Buffs In Sixth After First Day at the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire invitational

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of Colorado women's golf team is currently sixth after the first two rounds of the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational.

Kent State leads the team competition through two rounds after recording a scorecard of 289-280 – 569. The Eagles hold a 4-stroke advantage over the host, New Mexico, and Northwestern, who both finished the day with team scores of 573. San Diego State currently sits at fourth overall (575) and UC Davis has a 1-stroke lead over the sixth place Buffs (579-580).

New Mexico's Darian Zachek is the current leader after shooting rounds of 70 and 67 (137), which is a 2-stroke lead over California's Cindy Oh and San Diego State's Fernanda Escauriza who are tied for second with a score of 139.

The Buffs had to rally back from a tough start to the day as they collectively shot 4-over par (295) on the par-72, 6,317-yard UNM Championship Golf Course. CU shaved 10 strokes off its total to finish the last 18-holes 3-under par (285) for an overall score of 280.

"It was a frustrating day today for our team," head coach Anne Kelly said. "Ball striking was good for everyone, but we just could not get many birdie putts to fall."

Juniors Robyn Choi and Kirsty Hodgkins are first and second for the Buffs, although they both had to recover from atypical results in the first round. Choi, who is currently tied for 16^th, was 2-over through the first 18 holes as she recorded just one birdie for a score of 74. She turned her game around in the second round, this time earning six birdies, en route to a 3-under score (69) for the round.

Hodgkins is tied for 21^st and shot 1-over in her first round for a score of 73, which included three birdies. She stayed pretty steady in the second round, recording two birdies to cancel out her two bogeys as she finished even par (72).

"Robyn and Kirsty had many chances for birdies today in both rounds, but couldn't quite get the putts to drop," Kelly said. "Both of our Aussies had great ball striking days, but I felt like they played much better than their scores indicated."

Senior Gillian Vance is tied for 25^th and had a very nice opening round. She recorded 16 pars and had one birdie to finish with a par-72. In the second 18, she still did quite well, recording five birdies and went on to finish just two-over for a final score of 74.

"I was proud of Gillian's opening round of 72 and even though she struggled a bit in her second round, she made a very good comeback by birding her last third holes," said Kelly.

Another senior, transfer Haley Nist did not have the best first round, recording a 4-over 76 which included two bogeys and a double-bogey, but she came back in the second round and played very consistent, finishing her final day with a par-72. She is currently 38^th overall.

"Hailey Nist is a very consistent player and and shot a solid even par round this afternoon," Kelly said.

Making her CU debut, freshman Malak Bouraeda started out with three straight pars before her first bogey. She followed that up with a birdie before a bogey on the next hole to bring her back to even. Bouraeda had four more bogeys in the round before finishing with a score of 78. In the second round, she was 1-under through 14 holes and went to 2-under after she shot a 3 on a par-4 at No. 7. Unfortunately she tallied two bogeys on the next two holes to bring her score back to even, but she finished out the final two holes at par for a score of 72, which put her 54^th overall in the tournament.

"Our new freshman Malak struggled in her first round but made a nice comeback in her second round," Kelly said.

Elle Otten is playing the tournament as an individual, meaning her score will not count towards the team total. She had a nice outing, recording a 2-over par (74) in the first round and a 3-over par (75) in the second round and is tied for 50^th.

"Elle Otten showed some great progress with her game as well today," Kelly said.

The Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational will conclude on Tuesday, Sept. 11, with a shot-gun start at 7:30 a.m.

"It was a slow start for our team and we are learning what we need to work on in the coming weeks," Kelly said. "We will need to get on a roll tomorrow and hope to jump up the leaderboard."

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
T16.	Robyn Choi	74-69 – 143
T21.	Kirsty Hodgkins	73-72 – 145
T25.	Gillian Vance	72-74 – 146
T38.	Haley Nist	76-72 – 148
T54.	Malak Bouraeda	78-72 – 150
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
1.	Darian Zachek, UNM	70-67 – 137
T2.	Cindy Oh, California	72-67 – 139
T2.	Fernanda Escauriza, SDSU	72-67 – 139
T4.	Sophie Hausmann, Idaho	69-71 – 140
T4.	Michaela Finn, Kent State	72-68 – 140
TEAM SCORES
Rank	Team	Score
1.	Kent State	289-280 – 569
T2.	New Mexico	289-284 – 573
T2.	Northwestern	289-284 – 573
4.	San Diego State	288-287 – 576
5.	UC Davis	288-291 – 579
6.	Colorado	295-285 – 580
7.	California	295-286 – 581
8.	Pepperdine	295-287 – 582
9.	Washington State	294-289 – 583
10.	UNLV	294-293 – 587
11. 12. 13. T14. T14. 16.	Idaho Iowa State Central Arkansas Fresno State Iowa New Mexico State	287-302 – 589 300-290 – 590 305-298 – 603 306-302 – 608 305-303 – 608 315-298 – 613

DESPERADO CLASSIC
There is still time to register for the CU Women's Golf Desperado Classic on Sunday, Sept. 23, at Fox Hill Country Club in Longmont, Colo. Interested fans can sign-up at http://www.cvent.com/d/wgqt2m/4W.

Buffs In Sixth After First Day at the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire invitational

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Players Mentioned

Malak Bouraeda

Kirsty Hodgkins

Haley Nist

Elle Otten

Gillian Vance

Buffs In Sixth After First Day at the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire invitational

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Malak Bouraeda

Kirsty Hodgkins

Haley Nist

Elle Otten

Gillian Vance

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