Women's Golf Extends Lead At Clover Cup

MESA, Ariz.—Finishing with a flurry of birdies and four of the top six individuals on the leader board, the No. 15 University of Colorado women's golf team extended its lead here at the 2012 Clover Cup after shooting a 7-under par 281 in the second round. The Buffs are currently 18-under par 558 as a team and hold a 23-stroke advantage over the field.

No. 26 Oklahoma is in second place at 5-over par 581 after a 4-over par 292 in the second round on the par 72, 6,209-yard Longbow Golf Club course. Host Notre Dame shot 8-over par 296 in the second round and is 8-over par 584 through 36 holes and in third place. No. 35 Tulsa is in fourth place at 10-over par 586 after a second round 4-over par 292 and No. 28 Texas Tech, No. 32 Iowa State and Florida International are all tied for fifth at 23-over par 599.

“We're playing well, I'm so proud of them,” CU head coach Anne Kelly said. “We've been working hard and today the conditions were tougher, I can't say enough about how proud I am of this team. It's fun having four individuals in the hunt for medalist honors.”

Individually, senior Emily Talley is tied for first at 6-under par while senior Jess Wallace and sophomore Alex Stewart are tied for third one stroke back. Sophomore Jenny Coleman moved up 12 spots and is tied for sixth place another three strokes back.

“I'm glad we're all right there,” Talley said. “Let's go and take home all the trophies tomorrow.”

CU's five golfers combined for nine birdies, no bogeys and 16 pars in the last five holes and the four CU golfers scoring for the team combined to go 8-under par in that stretch after shooting a collective 1-over par in the first 13 holes of the day. CU went under par as a team for the 12th time in school history and it's just the second time it has happened both in one tournament and in back-to-back rounds.

“This is one of the best finishes to a round that I can remember,” Kelly said. “That's even more impressive given the conditions were tougher than they were yesterday. Once we made the turn, the wind picked up. It was breezy all day, but it definitely kicked up. We played really tough, strong and confidently.”

“It's good to come off the course on a positive note,” Wallace said. “All five of us ended strong on those closing holes. We did a good job taking advantage of situations that presented themselves to us.”

CU's 18-under par score is the lowest in school history at any point in a tournament, surpassing the previous mark of 14-under after the second round of the 2008 Ptarmigan. The second round total of 558 is also the program mark for a 36-hole score behind that 562 score (14-under) in the '08 Ptarmigan. The second round total of 7-under par 281 gives the Buffs two of their three best team rounds in school history in this tournament and is behind Friday's 11-under round and a 9-under 279 that the Buffs shot in the second round of the Ptarmigan in 2008.

For the second-straight round, the Buffs had three players under par and this time CU had a fourth shooting an even par round. It's the sixth time in CU history three players have shot under par in the same round and it's just the second time in CU history the Buffs didn't count a round over par toward its team score, a feat also accomplished at the 2008 Ptarmigan. It's also the second time CU has had three players under par in two different rounds, also matching the feat from the 2008 Ptarmigan.

Talley is tied for the lead through two rounds after an even par 72 and her 6-under 138 matches the best scorecard through two rounds in school history. Talley birdied the final two holes to get back to even par and had three birdies and three bogeys in her round.

“Overall it was a good round, I had some bogeys early and I wasn't making my birdie putts,” Talley said. “I was a little more hesitant today because of the wind. The conditions were completely different today. It was gusty, some holes it was a side wind, sometimes it was in your face. It was never really to your advantage. But finishing with two birdies was a great way to finish.”

“Emily had a very good finish to her round, getting two birdies to close it out,” Kelly added. “She did a really nice job down the stretch.”

Wallace and Coleman led the Buffs in the second round, each with a 3-under par 69, matching the best rounds of any golfer in the field. For Coleman, it's her career best round and her first career round in the 60s and for Wallace, it's her season best round and first round this season in the 60s. It's also her fourth career round in the 60s, one behind Talley's CU record and in sole possession of second most in program history.

Wallace and Coleman also join Stewart and Talley becoming just the second duo in school history to shoot in the 60s in the same round and the quartet becomes the first in school history to all have a round in the 60s in one tournament. The only other instance of even just two golfers having a round in the 60s in one event was Talley and Wallace in the fall of 2010 at The Alamo Invitational.

Wallace birdied her second hole and after two bogeys, she had three birdies in four holes making the turn. She then bogeyed the Nos. 12 and 13 before rebounding with birdies on the next two holes and she got her round in the 60s with a birdie on the Par 5 No. 18.

