Buffs Take Sixth At Dick McGuire Invite

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of Colorado women's golf team shot the third-best final round in the field Monday and improved from eighth to finish sixth at the 32nd Branch Law Firm Dick McGuire Invitational, held here at the UNM Championship Course.

The Buffaloes shot an 8-over par 292 to leapfrog Iowa State and Pepperdine and finish sixth. The Buffs completed the 54-hole event at 22-over par 898 and moved up a total of 10 spots in the final two rounds after struggling in the first round Sunday on the 6,187-yard, par 73 layout. Over the final 36 holes, the Buffs shot the second-best score in the field, 8-over par 592.

“We kind of got it going for a little bit, but then didn't finish as strong,” CU head coach Anne Kelly said. “The hole locations were really hard today, the hardest I've seen out of all the times we've played here. That is generally why the scores were higher today. We would obviously like to finish higher, but it's early in the season and we're figuring some things out.”

Baylor shot the best round of the day (3-over par 295) to move from a tie for fourth to win the event with a three-round total of 11-over par 887. TCU and Denver tied for second at 15-over par 891 while Northwestern (16-over par 892) and San Diego State (19-over par 895) rounded out the top five, just ahead of the Buffaloes.

Sophomore Kristin Coleman led Buffs on the final day, shooting even par 73 and finishing tied for 12th at 3-over par 222. It marks her fifth career top 20 finish and is the third best finish of her career, behind a pair of top 10 finishes as a freshman. Two of her five career top 20s have come on this course, as she finished tied for 15th here last season.

She opened her round with a birdie but then immediately went back to even par with a bogey on her second hole. After a rough stretch where she bogeyed, double bogeyed, bogeyed to go 4-over par, she tore up the second half of her round and had four birdies and six pars in her final 10 holes, including a birdie on the second-to-last hole to get back to even par.

“Kristin's confidence seems to be coming back,” Kelly said. “She's feeling more comfortable in tournament conditions with the swing adjustments she's been working on. She had a lot of birdies for the tournament, so that's a great sign.”

Senior Emily Talley shot her best round of the tournament, a 1-over par 74, to finish 6-over par 225 for the event and tied for 23rd. She played steady on her scorecard with 15 pars, two bogeys and a birdie. Junior Taylor Doyle shot a final round 3-over par 76 to finish tied for 42nd at 10-over par 229.

“Emily's ball-striking was really good today,” Kelly said. “She has just been fighting her putter, which I don't think she's ever done before. Hopefully she can work on it the next few days and get her confidence back.”

Sophomores Jenny Coleman and Alex Stewart finished one stroke behind Doyle, at 11-over par 230 and tied for 48th. Jenny Coleman finished the final round at 4-over par 77 while Stewart, battling illness, shot a 7-over par 80 in the final 18.

“Jenny is showing some good signs,” Kelly said. “She's hitting the ball well. Her 71 in the second round was one of the better scores of the tournament. Alex gave it her all, she just didn't have much in her tank.”

The Buffs were without senior Jessica Wallace, who is competing in Florida at the Stage II of LPGA Qualifying. She will get underway Tuesday in the 72-hole stroke play event. The top 70 players plus ties will advance to the final stage, held Nov. 28-Dec. 4 at Daytona Beach, Fla.

“It doesn't help not having Jess,” Kelly said. “But it helps the younger players step up and get their feet wet for next year. We know she will be there for us, so it helps develop some depth and get some other players tournament experience.”

Next up for CU will be the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational, hosted by the University of Washington Oct. 3-5 at the Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash.

“Other than getting Alex healthy, we really need to work on our putting,” Kelly said. “We had too many three-putts. The hole locations were difficult, but we have to do a better job when we are in trouble of finding a way to bogey instead of taking a double bogey, and a lot of that comes down to practicing with wedges.”

BUFFALOES INDIVIDUALS
t-12.	Kristin Coleman	73-76-73—222
t-23.	Emily Talley	76-75-74—225
t-42.	Taylor Doyle	80-73-76—229
t-48.	Jenny Coleman	82-71-77—230
t-48.	Alex Stewart	77-73-80—230

TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
1.	Sofia Hoglund, N. Mexico	71-68-77—216
2.	Hayley Davis, Baylor	72-73-72—217
3.	Sammi Stevens, N. Mexico	74-71-73—218
t-4.	Brooke Beeler, TCU	73-72-74—219
t-4.	Chelsey Cothran, Baylor	74-73-72—219
t-4.	A. Lederhausen, N'western	74-73-72—219

TEAM STANDINGS
1.	Baylor	294-298-295—887
t-2.	TCU	295-294-302—891
t-2.	Denver	301-287-303—891
4.	Northwestern	290-296-306—892
5.	San Diego State	294-298-303—895
6.	Colorado	306-292-300—898
7.	Iowa State	300-297-302—899
8.	New Mexico	305-298-302—905
9.	Pepperdine	300-296-310—906
t-10.	Colorado State	309-300-304—913
t-10.	Campbell	302-301-310—913
12.	Iowa	306-311-298—915
t-13.	UTEP	303-306-308—917
t-13.	North Texas	298-307-312—917
15.	San Jose State	308-302-311—921
16.	UNLV	305-310-313—928
17.	Wyoming	303-315-316—934
18.	Northern Arizona	309-314-312—935

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jenny Coleman

Kristin Coleman

Taylor Doyle

Alex Stewart

Emily Talley

Jessica Wallace