Buffs Finish Seventh At Wildcat Invitational

TUCSON, Ariz. — The Colorado women's golf team finished the Arizona Wildcat Invitational in seventh place on Tuesday afternoon, carding a 25-over 889.

The Buffaloes shot a final round of 296 after recording a 298 and 295 on Monday at the 6,627-yard, par 72 Sewailo Golf Course. They were tied with Iowa State after the first two rounds, but the Cyclones pulled ahead of the Buffs in the final 18 holes with a 2-over 290 to finish with an 883.

"This was not a good day for our team unfortunately," head coach Anne Kelly said. "The players are fighting hard, but decision making and attention to detail on shots needs to improve. This is all a part of being a young team and working through the process of becoming a competitive team."

Tenth-ranked Arizona won its home event, shooting 18-under for the tournament. The Wildcats carded rounds of 280-278-288 for the 846 team score. No other team in the field finished under-par as Oregon and New Mexico State tied for second with a 4-over 868. Denver moved up four spots to finish fourth (873) and Fresno State placed fifth (881).

Senior Kirsty Hodgkins had the best finish at the tournament for CU, finishing 19^th with a 5-over 221. She recorded a 74 on the final day. She recorded a bogey on the first hole (No. 5), but erased the deficit with a birdie on the next. Back-to-back bogeys on the next two holes put her at 2-over. The next three holes saw her make par twice before another bogey was added to her scorecard. At that point, she made four straight pars before sinking her second birdie of the day to put her back at 2-over. Hodgkins would stay at 2-over, finishing the round with two more birdies, two bogeys and two pars.

Sophomore Alisha Lau finished one stroke behind Hodgkins, which tied her for 20^th (222). Like Hodgkins, she recorded a 74 in the final round. Lau recorded three birdies and made 10 pars, while also hitting five bogeys.

Sophomore Malak Bouraeda had the best round (73) for the Buffs on Tuesday despite hitting a triple-bogey on the third hole of her round. She started with back-to-back pars before the triple on the par 5 No. 10. Bouraeda remained steady and made par on the next five holes before sinking a birdie on No. 16. She hit a bogey on No. 17, but would finish the back nine with another par on No. 18. The front nine was even better for her as she recorded another three birdies and just one bogey. She finished tied for 24^th with a 223.

Freshman Ellie Gower also finished the tournament tied for 24^th with a 72-76-75—223 scorecard. Her round started with a birdie on No. 7, but the back nine caused her some problems like it did the rest of the team as she recorded two bogeys and a pair of doubles. Luckily she had one birdie and made four pars, to keep her at just 4-over as she turned back to the front nine. She was able to finish her day with one more birdie and five pars for the 75.

Freshman Sophie Johnson had a tough day, carding a 19-over 91. She had six bogeys, three doubles and two triple-bogeys to go with seven pars. Johnson's final score was 249, which put her 67^th overall.

Freshman Issy Simpson finished 51^st overall after recording a 78 on the final day. She finished the tournament with a scorecard of 76-76-78—230. Her final round saw her record three birdies, seven pars, seven bogeys and one double.

Arizona's Kailie Vongsaga, who was competing as an individual, earned medalist honors, finishing with a 9-under 207. She shot 68s in her first two rounds and finished with a 71 on Tuesday, which was just enough to hold off her teammate, Vivian Hou, who finished second (208). The duo was tied after the first two rounds, but Hou's 72 in the third round gave Vongsaga the one stroke edge she needed for the victory.

The Buffs will be back in action, March 23-25, at the Anuenue Spring Break Classic in Maui.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
19.	Kirsty Hodgkins	72-75-74—221
T20.	Alisha Lau	75-73-74—222
T24.	Malak Bouraeda	79-71-73—223
T24.	Ellie Gower	72-76-75—223
T50.	*Issy Simpson	76-76-78—230
T67.	Sophie Johnson	82-76-91—249
(*—played as an individual)

TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
Rank	Name	Score
1.	*Kailie Vongsaga, Arizona	68-68-71—136
2.	Vivian Hou, Arizona	67-69-72—136
T3.	Brigitte Thibault, Fresno State	70-72-69—211
T3.	Gile Bite Starkute, Arizona	69-70-72—211
5.	Hollie Muse, Arizona	73-68-71—212
(*—played as an individual)

TEAM SCORES
Rank	Team	Score
1.	Arizona	280-278-288—846
T2.	Oregon	293-289-286—868
T2.	New Mexico State	299-282-287—868
4.	Denver	298-297-278—873
5.	Fresno State	302-289-292—881
6.	Iowa State	299-294-290—883
7.	Colorado	298-295-296—889
8.	Long Beach State	300-292-892—892
9.	Tulane	308-296-296—900
10.	New Mexico	307-299-302—908
11.	UNLV	305-300-308—913

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Players Mentioned

Malak Bouraeda

Ellie Gower

Kirsty Hodgkins

Sophie Johnson

Alisha Lau

Issy Simpson

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