Friday, March 24
Phoenix, Ariz.
All Day
Colorado
vs
First Round
Photo by: Tony Harman
Colorado Cards Best Spring Round To Open PING/ASU Invitational
March 24, 2023 | Women's Golf
PHOENIX — The University of Colorado women's golf team shot a spring-season best 7-over-par, 295, to open the PING/ASU Invitational at the Papago Golf Course on Friday.
The Buffaloes sit in a five-way tie for sixth place, joined by Pac-12 Conference counterparts California, No. 11 ranked Arizona State, Oregon State and Washington State, just five strokes out of second. No. 23 Northwestern had the day's only sub-par round at 6-under, 282, and leads the field by eight strokes after the 18 holes. No. 14 Baylor, No. 5 Oregon and No. 6 Mississippi State are all tied for second at 2-over, 290.
Colorado ended with its best round since shooting 291 on the final day of the Jim West Challenge on Oct. 24.
Buffaloes sophomore Natalie Vo was the team's top performer on the day, tying her best round of the 2022-23 season with a 1-under, 71. She is in a nine-way tie for eighth place with that group four strokes behind Mississippi State's Julia Lopez Ramirez, who is the first-round leader at 5-under, 67. Kelly Sim of Northwestern and Huai-Chien Hsu are tied for second, one-stroke back.
Colorado started its day on the back nine and played well, shooting 1-over during the first half of the round including a combined six birdies on the first five holes. The round looked even brighter through the turn. All five Buffaloes made a birdie on either No. 1 or No. 2 and Colorado found itself at 3-under through 11 holes and in the top five early.
Colorado caught a little break as one of the first groups teeing off. Winds were calm early when the Buffaloes started at 9 a.m. MDT, but it picked up to 15-20 miles per hour for the second half of the round.
"We got lucky with the tee times because we were first off the back nine this morning," Colorado head coach Anne Kelly said. "It wasn't too bad for nine holes, but that second nine it really kicked up."
That wind was a major contributor to all but one team finishing over par for the day. The Buffaloes dropped 10 strokes over the final seven holes. Overall, Colorado avoided the big numbers – two double bogeys accounted for the worst holes of the entire round – but the Buffaloes were limited to just one birdie during that final stretch.
Vo began the day with a birdie out of the gate on Papago's second-longest hole, the 525-yard, par 5, No. 10. She moved to 2-under with another birdie at the 380-yard, par 4, No. 14. Vo played the next 10 holes at even before dropping back to 1-under with a bogey at the 378-yard, par 4, No. 7. It was her third sub-par round of the season and matched the 71 she shot in the first round of the Jim West Challenge on Oct. 23.
"Natalie played a very solid round of golf today," Kelly said. "Just happy for her. She's been working hard and putting in a lot of time and effort. Sometimes it just takes time to see the results."
Freshman Morgan Miller is tied for 17th after shooting 72, carding her fifth even-par round of the season. Miller was 1-over through four but had back-to-back birdies at No. 14 and the 512-yard, par 5, No. 15. She moved up to 2-under after the turn with another birdie on the course's longest hole, the par 5, at No. 1, playing at 532 yards. Miller stayed at 2-under through 13 holes, but dropped back to even with three bogeys on her final five holes.
"Morgan played really well," Kelly said. "She was bummed because she bogeyed the last hole, but she played well especially on the second nine with all the wind. She thought through her shots extremely well."
Graduate senior Haylin Harris is tied for 39th completing her first round at 3-over, 75. Harris found herself at 2-over through six holes, but would drop just one more stroke the rest of the way. She had a birdie at the 210-yard, par 3, No. 17 and then again at No. 2, a 350-yard, par 4.
Sophomore Lauren Gooding shot 5-over, 77, tying for 55th after the first round. Gooding was 1-under through six holes thanks to a birdie at the 322-yard, par 4, No. 12. She was even through 12 holes, but ran into trouble toward the end, dropping six strokes on the final six holes.
Senior Issy Simpson, making her spring debut, is tied for 72nd after shooing 7-over, 79.
Colorado will pair with Washington State and California for Saturday's second round with those teams teeing of at 9 a.m. MDT from hole No. 1.
The Buffaloes sit in a five-way tie for sixth place, joined by Pac-12 Conference counterparts California, No. 11 ranked Arizona State, Oregon State and Washington State, just five strokes out of second. No. 23 Northwestern had the day's only sub-par round at 6-under, 282, and leads the field by eight strokes after the 18 holes. No. 14 Baylor, No. 5 Oregon and No. 6 Mississippi State are all tied for second at 2-over, 290.
Colorado ended with its best round since shooting 291 on the final day of the Jim West Challenge on Oct. 24.
Buffaloes sophomore Natalie Vo was the team's top performer on the day, tying her best round of the 2022-23 season with a 1-under, 71. She is in a nine-way tie for eighth place with that group four strokes behind Mississippi State's Julia Lopez Ramirez, who is the first-round leader at 5-under, 67. Kelly Sim of Northwestern and Huai-Chien Hsu are tied for second, one-stroke back.
