Colorado University Athletics
Tuesday, September 24
Fort Collins, Colo.
All Day
Colorado
vs
Third Round
Vanessa Ngo
Ngo’s Return Highlights Buffaloes’ Ram Classic
September 24, 2024 | Women's Golf
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The Colorado women's golf team found themselves in a unique position this week.
The Buffaloes finished in fifth place at the Colonel Wollenberg Ram Classic which wrapped up Tuesday at Ptarmigan Golf Course. Their finish could have been a couple spots higher if it wasn't for the fact the squad's low scorer came from their individual entrant instead of the five designated to determine the team score.
While that may have some coaches scratching their heads, or thinking "what could have been," in the case of Colorado's Vanessa Ngo, her journey back to the tee box superseded a couple rungs on the leaderboard.
On Monday, Ngo played her first competitive rounds of golf in nearly 11 months, shooting even-par over 36 holes. Tuesday, she fired a career-best 68 to cap off a score of 4-under 212, tying for ninth place overall and logging Colorado's low 54-hole score for the tournament.
"I'm so proud of her," Colorado assistant coach Mia Landegren said. "Hindsight is always 20/20 and you 'wish you'd known' and 'could have played for the team,' but the coolest thing is she hasn't played in a tournament in so long, so it's a great thing for her to build on. What a perfect way to start your season."
Ngo's last tournament round came on Oct. 22, 2023, at the Stanford Intercollegiate. During the winter break, she injured her right shoulder which required surgery in March and thus missed the spring portion of the 2023-24 season. Ngo battled back to be ready for the fall but missed qualifying for the season opening tournament at Chambers Bay and had to settle on entering the Ram Classic as an individual, playing several groups away from the rest of her teammates.
"I was definitely a little unsure of how I'd perform since it's a lot different from a practice and (team) qualifying, but I just tried to stay in the moment," Ngo said. "Take it shot-by-shot and trust all the practice that I've been putting in for the last few months."
With a shotgun start, Ngo began on the 14th and made the turn to the front at 1-under thanks to a birdie on the par-4 17th. She birdied both of the front's par 5s to get to 3-under but dropped back two strokes with bogeys on the par 4s at No. 7 and No. 9. The return to the back side provided her defining moment of the round. Ngo birdied the next three holes, 10 through 12 and stayed even the rest of the way to cement her first career top 10 finish.
"My approaches to the green helped," Ngo said. "I was sticking them pretty close and that game me some pretty easy putts. My dad always tells me to 'hit the shot I want to hit, and don't be afraid to hit that different club, even If that's not always what I practice.' There were a couple where I was like 'even though the number says this, I just feel like this is going to work.' I made those choices from my gut and it worked out for me."
"She did a great job handling her emotions," Landegren said. "I walked with her for a bit today, and it was just like a walk in the park. She had great course management and capitalized on a lot of the birdies she could go for. It was really fun to watch her."
As for the team, the Buffs maintained the steady play they had displayed all week, not perfect, but keeping mistakes to a minimum and scoring when the opportunity presented itself. Colorado was 1-over on the day, climbing one spot in the standings to finish fifth at 3-over, 867.
"I think we did a better job at managing our mistakes when we could, and there were also a lot of birdies which is always nice to see," Landegren said. "I think that shows we have a lot of potential."
Freshman Sydney Givens continued her strong play and was the low-54 golfer for the team scoring Buffs. She shot a 72 in the final round to stay at 2-under for the tournament, finishing 16th overall for her first career top 20 finish.
Sophomore Carolyn Fuller enjoyed the second-best round of her young collegiate career, shooting 3-under 69 in the final round to finish tied for 21st at even-par. Fuller, who started at the par 4 seventh, had a bogey on the eighth but redeemed that hole immediately with a birdie at the ninth. She played the back nine at 2-under and finished her round with a pair of birdies on the par 5s at the second and fifth to clinch her personal best 54-hole score of 216.
Freshman Ellen O'Shaughnessy finished tied for 23rd at 1-over 217 after shooting a 73 in the final round. She began her round at 2-under with birdies at the fifth and ninth, but struggled early on the back nine, giving up three strokes over three holes to fall to back to 1-over. O'Shaughnessy settled in from there, playing her final 10 holes at even-par highlighted by her third birdie of the round at the par 4 third.
Senior Maria Eidhagen Harrouch tied for 31st overall at 6-over 222, shooting a 77 in the final round. Sophomore Francesca Sumcad, bounced back from a rough second round on Monday to shoot a 75 in the final round, tying for 44th overall at 14-over 230.
UC Davis ran away with the team title at 21-under 843. Cal Poly was a distant second at 12-under, and the only other team to finish in the red. Host Colorado State was third at 1-over with Grand Canyon in fourth at 2-over.
Washington State's Alice Johansson and UC Davis' Abigail Leighton shared medalist honors at 11-under 205. Leighton had the day's best round with a 66 to catch Johansson who was in sole possession of the lead after two rounds.
Colorado will resume its fall schedule at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate, Oct. 4-6, at the University of Denver Golf Course in Highlands Ranch.
The Buffaloes finished in fifth place at the Colonel Wollenberg Ram Classic which wrapped up Tuesday at Ptarmigan Golf Course. Their finish could have been a couple spots higher if it wasn't for the fact the squad's low scorer came from their individual entrant instead of the five designated to determine the team score.
While that may have some coaches scratching their heads, or thinking "what could have been," in the case of Colorado's Vanessa Ngo, her journey back to the tee box superseded a couple rungs on the leaderboard.
