Buffs in Seventh at Betsy Rawls Invitational

AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Colorado women's golf team played through some cold conditions on Saturday and is currently seventh out of 15 teams at the Betsy Rawls Invitational in Austin, Texas.

The Buffs shot an 11-over 299 in the first round, but came back strong in the second round to shoot even (288) at the 6,353-yard par 72 University of Texas Golf Club. CU finished the day with a 587 and is only one stroke back from sixth-place Denver (586) and two away from fifth-place Maryland (585).

"We definitely want to move up," head coach Anne Kelly said. "I think we are close; we're still not playing on all cylinders yet to be honest. We are still making too many double bogeys and too many easy mistakes. We need to eliminate the double bogeys. We are getting closer. They are a good team. When we get everyone going, it's going to be fun to see what happens."

Kent State (564) leads the field after the first 36 holes. KSU shot a 1-under 287 to start the day and followed it up with an 11-under 277. Oklahoma State is three strokes back for second (567), while the host, Texas, is tied for third with Miami. Both teams are sitting at 4-under (572).

Senior Kirsty Hodgkins played two great rounds, carding a 6-under 138 to lead the team. She sits tied for third place with 18 holes left to play on Sunday.

"Kirsty played very solid golf today," Kelly said.

Hodgkins' day started at No. 7, where she made par. After that, she sank her first of eight birdies on the day. She followed that up with two consecutive pars before collecting another birdie to put her at 2-under through five holes. Hodgkins only recorded two bogeys during the entire day, which came during the first 18 holes. Her first was on No. 12, but she bounced back nicely with three pars and one birdie before tallying her second bogey on No. 17. At that point she was at 1-under for the round and it was where she would stay, finishing the round with seven straight pars.

Her second round was even better as she shot five birdies and 13 pars for a 5-under 67. Again starting on the seventh hole, she made par and followed it up with back-to-back birdies. On the back nine, she recorded seven pars and two more birdies. As she went back to finish the front nine, she kept her steady play going, recording five more pars and one birdie.

Second for the Buffs was sophomore Alisha Lau. She had two very consistent rounds, shooting an even 72 and a 1-over 73, respectively, for a 1-over 145, which is tied for 16th.

During the course of Lau's play in the first round, she had one minor hiccup, a double bogey, which came on her opening hole (No. 4). After that, she was able to collect herself and sank a birdie on the next hole. She had three bogeys during that first round, the first of which came on her third hole of the day. She bounced back with a par and a birdie on the next two holes to get to 1-over. She recorded par on the following two holes before collecting two birdies and another par in the next three holes to put her at 1-under. She stayed at 1-under for the following three holes before hitting her second bogey of the day. Two consecutive pars had her even with two holes left. She made bogey on her 17th hole, but sank a birdie to finish the round.

Her second round also had a hiccup, but with her steady play, she was able to rebound. She made two pars before hitting a triple bogey on No. 6 and bogeys on No. 7 and No. 8. From that point on, she either made par or hit a birdie, finishing the day with four birdies and nine pars.

"Alisha really finished strong in the second round," Kelly said. "She had a strong finish after a terrible start."

Junior Elle Otten had a very nice day and was third for Colorado after the completion of two rounds. She carded a 2-over 74 during the first 18 holes and then recorded a 4-over 76 in the second round to finish the day at 6-over (150). She had two birdies, 13 pars, two bogeys and one double in the first round and three birdies, nine pars, five bogeys and one double in the second round.

"Elle played very well the first round and helped us a lot," Kelly said. "She didn't have the best finish in the second round, but her game is coming around, which is nice to see."

CU's other two golfers in the line-up were sophomore Malak Boureada and freshman Sophie Johnson. Both struggled during the day, especially in the first round. Bouraeda is tied for 50^th in the field with a 9-over 153. She shot 10-over (82) in the first round, but rebounded well in the second round with a 1-under 71. Johnson recorded an 86 in the first round and then an 82 in the second to finish the day at 24-over (168).

"Malak and Sophie struggled in the first round," Kelly said. "Malak really had an off first round but really came back. Sophie had a tough day and that happens to everybody. She will make a comeback."

Playing as an individual was freshman Issy Simpson. She is tied for 64^th with a 12-over 156. She shot rounds of 75 and 81, respectively, and recorded three birdies, 20 pars, 11 bogeys and two doubles.

Miami's Renate Grimstad leads the field with a 9-under 135. She shot rounds of 69 and 66, respectively. Second is Oklahoma State's Isabella Fierro, who is just one stroke back (68-68—136). Hodgkins is tied for third with Kent State's Pimnipa Panthong.

The second day of action starts Sunday at 8:30 a.m. CT.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
T3.	Kirsty Hodgkins	71-67—138
T16.	Alisha Lau	72-73—145
T43.	Elle Otten	74-76—150
T50.	Malak Bouraeda	83-71—153
T64.	*Issy Simpson	75-81—156
76.	Sophie Johnson	86-82—168
(*—played as an individual)

TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
1.	Renate Grimstad, Miami	69-66—135
2.	Isabella Fierro, Oklahoma State	68-68—136
T3.	Pimnipa Panthong, Kent State	71-67—138
T3.	Kirsty Hodgkins, Colorado	71-67—138
T5.	Caley McGinty, Kent State	68-71—139

TEAM SCORES
Rank	Team	Score
1.	Kent State	287-277—564
2.	Oklahoma State	283-284—567
T3.	Texas	288-284—572
T3.	Miami	293-279—572
5.	Maryland	293-292—585
6.	Denver	306-280—586
7.	Colorado	299-288—587
8.	Baylor	305-288—593
T9.	Yale	301-299—600
T9.	North Texas	308-292—600
11.	TCU	312-289—601
12.	UNLV	303-301—604
13.	Texas State	312-293—605
14.	New Mexico	309-300—609
15.	SMU	315-302—617

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Players Mentioned

Malak Bouraeda

Kirsty Hodgkins

Sophie Johnson

Alisha Lau

Elle Otten

Issy Simpson