Colorado
Round Three
Buffs' Rally Comes Up Stroke Short, Finish Seventh At NCAA West Regional
May 07, 2016 | Women's Golf
STANFORD, Calif. – The University of Colorado women's golf team put together its best round of the tournament here on Saturday in the final 18 holes at the NCAA West Regional, but its rally to finish in the top six and advance to the NCAA Championships came up just short. How short? Only one stroke as the Buffs finished seventh, just one position shy of continuing in postseason play.
Colorado carded an 884 or 32-over par final score for the event and Virginia closed at 31-over par 883 to take sixth place and the right to advance. Had the two teams finished in a tie, a playoff would have been held to determine the final spot.
“It's really heartbreaking,” said Colorado head coach Anne Kelly. “The team played really well today. They made a great comeback, but that's the way golf goes sometimes. I'm bummed for them because they just really played their hearts out this whole week, especially today. We thought hopefully we would get into a playoff, but Virginia played those last few holes really well. Everybody was really disappointed. A one shot difference is really tough to take.”
The Buffaloes, who entered the day tied for 10th place, posted a 289 or 5-over par team score in the final round and in the process, put the pressure on No. 15 Virginia down the stretch. Colorado, in the end, shaved 10 strokes off Virginia's lead as the Cavaliers dropped from third to sixth place in the standings. The Buffs were through with their round and Virginia had anywhere between three and five holes left. However, only leading by one stroke, UVA was able to narrowly escape as its top golfer of the regional pared her final three holes.
“I'm really proud of this team, but just so disappointed for them,” said Kelly. “We gave it our best shot and we'll come back even stronger next year.”
It was a tough result for the Buffaloes and the same most likely holds true for teams in two of the other three regionals. Houston and Tulane—two schools who also finished just one stroke out of sixth place in their respective events in Baton Rouge, La. and Bryan, Texas.
Host Stanford and top seed Southern California shared the team-title, running away from the field and winning by 19 strokes with an 856 or 4-over scorecard. Ohio State finished at 23-over par and took third place. Three strokes behind Ohio State was fourth place finisher North Carolina at 26-over par. Arkansas earned fifth, shooting plus-27 followed by Virginia.
Junior Esther Lee anchored the Buffs over the 54-hole tournament, she posted a final score of 219 or 6-over par. Lee turned in her best round on Saturday, carding an even-par 71. She played both sides at even-par and tallied 10 pars, 4 birdies and 4 bogeys through her last 18 holes on the 6,289-yard, par 71 Stanford Golf Course. In total, Lee led the team with eight birdies for the event and she also made 32 pars. She finished tied for 18th in the standings, earning her 11 top 20 finish of the season, which ties her with Jessica Wallace (2011) for most all-time in a single season. In two years at Colorado, Lee has recorded 21 top 20 finishes in her career, second most all-time.
Sophomore Brittany Fan shot 3-over par on Saturday and recorded a 220 or 7-over. She led the Buffaloes with 36 total pars for the event and was third on the team with six birdies. In the final round, Fan went 3-over just five holes in, but was solid for the rest of the day, shooting even-par with 11 pars and one birdie against one bogey. She had a strong finish, which was key to helping the Buffs stay in the hunt, paring her final four holes. Fan tied for 22nd overall, making it her best career finish at a regional.
Senior Alexis Keating, one of only five Buffs in CU history to have played in three regionals, closed out her stellar career with her best round of the tournament, shooting an even-par 71. She went 77-74-71—222 or 9-over at the event. She, too played solid golf coming in as she closed out her day with six pars and a birdie over the last seven holes. Keating finished tied for 30th in the standings and finishes her four-year career with the third-best stroke average in program history with a 75.95 mark.
Freshman Gillian Vance turned in her best 54-hole performance of her young career, record a 223 or 10-over par scorecard, toping her previous best of 224 at the Pac-12 Championships. Vance had 14 pars and one birdie against three bogeys in the final round en route to a 73. In total, Vance made 33 pars and six birdies during the tournament. She tied for 33rd place.
Junior Natalie Vivaldi shot 238 or 25-over par for the event. She struggled to really get anything going in the final round, posting a 9-over 80 and finished tied for 86th place.
The top three golfers advancing as individuals to the NCAA Championships are: Andrea Wong of UC Davis at 4-under par and Jennifer Kupcho from Wake Forest at 1-under par. Michigan State's Sarah Burnham earned the final spot at 2-over par after winning a two-hole playoff.
“It was a good year and a team effort throughout the entire season,” added Kelly. “I'm happy that we could send Alexis out in one of our best seasons. I'm so happy that she played a good round today and we could end her career on a really strong note and strong season.”
In total, the Buffaloes had a program-record 12 top 10 finishes in 13 events played this season. They also closed out the year recording a 75.25 team stroke average, the second lowest in school history.
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BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
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|
Rank |
Name |
Score |
|
T18. |
72-76-71—219 |
|
|
T22. |
71-75-71—220 |
|
|
T30. |
77-74-71—222 |
|
|
T33. |
75-75-73—223 |
|
|
T86. |
79-79-80—238 |
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TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS |
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|
Rank |
Name |
Score |
|
T1. |
Elizabeth Szokol, Virginia |
73-69-67—209 |
|
T1. |
Andrea Wong, UC Davis |
72-72-65—209 |
|
3. |
Alana Uriell, Arkansas |
72-67-71—210 |
|
T4. |
Casey Danielson, Stanford |
72-68-71—211 |
|
T4. |
Tiffany Chan, Southern California |
71-69-71—211 |
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TEAM SCORES |
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|
Rank |
Team |
Score |
|
1. |
Stanford |
289-280-287—856 |
|
T1. |
Southern California |
287-284-285—856 |
|
3. |
Ohio State |
299-285-291—875 |
|
4. |
North Carolina |
302-289-297—878 |
|
5. |
Arkansas |
298-291-290—879 |
|
6. |
Virginia |
288-296-299—883 |
|
7. |
COLORADO |
295-300-289—884 |
|
8. |
Wake Forest |
295-299-293—887 |
|
9. |
San Jose State |
299-301-288—888 |
|
10. |
Pepperdine |
298-295-296—889 |
|
11. |
Michigan State |
291-301-301—893 |
|
12. |
San Diego State |
299-297-299—895 |
|
13. |
Texas Tech |
291-307-298—896 |
|
14. |
UNLV |
300-295-313—908 |
|
15. |
Idaho |
300-304-307— 911 |
|
16. |
UC Riverside |
306-313-308—927 |
|
17. |
Richmond |
306-312-313—931 |
|
18. |
Seton Hall |
310-315-319—944 |
Players Mentioned