“I've been waiting on that for a while, to get into the 60s,” Wallace said. “I just had more putts that were dropping for birdie today. I've been burning the edge a lot lately, it was good to see the putts drop.”

“Jess made some adjustments in her game in the fall,” Kelly said. “I think she's finally starting to feel comfortable with them. I knew for a while that she was close to breaking through and I think she can continue to improve even more the rest of the season.”

Coleman was 2-over par through six holes and then had three consecutive birdies to close out the front nine at 1-under. She bogeyed No. 12 and then had consecutive birdies and she went into the 60s with a birdie on No. 17, then getting a par on No. 18 to hold it.

“Jenny made a mistake on No. 4 and then on No. 5 hit it into the desert,” Kelly said. “She made a nice save on that hole but after that, she really got on track. She had six birdies in her final 12 holes, that's a pretty good stretch.”

Stewart was also under par, shooting a 1-under 71, her third straight subpar round, tying the second longest streak in CU history and one behind the record of four held by Wallace. Stewart and Wallace are both tied for third place, one stroke behind Talley, at 5-under par 139, which is tied for the fifth best two-round total in the record books. Coleman gives CU four golfers in the top six as she moved up from a tie for 18th to a tie for sixth with her 69, as she is 2-under par 142.

Stewart birdied the first hole and found herself at 2-under after a birdie on No. 5. In a strange five holes making the turn, she had a bogey sandwiched on either side by two bogeys. She closed out her front nine at 2-under with the eagle on No. 9 before getting two more bogeys on Nos. 10 and 11 to get back to even par. She went under par on No. 17 with a birdie and held on with a par on No. 18.

“Alex missed two short putts on seven and eight,” Kelly explained. “And as a true competitor, she eagled nine. It's not like her to miss those short putts, but she responded well. This was probably an up and down round for her and she was still under par. She really knows how to post a score.”

Sophomore Kristin Coleman recovered from five hole stretch in the middle of her round where she was 6-over par and closed out her final six holes at 2-under par, finishing the round at 6-over par 78 and she is tied for 31st at 9-over par 153.

“Kristin had a disastrous hole on the front nine and really responded,” Kelly said. “As I said yesterday, she's working on a few things and she's getting it, it's just taking a little more time than I'm sure she would like it to. But she's very close.”

Sunday's final round will be a shotgun start at 9:30 a.m. MT.

“Sometimes after you shoot a low round, it's hard to do it again,” Kelly said. “It's good that we did that today. It's a great experience to be in that position. We have to do it again. Enjoy this round, but when you get up tomorrow start all over again.”

Weather is expected to enter the area Sunday with lower temperatures and rain expected throughout the day.

“It will be a good experience tomorrow to adjust to those conditions,” Kelly said. “We got a little spoiled for a couple of days, and now it's time to get back to reality.”

“We usually do well in bad weather,” Talley added. “It will almost be our benefit that the weather is coming in. Especially for me, I shot a 66 in the first round and that was good, I didn't do quite as well today, but tomorrow if the weather is here and scores aren't going to be that low, I can handle that. I can find a way to shoot par.”

“It's not something you're jumping out of your seat to play in,” Wallace said. “But we're a good team when it comes to tough conditions. We don't always play in 75 degree, perfect weather. We're one of the few teams that's well prepared to play in any kind of weather that comes our way.”

“They're a good team,” Kelly concluded. “It's fun to watch them, they're fun to be around and they're enjoying it as well, so that's the main thing.”

BUFFALOES INDIVIDUALS
t-1.	Emily Talley	66-72—138
t-3.	Alex Stewart	68-71—139
t-3.	Jess Wallace	70-69—139
t-6.	Jenny Coleman	73-69—142
t-31.	Kristin Coleman	75-78—153

TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
t-1.	Emily Talley, Colorado	66-72—138
t-1.	Kristina Merkle, Tulsa	68-70—138
t-3.	Alex Stewart, Colorado	68-71—139
t-3.	Jess Wallace, Colorado	70-69—139
5.	Ashley Armstrong, Notre Dame	67-74—141

TEAM STANDINGS
1.	Colorado	277-281—558
2.	Oklahoma	289-293—582
3.	Notre Dame	288-296—584
4.	Tulsa	294-292—586
t-5.	Iowa State	295-304—599
t-5.	Florida International	292-307—599
t-5.	Texas Tech	296-303—599
8.	Minnesota	293-307—600
9.	Furman	292-320—612
10.	Michigan	306-316—622
11.	SMU	302-331—633
12.	Cincinnati	323-318—641

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Players Mentioned

Jenny Coleman

Kristin Coleman

Alex Stewart

Emily Talley