Colorado
NCAA St. George Regional
Women's Golf Finishes 12th At NCAA St. George Regionals
May 09, 2015 | Women's Golf
ST. GEORGE, Utah – The University of Colorado women's golf team shot 10-over par here Saturday, posting its best round of the tournament as the Buffaloes finished the spring season in 12th place at the NCAA Regional Championships.
Colorado climbed three spots on the leaderboard and recorded a 66-over par 918 (316-308-294) final team score. The Buffs were 20 strokes short of a top six finish, which is needed to advance to the NCAA Championships.
“The team played a lot better today,” said Colorado head coach Anne Kelly. “They played much more like themselves. I think everybody is a bit disappointed because we had high expectations and I think we had a legitimate shot, but it just wasn't our week.”
No. 1 Southern California held onto its lead and won the meet by six strokes, shooting 28-over par 880 at the Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club. The 16th-ranked Cardinal finished second at 34-over par 886. Arkansas, ranked eighth in the country, claimed third place, recording 40-over par 892. No. 22 UNLV was three strokes behind to place fourth with a 43-over par 895 team score and Virginia (No. 9) followed, three strokes back to take fifth carding 46-over par 989. No. 38 California also earned the sixth and final spot to advance to the Championships.
Sophomore Esther Lee's quest to advance to the Championships as an individual came up just short, after she lost in a five-player playoff on the third playoff hole. Emily Williams from Middle Tennessee won the playoff on that third hole to earn the final spot to advance. Lee wrapped up her first season as a Buffalo in a tie for 13th place at the meet. She shot 223 or 10-over par to earn her 10th top 20 finish of the year, which is tied for second most all-time in a single season. In 10 of 11 meets during 2014-15, she placed 14th or better. Lee finished the spring with a school record 72.25 stroke average, breaking the previous mark set by Alex Stewart in 2011-12.
“A little bummed,” Lee said of the playoff outcome, but was upbeat about the team's season and looking ahead to next year. “I think this tournament was a good learning experience. We came out here with high expectations. There was a fair amount of pressure on us to do well, but everyone is making progress and I'm just excited for next year because I know we can do even better.”
Junior Alexis Keating had another solid performance on Saturday. She posted a 73 or 2-over par in the third round, recording two birdies, four bogeys and 12 pars. Keating was 1-over through 15 holes and finished going par-par-bogey to close out the day. She concluded the meet at 13-over par (81-72-73—226), the Buffs' second-best individual score and finished tied for 26th overall.
Freshman Brittany Fan had her strongest round on Saturday, turning in a 3-over par 74 scorecard, while finishing tied for 46th overall (78-78-74—230) in her first NCAA Regionals appearance. The Pearl City, Hawaii native made seven pars, one birdie and one bogey on the back side to shoot even-par. She carded 3-over on holes one through nine with three bogeys and six pars. Fan tallied four birdies and 33 pars over the 54-hole tournament. In Fan's first season of her collegiate career, she set a freshman stroke average record with 74.87, besting Emily Talley's 75.42 from 2008-09.
Junior Jamie Oleksiew also shot her best round of the tournament, 4-over par 75. She was 4-over after nine holes and then went even-par the remainder of her round. On her second set of nine, the front side, she started out with three straight pars and then a birdie to go to 3-over. Oleksiew had one bogey and four pars over the final five holes. She was eight strokes better on Saturday than her previous round to card a 244 (86-83-75) or 31-over par and finish tied for 85th place.
Sophomore Natalie Vivaldi who continued to fight back throughout the tournament posted a 16-over par third round and finished tied for 92nd at 44-over par (81-89-87—257). She recorded a 46 (+10) to begin on the day on the back side and settled down on the front, where she was four strokes better (+6) and pared six of nine holes.
Dana Finkelstein from UNLV won the Regional after shooting a 67 in the final round and was the only individual to finish under par (2-under 211). An Arkansas duo, Alana Uriell and Gaby Lopez tied for second, five strokes out of first, finishing with 3-over par or 216 scorecards. A pair from Southern California rounded out the top five. Gabriella Then placed fourth at 4-over par 217 and Annie Park recorded a 5-over par 218 to earn fifth place.
“It was just a tough course, but a good learning experience,” Kelly said. “I think everyone is going to be pretty determined for next year. Overall, this tournament doesn't take away anything from what the team accomplished this year, especially this spring. We'll be back.”
In total, the Buffs had 11 top 10 finishes, tying the 2010-11 team for the most all-time in a single season. CU also finished a school-best fifth place in the Pac-12 Championships held last month in Boulder.
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BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
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T13. |
76-75-72—223 |
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T26. |
81-72-73—226 |
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T46. |
78-78-74—230 |
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T85. |
86-83-75—244 |
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T92. |
81-89-87—257 |
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TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS |
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1. |
Dana Finkelstein, UNLV |
72-72-67—211 |
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T2. |
Alana Uriell, Arkansas |
75-72-69—216 |
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T2. |
Gaby Lopez, Arkansas |
73-72-71—216 |
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4. |
Gabriella Then, Southern California |
74-76-67—217 |
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5. |
Annie Park, Southern California |
72-71-75—218 |
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TEAM SCORES |
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1. |
Southern California |
293-292-295—880 |
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2. |
Stanford |
304-292-290—886 |
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3. |
Arkansas |
306-296-290—892 |
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4. |
UNLV |
301-304-290—895 |
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5. |
Virginia |
308-296-294—898 |
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6. |
California |
297-305-298—900 |
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7. |
New Mexico State |
305-306-298—909 |
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8. |
Texas Christian |
313-302-295—910 |
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9. |
Vanderbilt |
319-297-296—912 |
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10. |
Southern Methodist |
308-303-303—914 |
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11. |
San Diego State |
315-310-291—916 |
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12. |
COLORADO |
316-308-294—918 |
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T13. |
Wisconsin |
303-308-308—919 |
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T13. |
Middle Tennessee |
313-303-303—919 |
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15. |
Miami |
316-306-302—924 |
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16. |
Denver |
315-308-307—930 |
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17. |
Northern Arizona |
317-323-311—951 |
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18. |
Albany |
331-322-326—979 |
Players Mentioned
