Buffs Finish Fourth At SMU Trinity Forest Invitational

DALLAS — The University of Colorado women's golf team put together another steady round on Tuesday to finish fourth at the SMU Trinity Forest Invitational.

Illinois continued to dominate the field on Tuesday and won the tournament by nine strokes with an 8-over 272. The Illini shot an 11-over 299 in the third round after recording a 1-over 289 and a 4-under 284 on Monday in the first two rounds, respectively. Tennessee finished the tournament second with a 17-over 881.

The Buffs, who were fourth after the first two rounds, held on to their position after shooting a 15-over 303 in the final 36 holes. Conditions were tougher today with stronger winds, which was reflected in the team score as seven of the 12 teams had scores in the 300's.

"We improved from last year and again that is a little short-handed," coach Anne Kelly said. "They are trying their hardest and are working on the right things. It'll come around. We are not at our best yet, but we will get there."

Almost all of the Buffs played very consistent, posting scores similar to the first two rounds.

Junior Kirsty Hodgkins earned her first top-five finish of the season as she tied for fourth after shooting an even 72 in the final round (after rounds of 74-72). For the tournament, she was a 2-over 218 on the 6,233-yard par 72 Trinity Forest Golf Club. Over the course of the 54 holes, she recorded 38 pars, which tied for third in the tournament.

"She really hit the ball great all week; she just didn't get as many birdie putts to drop as she wanted," Kelly said. "But she birdied out her last three holes, which was a great finish."

Senior Haley Nist finished second for the Buffs with a scorecard of 76-73-76—225, as she shot a 3-over 76 in the final round. She recorded one double in the round, which was cancelled with two birdies, and also had 11 pars and four bogeys. She ended up tied for 21^st, which was a season-best finish.

"Haley had been struggling with her swing and ball striking, but during the tournament in Austin, we got on to something with her swing and she worked on it and it really seemed to help," said Kelly. "She made a good swing adjustment and I think her ball striking was much better this week."

Senior Gillian Vance shot a 4-over 76 to record a final score of 10-over 226, which tied for 24^th when combined with her rounds of 75-75 from Monday. She was 3-over through her first 14 holes, but a pair of bogeys on the following two holes put her at a 5-over. She responded with her first birdie of the round on the next hole and finished the tournament on the following hole with a par.

"Gillian's ball striking has been very good, not that she is putting badly, but she just didn't make enough birdies," Kelly said. "She had chances, but they didn't drop. That is something everyone has to work on."

Freshman Malak Bouraeda, who was second on the team after the first day, finished with a 7-over 79. Despite the score, she had a solid start and was just 2-over through seven holes. She recorded three bogeys and six pars over the next 10 holes to sit at 5-over, but an unfortunate double on the final hole, a par 6, put her at 7-under for the day. Overall, she ended up tied for 29^th, which is her best collegiate finish.

Sophomore Elle Otten had another tough outing and shot an 11-over 83. She ended up 64^th overall with a 28-over 244 scorecard (81-80-83). In the final round, she recorded eight pars, nine bogeys and one double.

Freshman Kelsey Webster, CU individual, finished her first tournament with an 8-over 80 after shooting rounds of 79-75. She totaled five birdies, 28 pars, 13 bogeys and two doubles over the course of the three rounds. Her score put her in a tie for 49^th.

Oregon State's Ellie Slama moved up from fourth place on Monday to first on Tuesday, winning the tournament with a 2-under 214, just one stroke in front of Illinois' Bing Singhsumalee (1-under 215).

The Buffs will wrap up their fall slate with the Pac-12 Preview, November 5-7, in Kailua Kona, Hawai'i, at the Nanea Golf Club.

NOTES: CU's 896 is tied for the second best score of the fall. CU also recorded an 896 in the Windy City Collegiate Classic (Oct. 1-2)…The stroke average for the third round of the tournament was 76.47; CU averaged a 75.75 stroke average in the final round…The Buffs had the fourth most pars in the tournament with 166; the most was UTSA's 170…This is the third time this fall that Kirsty Hodgkins has recorded a score under 220.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
T4.	Kirsty Hodgkins	74-72-72—218
T21.	Haley Nist	76-73-73—225
T24. T29.	Gillian Vance Malak Bouraeda	75-75-76—226 74-74-79—227
T49.	*Kelsey Webster	79-75-80—234
64.	Elle Otten (*—played as an individual)	81-80-83—244
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
1.	Ellie Slama, Oregon State	75-68-71—214
2.	Bing Singhsumalee, Illinois	73-69-73—215
3.	Crystal Wang, Illinois	71-72-76—217
T4	Kirsty Hodgkins, Colorado	74-72-72—218
T4.	Kornkamol Sukaree, Illinois	73-73-72—218
TEAM SCORES
Rank	Team	Score
1.	Illinois	289-284-299—872
2.	Tennessee	288-292-301—881
3.	Oregon State	294-300-296—890
4.	Colorado	299-294-303—896
5.	SMU	300-299-300—899
T6.	UTSA	294-296-311—901
T6.	Kansas	295-304-302—901
8.	North Texas	301-305-296—902
9.	Kansas State	295-308-306—909
10.	DBU	306-307-297—910
11. 12.	Chattanooga Kentucky	310-297-304—911 311-314-299—924

Buffs Finish Fourth At SMU Trinity Forest Invitational

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Players Mentioned

Malak Bouraeda

Kirsty Hodgkins

Haley Nist

Elle Otten

Gillian Vance

Kelsey Webster