Buffs Tied For Eighth At Arizona State Invite

TEMPE, Ariz. –The University of Colorado women's golf team is tied for eighth place after shooting 10-over par here in the opening round of the Arizona State Invitational.

The 31st-ranked Buffaloes used a strong performance this afternoon to climb inside the top 10 after a slow start. Colorado was as a low as 12th place in the team standings near the halfway mark, but a solid effort down the stretch moved them into the eighth place spot along with Pac-12 foe, Washington. The four golfers who's scores counted toward the team total combined to shoot 12-over par through the first nine holes and then responded with a nice turnaround on the back side, collectively shooting 2-under par on the 6,337-yard, par 72 Karsten Golf Course.

“It was kind of a rough start this morning, but we were able to get some things going as the round went on,” said Colorado head coach Anne Kelly. “Tee to green we were pretty good. We seem to play our best on really long, hard golf courses and this course is more of a wedge–it really rewards good wedge play and good short games. Those are the areas we are weak in so it's good that we are getting that experience and a chance to practice it.”

The Buffs are competing against one of the toughest fields they have faced this season as nine of the 14 teams are ranked in the top 35, including four Pac-12 schools. No. 3 UCLA shot a 281 and is in first place, holding a six-stroke lead over UNLV and tournament host Arizona State, who both recorded 287 team scores. Right on their heels are Arizona and Alabama as the two schools shot even-par and are tied for fourth place.

Junior Esther Lee carried over her momentum from the Silverado Showdown earlier in the week, carding a 3-under par, 69–her second straight round in the 60s and is tied for third on the leaderboard. Making the turn at 1-over par, Lee shot an impressive 4-under par on the back side, which included 4 pars, 3 birdies, 1 eagle and 1 bogey. Her eagle on the par 5, 14th hole was the only one recorded among the 78-player field on the day.

Senior Alexis Keating had the second lowest round for the Buffs. She is in with a 73 or 1-over par after the first 18 holes. Alexis started the day with three straight pars, but closed the front side at 3-over as she bogeyed four of the final six holes. She turned it around after moving to the back nine, posting a 2-under par with seven pars and a pair of birdies. Keating is tied for 23rd place.

Junior Natalie Vivaldi recorded a 5-over par, 77 in round one as she shot plus-3 on the front and finished with plus-2 on the back. A quick birdie out of the gate put Vivaldi at 1-under through two, however she ran into trouble playing the next 10 holes. A bogey on No. 3 pushed her to even-par and then she alternated bogey-par over the following eight and was 4-over. She then was plus-6 with a double-bogey on No. 12, but responded with a birdie on No. 13 to get back to 5-over. She concluded the final five holes, shooting even-par. Vivaldi is tied for 47th overall.

Freshman Gillian Vance and sophomore Brittany Fan both struggled in the opening round. Vance shot a 79 or 7-over par and Fan posted an 8-over par, 80 to begin the tournament. Vance was 4-over par with only one hole to play, but had an unfortunate triple-bogey on No. 18 to wrap up her round. She finished with 12 pars and 1 birdie against 3 bogeys, 1 double and 1 triple and is tied for 60th place. Fan's day consisted of 8 pars, 2 birdies, 7 bogeys and 1 triple. Despite posting a 6-over on the front nine, she shot 4-strokes better on the back, going 2-over par. Fan is tied for 66th overall heading into Saturday's second round.

“Natalie was having a hard time getting her yardage dialed in, but she was able to do that on the back nine,” said Kelly. “Esther really played a good back nine. It was unfortunate she had that bogey on No. 17, but she really played solid golf today. Brittany is struggling, unfortunately. She had a hard time getting anything going. Hopefully she can turn it around tomorrow.”

Freshman Lauryn Keating carded her best round of the spring season—a 75 or 3-over par. It was the second lowest round among those playing as individuals this weekend. Her solid performance included 14 pars and 1 birdie against 2 bogeys and 1 double. She is tied for 33rd place.

“Lauryn, she played well today,” added Kelly. “We're trying to get her some experience in preparation for next year and I think she had a pretty solid first round.”

UCLA's Bronte Law, ranked second in the nation, shot a course record 64 and holds the top spot in the standings. She owns a four-stroke advantage over fellow Bruin Lilia Vu, who shot a 4-under par 68. The top five is rounded out with Lee and three others tied for third place at 3-under par.

The tournament continues with the second round on Saturday. Colorado is set to tee-off from No. 1 beginning at 9 a.m. MDT. The Buffaloes are paired with Texas and Washington. Live scoring is available at GolfStat.com.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
T3.	Esther Lee	69
T23.	Alexis Keating	73
T47.	Natalie Vivaldi	77
T60.	Gillian Vance	79
T66.	Brittany Fan	80
T33.	Lauryn Keating*	75
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
1.	Bronte Law, UCLA	64
2.	Lilia Vu, UCLA	68
T3.	Esther Lee, Colorado	69
T3.	Sophia Schubert, Texas	69
T3.	Linnea Strom, Arizona State	69
T3.	Makenzie Raim, UNLV	69
TEAM SCORES
Rank	Team	Score
1.	UCLA	281
T2.	UNLV	287
T2.	Arizona State	287
T4.	Arizona	288
T4.	Alabama	288
6.	Oregon State	294
7.	Texas	295
T8.	Washington	298
T8.	COLORADO	298
10.	Baylor	300
T11.	Northwestern	301
T11.	Washington State	301
13.	Denver	309
14.	Hawai'i	324