Jenny Coleman added. “This first tournament was just a mixture of everything, we're all looking forward to getting back out in the swing of things in a couple of weeks.”

BUFFALOES INDIVIDUALS

Rk.	Team	Score
t-5.	Jenny Coleman	71-70-77—218
t-5.	Emily Talley	73-73-72—218
t-9.	Alex Stewart	74-70-75—219
t-23.	Jess Wallace	74-74-75—223
t-38.	Kristin Coleman	71-76-80—227
t-67.	Meaghan Kari	79-76-81—236
t-76.	Taylor Doyle	79-73-87—239

TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS

Rk.	Team	Score
1.	Demi Runas, UC Davis	66-71-74—211
2.	Hayley Davis, Baylor	69-70-75—214
3.	Kayla Mortellaro, Idaho	73-72-70—215
4.	Hailey Koschmann, Illinois	70-72-75—217
t-5.	Jenny Coleman, Colorado	71-70-77—218
t-5.	Gabriella Dominguez, Texas Tech	75-73-70—218
t-5.	Ember Schuldt, Illinois	70-71-77—218
t-5.	Emily Talley, Colorado	73-73-72—218

TEAM SCORES

Rk.	Team	Score
1.	UC Davis	286-289-298—873
t-2.	Colorado	289-287-296—875
t-2.	Illinois	292-287-299—875
4.	Texas Tech	298-294-288—880
5.	California	295-294-292—881
6.	Baylor	294-294-297—885
7.	Colorado State	297-299-300—896
8.	UNLV	298-309-299—905
9.	Louisville	300-298-312—910
10.	Idaho	295-310-307—912
11.	UTEP	302-303-309—914
12.	San Jose State	313-292-310—915
13.	Long Beach State	310-303-306—919
14.	Fresno State	302-303-318—923
15.	New Mexico State	306-310-309—925
16.	Wyoming	312-312-308—932
17.	Nevada	307-311-317—935
18.	Santa Clara	313-328-312—953
19.	Northern Colorado	319-319-320—958

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Players Mentioned

Jenny Coleman

Kristin Coleman

Taylor Doyle

Meaghan Kari

Alex Stewart

Emily Talley

Jessica Wallace