Buffs Finish Sixth at Betsy Rawls Invitational; Hodgkins Finishes tied for Second

AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Colorado women's golf team saw improvement on the second day of the Betsy Rawls Invitational, moving up to sixth overall after carding a 14-over 878 (299-288-291) on Sunday.

But the highlight of the day was the performance of senior Kirsty Hodgkins, who tied for second overall. Her scorecard of 206 is the second lowest in school history for a par 72 course. She shot rounds of 71-67-68 to complete the tournament. This was the best performance by Hodgkins since she won the Couer D'Alene Collegiate, Sept. 26-27, 2017. There she shot a 10-under 203 on a par 71 course.

"The field here was much tougher than it was there (Couer D'Alene)," head coach Anne Kelly said. "This finish in this field is very, very good. Considering how she was hitting in the practice round, she made a big improvement. I'm really proud of her. She played quite well."

Hodgkins' play helped the Buffs move up from seventh as CU recorded a 3-over 291 in the final 18-holes at the 6,353-yard par 72 University of Texas Golf Club. Colorado had been one stroke behind Denver after two rounds and used a solid third round to move past the Pioneers. While the Buffs shot 3-over in the round, DU carded an 8-over 296 and finished four strokes behind the Buffs (882).

The 878 was a 31-stroke improvement from last year's performance at the tournament where CU shot a 909 (311-302-293).

"You always want to be a little better, but I'm very encouraged," Kelly said. "We are getting better little by little. Everybody contributed. It was a team effort. I'm pleased with the improvement, but we still have some work to do. The good news is we finally have a little time to get them settled in school again and get them time to practice and get ready for the Pac-12 Preview."

Hodgkins played another outstanding round of golf. Starting on No. 8, she made six straight pars before a pair of birdies on No. 14 and No. 15 to put her at 2-under. She finished the back nine with three more pars. She had a minor bump in the road on No. 1 as she recorded a bogey, but her steady and consistent play shined through as she recorded a birdie on No. 2 to put her right back at 2-under for the day. After another par, she sank three straight birdies, which put her at 5-under. Unfortunately she bogeyed on the final hole to finish at 4-under.

"She is just a good player," Kelly said. "That is why we did not panic too much in the practice round. She knows how to compete and knows how to get the ball around the golf course. She keyed in on a couple things in her swing and figured it out. That's what seniors and good players do."

Texas rallied to win its tournament with a strong second day. The Longhorns moved up from third to first after shooting an impressive 15-under 273. They finished at 19-under (845) and defeated the runner-up, Kent State, by two strokes (847). KSU had been the leader after the first two rounds and shot a 5-under 283 in the third round. Finishing third was Oklahoma State (851). Rounding out the top five was Miami (858) and Maryland (869).

Individually the Buffs had another great showing by sophomore Alisha Lau, who finished with a 2-over 218. She shot her second 1-over 73 on Sunday despite a tough start to her day. Lau started on the 520-yard par 5 No. 9 and recorded a double bogey to start the round 2-over. She made par on the next three holes as she began the back nine, and then sank a pair of birdies to bring her score even. On No. 15, she recorded a bogey, but made two consecutive pars and sank a birdie to finish the back. She made back-to-back pars on the first two holes of the front, but went 1-under after a birdie on No. 3. She finished the day with three pars and a pair of bogeys.

Another Buff who had a great day was sophomore Malak Bouraeda. She struggled in the first round, but improved in the second round. She kept the momentum going and had a decent final round, shooting a 2-over 73 to finish with a 10-over 226, which tied her for 44^th. She made three birdies, 11 pars and four bogeys to finish the tournament.

Junior Elle Otten played well this weekend for Colorado, finishing with a 12-over 228. The 228 is her best scorecard since she shot a 226 at the Branch Law/Dick McGuire Invitational (Sept. 11-12, 2018). In her final round, she shot a 5-over 77 with two birdies, nine pars and seven bogeys.

Freshman Sophie Johnson continued to have a rough tournament, recording her third round in the 80s. She finished the event at 40-over (86-82-88--256).

"Unfortunately Sophie had a tough tournament and that happens to everybody a couple of times in their career," said Kelly. "She had her best tournament the week before, it's nothing to worry about. She will be fine."

Playing as an individual, freshman Issy Simpson finished with a 19-over 235. She carded a 7-over 79 in the last round with two birdies, eight pars, seven bogeys and one double.

The individual winner was Oklahoma State's Isabella Fierro. She carded a 7-under 65 in the third round, which pushed her up from second to first. She ended the tournament at 15-under (201). Hodgkins tied for second with Kent State's Pimnipa Panthong. The two shot identical rounds of 71-67-68 for their 10-under 206.

Colorado's final tournament this fall is the Pac-12 Preview, Nov. 4-6, in Kailua Kona, Hawai'i.

NOTES: This was Hodgkins' second top-five finish of the year…She also placed second at the SMU Trinity Forest Invitational to start the season…Hodgkins is now the CU career leader in top five finishes with nine…She has recorded three rounds in the 60s this season, which is tied for third on the single season chart…Her 10 career rounds in the 60s is second in CU's record book.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
T2.	Kirsty Hodgkins	71-67-68—206
T22.	Alisha Lau	72-73-73—218
T44.	Malak Bouraeda	82-71-73—226
T52.	Elle Otten	74-77-77—228
68.	*Issy Simpson	75-81-79—235
77.	Sophie Johnson	86-82-88—256
(*—played as an individual)

TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
1.	Isabella Fierro, Oklahoma State	68-68-65—201
T2.	Pimnipa Panthong, Kent State	71-67-68—206
T2.	Kirsty Hodgkins, Colorado	71-67-68—206
4.	Sophie Guo, Texas	70-73-64—207
5.	Renate Grimstad, Miami	69-66-73—208

TEAM SCORES
Rank	Team	Score
1.	Texas	288-284-273—845
2.	Kent State	287-277-283—847
3.	Oklahoma State	283-284-284—851
4.	Miami	293-279-286—858
5.	Maryland	293-292-291—869
6.	Colorado	299-288-291—878
T7.	Denver	306-280-296—882
T7.	Baylor	305-288-289—882
9.	TCU	312-289-284—885
10.	Yale	301-299-295—895
11.	North Texas	308-292-296—896
12.	Texas State	312-293-292—897
13.	UNLV	303-301-300—904
14.	New Mexico	309-300-303—912
15.	SMU	315-302-300—917

Buffs Finish Sixth at Betsy Rawls Invitational; Hodgkins Finishes tied for Second

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Players Mentioned

Malak Bouraeda

Kirsty Hodgkins

Sophie Johnson

Alisha Lau

Elle Otten

Issy Simpson