Colorado started its day on the back nine and played well, shooting 1-over during the first half of the round including a combined six birdies on the first five holes. The round looked even brighter through the turn. All five Buffaloes made a birdie on either No. 1 or No. 2 and Colorado found itself at 3-under through 11 holes and in the top five early.
Colorado caught a little break as one of the first groups teeing off. Winds were calm early when the Buffaloes started at 9 a.m. MDT, but it picked up to 15-20 miles per hour for the second half of the round.
"We got lucky with the tee times because we were first off the back nine this morning," Colorado head coach Anne Kelly said. "It wasn't too bad for nine holes, but that second nine it really kicked up."
That wind was a major contributor to all but one team finishing over par for the day. The Buffaloes dropped 10 strokes over the final seven holes. Overall, Colorado avoided the big numbers – two double bogeys accounted for the worst holes of the entire round – but the Buffaloes were limited to just one birdie during that final stretch.
Vo began the day with a birdie out of the gate on Papago's second-longest hole, the 525-yard, par 5, No. 10. She moved to 2-under with another birdie at the 380-yard, par 4, No. 14. Vo played the next 10 holes at even before dropping back to 1-under with a bogey at the 378-yard, par 4, No. 7. It was her third sub-par round of the season and matched the 71 she shot in the first round of the Jim West Challenge on Oct. 23.
"Natalie played a very solid round of golf today," Kelly said. "Just happy for her. She's been working hard and putting in a lot of time and effort. Sometimes it just takes time to see the results."
Freshman Morgan Miller is tied for 17th after shooting 72, carding her fifth even-par round of the season. Miller was 1-over through four but had back-to-back birdies at No. 14 and the 512-yard, par 5, No. 15. She moved up to 2-under after the turn with another birdie on the course's longest hole, the par 5, at No. 1, playing at 532 yards. Miller stayed at 2-under through 13 holes, but dropped back to even with three bogeys on her final five holes.
"Morgan played really well," Kelly said. "She was bummed because she bogeyed the last hole, but she played well especially on the second nine with all the wind. She thought through her shots extremely well."
Graduate senior Haylin Harris is tied for 39th completing her first round at 3-over, 75. Harris found herself at 2-over through six holes, but would drop just one more stroke the rest of the way. She had a birdie at the 210-yard, par 3, No. 17 and then again at No. 2, a 350-yard, par 4.
Sophomore Lauren Gooding shot 5-over, 77, tying for 55th after the first round. Gooding was 1-under through six holes thanks to a birdie at the 322-yard, par 4, No. 12. She was even through 12 holes, but ran into trouble toward the end, dropping six strokes on the final six holes.
Senior Issy Simpson, making her spring debut, is tied for 72nd after shooing 7-over, 79.
Colorado will pair with Washington State and California for Saturday's second round with those teams teeing of at 9 a.m. MDT from hole No. 1.
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS | ||||
| Rank | Name | Score (To Par) | ||
| T8. | Natalie Vo | 71 (-1) | ||
| T17. | Morgan Miller | 72 (E) | ||
| T39. | Haylin Harris | 75 (+3) | ||
| T55. | Lauren Gooding | 77 (+5) | ||
| T72. | Issy Simpson | 79 (+7) | ||
| TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS | ||||
| Rank | Name | Score (To Par) | ||
| 1. | Julia Lopez Ramirez, Mississippi State | 67 (-5) | ||
| T2. | Kelly Sim, Northwestern | 68 (-4) | ||
| T2. | Huai-Chien Hsu, Texas | 68 (-4) | ||
| T4. | Sera Hasegawa, Baylor | 69 (-3) | ||
| T4. | Amanda Linner, Arizona State | 69 (-3) | ||
| TEAM SCORES | ||||
| Rank | Team | Score (To Par) | ||
| 1. | Northwestern | 282 (-6) | ||
| T2. | Baylor | 290 (+2) | ||
| T2. | Oregon | 290 (+2) | ||
| T2. | Mississippi State | 290 (+2) | ||
| 5. | Texas | 294 (+6) | ||
| T6. | Colorado | 295 (+7) | ||
| T6. | California | 295 (+7) | ||
| T6. | Arizona State | 295 (+7) | ||
| T6. | Oregon State | 295 (+7) | ||
| T6. | Washington State | 295 (+7) | ||
| T11. | Michigan State | 301 (+13) | ||
| T11. | USC | 301 (+13) | ||
| T13. | Kansas | 302 (+14) | ||
| T13. | Washington | 302 (+14) | ||
| 15. | Michigan | 303 (+15) | ||
| 16. | Arizona | 308 (+20) | ||
| 17. | New Mexico | 309 (+21) | ||
Players Mentioned
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