Women's Golf Improves To Fourth At Wildcat Invite

TUCSON, Ariz.—The No. 23 University of Colorado women's golf team shot the third-best round in the field and moved from a tie for fifth into sole possession of fourth place through two rounds here at the Arizona Wildcat Invitational. The Buffs shot a 6-over par 294 at the par 72, 6,321-yard Vistoso Golf Club and are at 19-over par 595 through two rounds.

Each of the five Buffs had at least one birdie and racked up 12 as a team. The Buffs 6-over performance was behind only host Arizona, who blistered the course with a 14-under par 274, and No. 1 UCLA, who shot a 5-under par 283. Those two sit atop the leader board, with the Wildcats at 17-under par 559 through two rounds and UCLA 4-under par 572. No. 8 Arizona State shot an 8-over par 296 and sits eight strokes ahead of the Buffaloes in third place at 11-over par 587. CU is then seven strokes ahead of fifth place New Mexico, who is 26-over par 602 after shooting 14-over par 302 in the second round.

“The main thing about today is that we showed improvement,” CU coach Anne Kelly said. “And not just from yesterday, but we showed improvement from the fall. You can tell people have been working hard. Our wedge play is better and the putting was better than it was yesterday for sure.”

As a team, the Buffs didn't get off to a great start. The Buffs shot 3-over on each of the first two holes and were collectively 15-over par on the front nine before rebounding to shoot 1-over on the back nine.

“We definitely did not get off to a great start,” Kelly said. “The first two holes are not the hardest on the course and we played them too far over par. But as a team we rebounded and finished out strong and that was nice to see.”

Sophomore Alex Stewart, who struggled a bit in the first round, rebounded from an 8-over par 80 to shoot an even par 72 in the second round. She caught fire on the back nine, shooting 3-under par with four birdies after she was sitting 3-over par with seven holes remaining. She moved up from a tie in 56th place to a tie for 29th place at 8-over par 152.

“Yesterday, I was just hitting it all over the place,” Stewart said. “I worked on my swing with (assistant coach Brent Franklin), and things just kind of clicked today. I had more opportunities for birdies and made them.”

Senior Emily Talley and sophomore Kristin Coleman had eerily similar rounds. Both finished 1-over par 73 with 15 pars, a birdie and two bogeys and both shot 1-over on the front nine and even on the back nine. Talley bogeyed the first hole, Coleman the second. Talley then birdied the 11th hole, Coleman the 12th while Coleman bogeyed the 14th hole, Talley the 15th.

Like Stewart, Coleman rebounded from a rough first round in which she shot 8-over par 80. Coleman sits tied for 34th at 9-over par 153 through two rounds while Talley leads the way for the Buffaloes at 2-over par 146 and tied for 11th place.

“Alex and Kristin were similar in that they both had rough rounds and rebounded,” Kelly said. “Alex is a good player, she finds a way to score and that's the kind of competitor she is. Kristin is the same way. That's what makes this team good, when somebody is down, others step up.”

Sophomore Jenny Coleman, who led the Buffs in seven place after the first round, shot a 4-over par 76 in the second round and remains in the top 20, sitting tied for 17th at 4-over par 148. Senior Jessica Wallace struggled to a 10-over par 82 in the second round and is currently tied for 53rd at 14-over par 158.

“Jess is hitting the ball great on the range,” Kelly said. “She just needs to bring that confidence to the course. She's a great player, she will figure out how to do that.”

Wallace did show signs as she had three birdies throughout her round and after a disastrous eight on the par 4 No. 8, she played the rest of the round at 2-over par. That is the same hole that Kristin Coleman scored an eight on the previous day.

“It's definitely one of the hardest holes on the course,” Kelly said. “It has desert in the way of the drive, so if you don't hit a good drive, you're in the desert. And it has water to deal with, as well.”

Individually, Arizona has four players in the top seven and Manon Gidali improved upon her 5-under par 67 first round with a 6-under par 66 in the second to sit at 11-under par and in first place by six strokes over her teammate Margarita Ramos, who is 5-under par 139 after shooting 4-under in the second round. UCLA's Lee Lopez is third at 4-under par and three players sit at 1-under par 143 and tied for fourth place.

Tuesday's action will conclude the first spring event for the Buffaloes as the shotgun start will begin at 8 a.m.

Next up for the Buffaloes will be an appearance in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, hosted by Ohio State in Palos Verdes, Calif., the hometown and home course of Jenny and Kristin Coleman. A preliminary look at the field for the Grumman shows three top 10 and seven top 20 teams with all 15 in the field ranked in the top 43 nationally.

BUFFALOES INDIVIDUALS
t-11.	Emily Talley	73-73—146
t-17.	Jenny Coleman	72-76—148
t-29.	Alex Stewart	80-72—152
t-34.	Kristin Coleman	80-73—153
t-53.	Jessica Wallace	76-82—158

TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
1.	Mannon Gidali, Arizona	67-66—133
2.	Margarita Ramos, Arizona	71-68—139
3.	Lee Lopez, UCLA	70-70—140
t-4.	Kelly Drack, Denver	69-74—143
t-4.	Nikki Koller, Arizona	73-70—143
t-4.	Erynne Lee, UCLA	71-72—143

TEAM STANDINGS
1.	Arizona	285-274—559
2.	UCLA	289-283—572
3.	Arizona State	291-296—587
4.	Colorado	301-294—595
5.	New Mexico	300-302—602
t-6.	Stanford	305-299—604
t-6.	Denver	301-303—604
8	Oregon State	307-302—609
9.	North Texas	310-303—613
10.	San Diego State	310-306—616
11.	Washington State	309-316—625
12.	Portland State	332-308—640
13.	New Mexico State	319-324—643
14.	Northern Arizona	318-327—645

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Players Mentioned

Jenny Coleman

Kristin Coleman

Alex Stewart

Emily Talley

Jessica Wallace