Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
San Diego State Farms Invitational
Buffs Cinderella Run Ends In Championship Match
March 25, 2015 | Women's Golf
RANCHO SANTA FE, Calif. — In the spirit of March Madness, the University of Colorado women's golf team had its Cinderella run come to an end, falling 4-1 to Tennessee in the championship match of the 2015 SDSU Farms Invitational, a match-play event that concluded here Wednesday at the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club.
The No. 40 and eighth-seeded Buffaloes defeated No. 50 and ninth-seeded Houston on a tiebreaker in the first round Monday, then Tuesday defeated No. 13 and top seed Oklahoma State 3-2 in the quarterfinals and won another tiebreaker against No. 22 and fourth-seeded Arizona State in the semifinals to advance to the championship match. The Vols are ranked No. 15 and served as the tournament's No. 2 seeded team.
“Honestly we didn't play our best today, we maybe ran out of gas a little bit, but I'm proud of how we fought and we've continued to improve throughout this event and through the Spring,” CU coach Anne Kelly said. “Tennessee is a great team and they played really well today. We had a few good upsets here this week and had a lot of fun. This was a beautiful course and a well-run event.”
The final team score of 4-1 in favor of the Vols wasn't indicative of how close the match really was. Sophomore Esther Lee and junior Jamie Oleksiew both halved their match-ups on the day and junior Alexis Keating lost 2&1 on No. 17, meaning the Buffs were just three or four holes away from potentially winning the match. In the tournament, Oleksiew led the way for the Buffs with a 3-0-1 record while Lee finished the four matches in the event at 2-0-2.
“Jamie and Esther both fought hard and halved their matches,” Kelly said. “Alexis also fought hard and came back to within one hole after winning No. 16. She had a great drive off No. 17 but unfortunately lost the hole.”
This was just the second match-play event the Buffs have ever taken part of and the first in five years. The trend of playing some match play events during the regular season will likely continue as the NCAA Championships will for the first time in 2015 have a match play element. After three rounds of stroke play, the top 15 teams and nine individuals will advance to the final round of stroke play to determine the eight teams advancing to match play and the individual national champion. Two rounds of match play will take place on the day following stroke play with the finals the next day to determine the team national champion.
“It's something different,” Kelly said. “And it brings about different parts of competition. If you have a bad hole, it's only one point and not a few strokes, let it go and move on. I think it helps a golfer be more competitive, it's a one-on-one match and it's a lot of fun.”
Oleksiew was pitted against the Vols' Emmie Pietila and she immediately went 1 up on No. 1 and held that advantage until going 2 up on No. 5. Pietila then caught fire with four straight birdies, winning three of those four holes, and then winning No. 10 with an Oleksiew bogey to take a 2 up advantage. Oleksiew settled down and with five pars in the next six holes, she evened the match up with just three holes remaining. Pietila went 1 up with a birdie on No. 17 and then Oleksiew birdied the final hole to half the match.
Lee also birdied No. 18 to earn the square up her match. She was up most of the first half of her round, taking a 1 up advantage on No. 1 and remaining between all square and 1 up through the first eight holes against the Vols' A.J. Newell. Lee then had bogeys on Nos. 9 and 12 to fall behind by two through 12 holes. Newell bogeyed No. 14 to bring it within one and Lee's birdie on the final hole brought it back to half the match.
Keating was matched up with Lucia Polo and the match stayed all square or 1 up for each player the majority of the round. Each player went 2 up at one point in the round only to see the other player win the next hole to bring it back within one. Keating birdied No. 16 to bring the match within one with just two holes remaining and she lost the match 2&1 after losing No. 17 despite a great drive on the hole.
Freshman Brittany Fan fell to Hannah Pietila 5&4. Hannah Pietila held a 3 up advantage after seven holes and the two both pared the next five holes. Fan conceded on Nos. 13 and 14 to end the match. Sophomore Natalie Vivaldi fell to Anna Newell 6&5. Vivaldi fell behind by five through the first eight holes and then played even with Newell on No. 9 and picked up a hole on No. 10. She then lost the next two holes and conceded No. 13 for the final margin.
The Buffs will take full advantage of the school's Spring Break and travel from California directly to Louisiana where they will participate in the LSU Tiger Golf Classic in Baton Rouge, La., Friday through Sunday. After that, it's all home events for the Buffs as they head to Napa, Calif., to serve as co-host of the second annual Silverado Showdown before serving as host for the 2015 Pac-12 Championships at the Boulder Country Club April 20-22.
(2) Tennessee def. (8) Colorado, 4-1
Jamie Oleksiew (CU) vs. Emmie Pietila (UT), all-square
Lucia Polo (UT) def. Alexis Keating (CU), 2&1
Anna Newell (UT) def. Natalie Vivaldi (CU), 6&5
Hanna Pietila (UT) def. Brittany Fan (CU), 5&4
Esther Lee (CU) vs. A.J. Newell (UT), all-square
Team Results
Championship Match
Tennessee 4, Colorado 1
Third Place Match
San Diego State 3.5, Arizona State 1.5
Fifth Place Match
Oklahoma State 3, UNLV 2
Seventh Place Match
Pepperdine 3.5, Cal 1.5
Ninth Place Match
Long Beach State 3, Houston 2
11th Place Match
Kansas 3, Michigan 2
13th Place Match
UC Irvine 3, New Mexico 2
15th Place Match
Nevada 4.5, Boise State .5
Players Mentioned
