Buffs Finish 11th At Pac-12 Championship

Wednesday, April 17

Palos Verdes Estates, CA

3:00 PM

Colorado

Pac-12 Championships

Junior Kirsty Hodgkins

Photo by: John McGillen

April 17, 2019 | Women's Golf

Pac 12 Team Final Pac 12 Individual Final

By: Linda Sprouse, Associate SID

PALOS VERDES, Calif. — The University of Colorado women's golf team played its best round of the Pac-12 Championship, but it was not enough to move up in the standings on Wednesday as the Buffaloes finished 11^th.

The Buffs recorded a 19-over 303, which was eight shots better than Tuesday's 311 and six better than Monday's 309. CU ended the tournament with a 71-over 923.

"We played a bit better today, but not enough to make any movement on the leaderboard," head coach Anne Kelly said. "We started pretty well on the back nine but had similar problems on the front nine like we have had all week with the exception of Malak and Elle, who both had their best rounds of the tournament. This is a young team and they gained a lot of experience on this tough course. Now we have to get home and get back to practice as we wait for the NCAA field to be announced."

Southern California hung on to win after leading the field from the start. The Trojans recorded a 1-under 851 at the 6,141-yard, Par 71 Palos Verdes Golf Club, which was 11 strokes in front of the runner-up, Arizona, which finished with a 10-over 862. Arizona State placed third (867), Stanford was fourth (868) and Washington took fifth. (877).

Junior Kirsty Hodgkins led the Buffs, finishing tied for 26^th, although she did not have her best round on the final day. Hodgkins shot rounds of 75 and 72 in the first two days, but recorded a 5-over 77 in the final round to post a scorecard of 224 (11-over). She played pretty well on the back nine, making four pars and three birdies in the first seven holes, but then had a tough time on the final two holes, picking up a pair of doubles. The front nine gave her some issues, like it had for her and her teammates the last two days. She was a 5-over 40 on the front nine with five pars, three bogeys and one double.

Freshman Malak Bouraeda recorded her best round of the championship, shooting a 2-over 73 despite earning a double and triple bogey in her round. She shot an even 36 on the back nine with three birdies, five pars and one triple, and on the front nine, was 2-over with one birdie, one bogey, one double and six pars. Overall, she finished tied for 41^st at 16-over 229. Her five birdies on Wednesday led the team.

Finishing 49^th overall, senior Gillian Vance recorded a 7-over 78 on Wednesday to finish the tournament with a 21-over 234. She started on the back nine and finished with an even 36 with a pair of birdies, two bogeys and five pars. The front nine, which has given her some trouble, saw her record a 7-over 42 with five bogeys, one double and three pars.

Sophomore Elle Otten had a great turnaround from the first and second rounds as she shot a 4-over 75 in the final round. It was a seven-stroke improvement from the second round and a 10-stroke improvement from her first. She finished the event 52^nd with a 29-over 242. In her third round, she recorded one birdie, which came on the par-5 No. 16, and made 12 pars and five bogeys.

Freshman Kelsey Webster ended up 55^th overall, finishing with a 33-over 246. She shot a 13-over 84 on the final day with one birdie, seven pars, six bogeys and four doubles.

Arizona State's Olivia Mehaffey claimed medalist honors with a par on the first playoff hole. At the end of the tournament, she was tied for first with Stanford's Albane Valenzuela. Both recorded three-day scores of 4-under 209. USC's Gabriela Ruffels rounded out the top three, finishing with a 3-under 210.

NOTES: For the second time in the tournament, all five Buffs recorded at least one birdie during the round…The front nine continued to give the Buffs trouble, but not as much as it did on the first two days. During the first round, CU recorded 14 bogeys and six double bogeys, and during the second round saw 15 bogeys, five doubles and a pair of triples. Things went a little better on Wednesday as the Buffs tallied 14 bogeys and five doubles…Hodgkins and Bouraeda tied for the team lead with eight birdies each.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
T26.	Kirsty Hodgkins	75-72-77—224
T41.	Malak Bouraeda	78-78-73—229
49. 52. 55.	Gillian Vance Elle Otten Kelsey Webster	77-79-78—234 85-82-75—242 79-83-74—246


TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
T1.	*Olivia Mehaffey, Arizona State	69-70-70—209
T1.	Albane Valenzuela, Stanford	65-70-74—209
3.	Gabriela Ruffels, USC	70-72-68—210
4.	Ya Chun Chang, Arizona	72-70-69—211
5.	Allisen Corpuz, USC *won in a playoff	73-69-71—213

TEAM SCORES
Rank	Team	Score
1.	Southern California	283-286-282—851
2.	Arizona	290-292-280—862
3.	Arizona State	293-293-281—867
4.	Stanford	289-287-292—868
5.	Washington	302-292-283—877
6.	UCLA	293-293-294—880
7.	Oregon	292-307-298—897
8.	Washington State	298-297-308—903
9.	California	311-298-296—905
10.	Oregon State	314-302-301—917
11.	Colorado	309-311-303—923