Buffs In 13th At Arizona Wildcat Invitational

TUCSON, Ariz. – The University of Colorado women's golf team is in 13th place after battling through two rounds of dry greens and windy conditions here Monday at the Arizona Wildcat Invitational.

Colorado faced ups and downs throughout the 36-hole day as the Buffaloes combined to shoot 294-306—600 or 24-over par. Their first round of 294 was CU's fifth lowest of the season, however the 306 in round two was the Buffs' highest 18-hole total in any tournament this year.

“It was a tough day, especially the second round, but we can bounce back from it,” said Colorado head coach Anne Kelly. “We just need to learn to manage conditions a little bit better and handle the hard, fast greens. We can take some positives out of it and hopefully walk away from this and learn some things. A lot of these players have not played on these dry desert courses before so it's good practice for all of us.”

Both Arizona schools own the top two spots on the leaderboard. Arizona State is in first, carding a 2-under par 574 and host Arizona is only one stroke back, shooting 575 on the 6,492-yard, par 72 Sewailo Club course layout. Purdue is eight shots off the pace and in third at 6-over par, 582. Miami and UNLV recorded 584 team scores and are both tied for fourth place.

Junior Natalie Vivaldi paced the Buffaloes with a 70-79—149 or 5-over par total. She posted a second straight subpar round when she opened with a 2-under, 70 after closing last week's Bay Area Intercollegiate with a 1-under 71 in the final round. She played a steady first round with 9 pars, a team-high 5 birdies and 3 bogeys, but the afternoon posed a few more challenges as she had two double bogeys. She went 3-over on the front and 4-over on the back side. Vivaldi is tied for 33rd overall.

Junior Esther Lee finished the day with a 73-77—150 scorecard. After a first round, which included 10 pars, 3 birdies, 2 bogeys and 1 double-bogey, Lee was not able to get any birdie putts to fall in the second round as she wrapped up the last set of 18 holes with 13 pars and 5 bogeys. In both the morning and afternoon, she had a strong start, shooting even-par through four holes, but the remaining 14 were difficult as she shot a combined 6-over. Lee is tied for 41st place.

Senior Alexis Keating and sophomore Brittany Fan are both in at 7-over par. Keating recorded a 72-79—151 and Fan carded an 80-71—151. Keating's even-par morning round was highlighted by an eagle on the par 5, fifth hole as she was one of only eight golfers of the 84-player field to sink an eagle on the day. In the afternoon, she too, struggled, going 7-over par with 11 pars and 7 bogeys. For Fan, her day was opposite. She ran into some trouble in the first round, shooting 8-over par and then rebounded nicely with a team-low, second round 1-under par. Over the 36 holes, Fan had 22 pars, 4 birdies, 9 bogeys and a double. Keating and Fan are tied for 47th overall.

Senior Allie Zech closed out the day for CU with a 79-82—161 or 17-over par. She is in 75th place.

Arizona State's Linnea Strom leads the individuals with a 9-under par, 135 after two rounds and holds a three stroke lead over the Miami duo of Daniela Darquea and Dewi Weber at 6-under par. Krystal Quihuis is in fourth place at 5-under and four players are in a tie for fifth place.

The Buffaloes will look to regroup ahead of Tuesday's final round, which begins with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. MDT.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
T33.	Natalie Vivaldi	70-79—149
T42.	Esther Lee	73-77—150
T47.	Alexis Keating	72-79—151
T47.	Brittany Fan	80-71—151
75.	Allie Zech	79-82—161
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
1.	Linnea Strom, Arizona State	67-68—135
T2.	Daniela Darquea, Miami	69-69—138
T2.	Dewi Weber, Miami	71-67—138
4.	Krystal Quihuis, Arizona	68-71—139
T5.	Jessica Vasilic, Arizona*	75-67—142
T5.	August Kim, Purdue	70-72—142
T5.	Grace Choi, Michigan	72-70—142
T5.	Katelyn Dambaugh, South Carolina	69-73—142
TEAM SCORES
Rank	Team	Score
1.	Arizona State	285-289—574
2.	Arizona	282-293—575
3.	Purdue	288-294—582
T4.	UNLV	289-295—584
T4.	Miami	294-290—584
6.	South Carolina	297-290—587
7.	Vanderbilt	298-292—590
8.	Baylor	292-300—592
T9.	Michigan	294-300—594
T9.	Northern Arizona	298-296—594
T11.	New Mexico State	297-302—599
T11.	Washington State	301-298—599
13.	COLORADO	294-306—600
14.	Kansas	301-304—605
15.	New Mexico	301-307—608