Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Round One
Buffs Tied For Fourth After Strong Opening Round At Pac-12 Championships
April 18, 2016 | Women's Golf
PLEASANTON, Calif. – Senior Alexis Keating and junior Esther Lee are tied for fifth place and the 40th-ranked University of Colorado women's golf team is tied for fourth after recording its best round of the spring here Monday on the first day of the Pac-12 Championships at Ruby Hill Golf Club.
As a group, Colorado combined to shoot 286 or 2-under par, four strokes better than its previous best round this spring—a 290 in the first round of the Silverado Showdown earlier this month. The Buffaloes made 61 pars, which tied Stanford for the most among any team. Colorado was also tied for first in par 3 scoring as they averaged 2.95 strokes on what was a perfect day for golf—sunny and temperatures in the 70s.
“The team played pretty solid today,” said Colorado head coach Anne Kelly. “We played the front nine last, so the front nine was our second nine and they really played a good second nine. The back nine is probably the harder of the two, but it was a strong finish, which was really nice to see. We wish it would have been a little more under par, but we're still in there fighting and we just have to keep it going.”
The Pac-12 Conference, consistently recognized as one of the toughest leagues in women's collegiate golf has eight of its 11 teams ranked in the top 20, including two top five teams in Southern California at No. 2 and UCLA, ranked fourth. USC leads the championships at 10-under par 278. UCLA sits in second, four strokes off the pace at 6-under. Arizona State shot 3-under 285 and is in third while Colorado is tied with Oregon and Arizona, one shot behind the Sun Devils at 2-under par.
It's a tough field, tough competition—almost like a mini national championship,” Kelly added. “It's very important to get off to a good start to at least have a chance to do well in the tournament. You can't get too far behind these teams or they will just run away from you.”
Keating and Lee paced the Buffaloes shooting 70 or 2-under par on the 6,458-yard, par 72 course configuration. They combined for 26 pars and seven birdies against only three bogeys. After carding a 1-over par on the back side, where the team started its round, she shot 3-under par on the front to close at minus-2. She moved back to even par on her 11th hole of the day and then finished with birdie-birdie-par on the last three holes. Lee led the team with four birdies in her round. She also posted a better score on the front side, carding a 2-under compared to even-par on the front. She birdie her 11th hole to move to 1-under and continued to play in the red for the rest of her round. Lee pared the next six and went birdie-par heading into the clubhouse.
Sophomore Brittany Fan looks to have found her groove again at just the right time for the Buffaloes. After struggling in her last couple events, Fan opened here with an even-par 72 and is tied for 22nd place on the leaderboard. Fan was 2-under through 14 holes, but had a tough finish with a pair of bogeys over the final stretch. In total, she recorded 12 pars, 3 birdies and 3 bogeys.
“Brittany has been working very hard on her putting and just a couple things with her swing that I think she is finally seeing the results from,” Kelly said. “She was under par today and wasn't real happy with her finish, but could definitely see some good progress today.”
Junior Natalie Vivaldi posted a 74 or 2-over par in the opening round. While her round fluctuated from 1-under par to 4-over at certain parts during the day, she closed nicely, shooting 2-under through her last five holes. After completing her first nine holes on the back side at 2-over par, she shot even-par on the front. Vivaldi was plus-4 with five to play and finished with three pars and two birdies to move her back to 2-over. In the standings, she is tied for 39th overall.
Freshman Gillian Vance made her Pac-12 Championships debut with a 3-over par 75, matching her career-best mark of the spring season. Vance put together a 2-over par score on the back side and made the turn to the front nine where she shot 1-over par. Vance had 14 pars, second-most among the field and one birdie against two bogeys and a double. She is tied for 45th place.
The top five places on the individual leaderboard are separated by only a combined four strokes. Arizona's Haley Moore holds the top spot, shooting 6-under par 66. She is one stroke ahead of Southern California's Tiffany Chan in second place at 5-under par. Ying Luo is third at 4-under par and Monica Vaughn from Arizona State holds the fourth place spot, carding a 3-under par. A group of 11 players that includes Keating and Lee all shot 2-under and are tied for fifth place.
The Pac-12 Championships continue on Tuesday with the second round slated to begin at 9:30 a.m. MDT. Colorado will tee-off from the first hole and is paired with Arizona.
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