Buffs Finish Sixth At Rebel Beach Invitational

LAS VEGAS — After a tough first day at the Rebel Beach Invitational, the University of Colorado women's golf team played a solid final round to move the team up from ninth to sixth.

The Buffs recorded a 5-over 293, which was the fifth best round in the field on Tuesday at the 6,378-yard, par 72 Spanish Trails Country Club. They finished the tournament with a 25-over 889 (301-295-293) and were just three strokes back from fifth place Long Beach State (886) and four from fourth place BYU.

"It was a better day," head coach Anne Kelly said. "Unfortunately, we had a couple of rough holes. Every tournament points out what you have to work on. That is definitely the case. We all have to putt better and chip better, for sure. We definitely need some short game work and hopefully we will get some weather so we can do that."

Leading after the two rounds, Southern California recorded another strong day (281) to finish the tournament with a 25-over 839. Fresno State remained second, finishing with an 861, while New Mexico moved up from fourth to third (883).

Sophomore Alisha Lau used a strong final round to move up five positions as she tied for 16^th. Her combined scorecard saw her shoot a 4-over 220 and her best round, an even 72, came on Tuesday.

"Alisha all week was hitting the ball pretty well but just couldn't get a putt to fall," Kelly said. "Finally, towards the end of today she got a couple of birdies to drop but she played a solid round for sure."

Starting on No. 15, Lau made par on the first four holes. She recorded a bogey on No. 1, but strung together three more pars to stay at 1-over. Lau had a slight hiccup on No. 5 as she carded a double bogey, but again she rebounded, this time making another two consecutive pars. After a birdie on No. 8, she would make another four pars before finishing the round strong with two straight birdies to put her back at even.

Finishing second for the Buffs was sophomore Malak Bouraeda. She ended up tied for 20^th with a 5-over 221. Bouraeda slipped slightly in the standings after a 4-over 76 in the final round. She did not have a good start, hitting a double on No. 14 and bogey on No. 15, putting her at 3-over through two holes. But she collected herself and from that point, she made eight straight pars. Then on the par 5 No. 6, she sank her first birdie of the day, bringing her back to 2-over. In the final seven holes, she would make par once, birdie twice and record four bogeys.

"Malak was going along pretty well and then had some three putts coming in," Kelly explained.

Another Buff to see improvement in the standings was freshman Ellie Gower. She jumped up 12 positions to finish tied for 34^th with an 11-over 227. Her third round was her best as she shot a 76 and 77 on Monday, but a 74 on Tuesday. Within her first five holes, she was at 4-over due to a bogey and a quadruple. But she showed grit and made par through the following six holes. She did record one more bogey on No. 11, but that would be the last as she made two more pars and a pair of birdies to bring her to just 2-over on the day.

"Ellie had a rough hole on No. 11 but she really fought back," Kelly said. "She just grabbed the wheel and really took control and made a great comeback after a really rough hole."

Sophomore Sophie Johnson ended up tied for 41^st, shooting a 13-over 229. Her final round was a 6-over 78. It was a tough day as she had six holes where she shot over par, which included four bogeys, one double and a quadruple. Johnson did make three birdies along with nine pars on the rest of the course.

"Sophie was going along pretty well and then she had a couple rough holes which hurt a lot," Kelly said.

Although she did not play individually in the event due to a disqualification in the second round, senior Kirsty Hodgkins had a very nice performance in the third round for the team score, shooting a 1-under 71. During the 18 holes, she recorded five birdies and four bogeys along with nine pars.

"I was proud of Kirsty," said Kelly. "She felt bad after yesterday. She called it on herself. I know she felt bad but she really fought back with a one-under par.

"She was DQ-ed as an individual but she could play today to help the team score. This is the only sport I know where you call a penalty on yourself. That is kind of the beauty of golf and the integrity of it. It is nice to see that it still continues. It is a really tough thing to do but she did it."

Individually, sophomore Kelsey Webster moved up three spots to tie for 61^st with a 21-over 237. In her best round of the tournament, she recorded a birdie, 11 pars, five bogeys and one double.

USC's Gabriela Ruffels hung on for the win over her teammate, Allisen Corpuz. Ruffels shot a 71 in the third round to increase her score to 9-under (207). Corpuz recorded a 3-under, but it was not enough to sneak past Ruffels (209).

Colorado's next tournament is the Arizona Wildcat Invitational, March 9-10, in Tucson, Ariz.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
T16.	Alisha Lau	74-74-72—220
T20.	Malak Bouraeda	75-70-76—221
T34.	Ellie Gower	76-77-74—227
T41.	Sophie Johnson	77-74-78—229
T61.	*Kelsey Webster	80-79-78—237
NA.	Kirsty Hodgkins	76-D-71—NA
(*—played as an individual)

TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
1.	Gabriela Ruffels, USC	68-68-71—207
2.	Allisen Corpuz, USC	71-69-69—209
3.	Bridgett Thibault, Fresno State	70-71-69—210
4.	Alyaa Abdulghany, USC	72-67-72—211
5.	Amelia Garvey, USC	73-70-69—212

TEAM SCORES
Rank	Team	Score
1.	Southern California	284-274-281—839
2.	Fresno State	286-286-289—861
3.	New Mexico	296-294-293—883
4.	BYU	289-297-299—885
5.	Long Beach State	304-291-291—886
6.	Colorado	301-295-293—889
7.	Gonzaga University	304-292-296—892
8.	Nevada	297-298-298—893
9.	UNLV	295-299-304—898
10.	UC Irvine	300-295-305—900
11.	Northern Arizona	305-297-313—915

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Players Mentioned

Malak Bouraeda

Ellie Gower

Kirsty Hodgkins

Sophie Johnson

Alisha Lau

Kelsey Webster