Buffs Take Second At Bay Area Intercollegiate

FAIRFAX, Calif. – The University of Colorado women's golf team recorded its second-lowest round of the year here on Tuesday and finished in second place at the Bay Area Intercollegiate.

The Buffaloes, currently ranked No. 33 in the country, combined to shoot six strokes better in the final round, recording a 290 or 2-over par on their way to posting a 586 or 10-over par performance for the tournament. The team recorded 99 pars and 25 birdies, third-most among the field.

No. 14 ranked California climbed three spots to win the tournament at 7-over par after shooting 4-under par, only three strokes ahead of Colorado's runner up finish. Oregon State, who entered Tuesday in the top spot took third place, five shots behind CU at 15-over par (591). Indiana placed fourth with a 16-over par, 592 team score and Brigham Young finished fifth at 18-over par (594).

“We're disappointed because we wanted to win, but we did play well today,” said Colorado head coach Anne Kelly. “Everyone on the team felt they left a few shots out there so they'll continue to work hard and get ready for the next event. They have shown great improvement and that's the beauty of this stretch that we're in—we have another opportunity next week.”

Sophomore Brittany Fan paced the Buffaloes in the final round and earned her first top five finish of her career. She recorded a team-best 2-under par on Tuesday and posted a 72-70—143 or 1-under par overall score to claim third place. Fan was solid on both the front and back nine. She teed-off from hole No. 1 and made her first birdie of the day on the par 4, No. 3 to move to 1-under. She had a bogey to drop back to even-par three holes later, but followed with another birdie on No. 8 and remained at 1-under as she made the turn. Fan recorded five straight pars, before a bogey on the 14th to again move back to even-par. The Pearl City, Hawai'i native rebounded nicely with a strong finish as she closed her round with two pars and two birdies. Fan was only one of four golfers in the 67-player field to finish with a subpar score.

Junior Esther Lee wrapped up the event with an even-par, 72 performance, which gave her a 146 or 2-over par total. Lee also notched a strong final round, only struggling on one hole—No. 13 when she had a rare double-bogey. Otherwise, she finished the day with 15 pars and a pair of birdies. Lee moved up five places on the leaderboard to finish tied for eighth, recording her fourth top 10 finish of the year and the 11th of her career.

A 9-stroke improvement in the final round propelled junior Natalie Vivaldi into the top half of the leaderboard as she finished tied for 25th overall. After posting an 8-over, 80 on the first day, Vivaldi recorded a career-best 1-under par, 71 here on the final day and finished with a 151 or 7-over par total. Vivaldi's final round included 11 pars, 4 birdies and 3 bogeys.

Freshman Gillian Vance shot 5-over par, 77 here in the last round on the 6,112-yard, par 72 Meadow Club course and posted a 157 or 13-over par 36-hole total. Vance shot 3-over on the front side and plus-2 on the back as she improved her score from Monday by three strokes. Vance had 19 pars and three birdies here in the event, and tied for 57th place.

Senior Alexis Keating was disqualified from the final round for an incorrect card. Keating called the violation on herself when she noticed an incorrect score after already signing her card.

Senior Allie Zech, competed as an individual, which meant her score did not count toward Colorado's team total. She closed the tournament with a 6-over, 78 to finish tied for 49th place. She registered a 155 or 11-over par total for the event.

California's Hannah Suh earned medalist honors, posting a 140 or 4-under par scorecard and won by a single stroke over Rose Huang from Brigham Young, who shot 3-under par (141). One stroke back of Huang was Fan in third place followed by California's Marianne Li at 1-under in fourth and Bianca Pagdanganan from Gonzaga rounded out the top five with an even-par performance.

Up next for the Buffs is a trip to the desert next week to compete in the Arizona Wildcat Invitational in Tucson, March 14-15.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
3.	Brittany Fan	72-70—142
T8.	Esther Lee	74-72—146
T25.	Natalie Vivaldi	80-71—151
T57.	Gillian Vance	80-77—157
68.	Alexis Keating	70-D
T49. (I)	Allie Zech	77-78—155
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
1.	Hannah Suh, California	71-69—140
2.	Rose Huang, Brigham Young	74-67—141
3.	Brittany Fan, Colorado	72-70—142
4.	Marianne Li, California	74-69—143
5.	Bianca Pagdanganan, Gonzaga	74-70—144
TEAM SCORES
Rank	Team	Score
1.	California	299-284—583
2.	COLORADO	296-290—586
3.	Oregon State	295-296—591
4.	Indiana	304-288—592
5.	Brigham Young	303-291—594
6.	Washington	300-296—596
7.	Gonzaga	304-293—597
8.	San Jose State	297-302—599
T9.	San Francisco	302-300—602
T9.	Coastal Carolina	309-293—602
11.	Pepperdine	307-296—603
12.	Colorado State	309-298—607
13.	UC Davis	311-312—623