On Monday, Ngo played her first competitive rounds of golf in nearly 11 months, shooting even-par over 36 holes. Tuesday, she fired a career-best 68 to cap off a score of 4-under 212, tying for ninth place overall and logging Colorado's low 54-hole score for the tournament.
"I'm so proud of her," Colorado assistant coach Mia Landegren said. "Hindsight is always 20/20 and you 'wish you'd known' and 'could have played for the team,' but the coolest thing is she hasn't played in a tournament in so long, so it's a great thing for her to build on. What a perfect way to start your season."
Ngo's last tournament round came on Oct. 22, 2023, at the Stanford Intercollegiate. During the winter break, she injured her right shoulder which required surgery in March and thus missed the spring portion of the 2023-24 season. Ngo battled back to be ready for the fall but missed qualifying for the season opening tournament at Chambers Bay and had to settle on entering the Ram Classic as an individual, playing several groups away from the rest of her teammates.
"I was definitely a little unsure of how I'd perform since it's a lot different from a practice and (team) qualifying, but I just tried to stay in the moment," Ngo said. "Take it shot-by-shot and trust all the practice that I've been putting in for the last few months."
With a shotgun start, Ngo began on the 14th and made the turn to the front at 1-under thanks to a birdie on the par-4 17th. She birdied both of the front's par 5s to get to 3-under but dropped back two strokes with bogeys on the par 4s at No. 7 and No. 9. The return to the back side provided her defining moment of the round. Ngo birdied the next three holes, 10 through 12 and stayed even the rest of the way to cement her first career top 10 finish.
"My approaches to the green helped," Ngo said. "I was sticking them pretty close and that game me some pretty easy putts. My dad always tells me to 'hit the shot I want to hit, and don't be afraid to hit that different club, even If that's not always what I practice.' There were a couple where I was like 'even though the number says this, I just feel like this is going to work.' I made those choices from my gut and it worked out for me."
"She did a great job handling her emotions," Landegren said. "I walked with her for a bit today, and it was just like a walk in the park. She had great course management and capitalized on a lot of the birdies she could go for. It was really fun to watch her."
As for the team, the Buffs maintained the steady play they had displayed all week, not perfect, but keeping mistakes to a minimum and scoring when the opportunity presented itself. Colorado was 1-over on the day, climbing one spot in the standings to finish fifth at 3-over, 867.
"I think we did a better job at managing our mistakes when we could, and there were also a lot of birdies which is always nice to see," Landegren said. "I think that shows we have a lot of potential."
Freshman Sydney Givens continued her strong play and was the low-54 golfer for the team scoring Buffs. She shot a 72 in the final round to stay at 2-under for the tournament, finishing 16th overall for her first career top 20 finish.
Sophomore Carolyn Fuller enjoyed the second-best round of her young collegiate career, shooting 3-under 69 in the final round to finish tied for 21st at even-par. Fuller, who started at the par 4 seventh, had a bogey on the eighth but redeemed that hole immediately with a birdie at the ninth. She played the back nine at 2-under and finished her round with a pair of birdies on the par 5s at the second and fifth to clinch her personal best 54-hole score of 216.
Freshman Ellen O'Shaughnessy finished tied for 23rd at 1-over 217 after shooting a 73 in the final round. She began her round at 2-under with birdies at the fifth and ninth, but struggled early on the back nine, giving up three strokes over three holes to fall to back to 1-over. O'Shaughnessy settled in from there, playing her final 10 holes at even-par highlighted by her third birdie of the round at the par 4 third.
Senior Maria Eidhagen Harrouch tied for 31st overall at 6-over 222, shooting a 77 in the final round. Sophomore Francesca Sumcad, bounced back from a rough second round on Monday to shoot a 75 in the final round, tying for 44th overall at 14-over 230.
UC Davis ran away with the team title at 21-under 843. Cal Poly was a distant second at 12-under, and the only other team to finish in the red. Host Colorado State was third at 1-over with Grand Canyon in fourth at 2-over.
Washington State's Alice Johansson and UC Davis' Abigail Leighton shared medalist honors at 11-under 205. Leighton had the day's best round with a 66 to catch Johansson who was in sole possession of the lead after two rounds.
Colorado will resume its fall schedule at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate, Oct. 4-6, at the University of Denver Golf Course in Highlands Ranch.
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS | ||||||
| Rank | Name | Score (To Par) | ||||
| T9. | *Vanessa Ngo | 71-73-68—212 (-4) | ||||
| T16. | Sydney Givens | 73-69-72—214 (-2) | ||||
| T21. | Carolyn Fuller | 73-74-69—216 (E) | ||||
| T23. | Ellen O'Shaughnessy | 73-71-73—217 (+1) | ||||
| T31. | Maria Eidhagen Harrouch | 71-74-77—222 (+6) | ||||
| T44. | Francesca Sumcad | 74-81-75—230 (+14) | ||||
| *Playing as an individual |
||||||
| TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS | ||||||
| Rank | Name | Score (To Par) | ||||
| T1. | Alice Johansson, Washington State | 69-65-71—205 (-11) | ||||
| T1. | Abigail Leighton, UC Davis | 69-70-66—205 (-11) | ||||
| T3. | Davina Xanh, CSU Fullerton | 66-70-73—209 (-7) | ||||
| T3. | Anci Dy, Grand Canyon | 70-68-71—209 (-7) | ||||
| 5. | Kara Kaneshiro, Colorado State | 67-73-70—210 (-6) | ||||
| TEAM SCORES | ||||||
| Rank | Team | Score (To Par) | ||||
| 1. | UC Davis | 277-286-280—843 (-21) | ||||
| 2. | Cal Poly | 288-276-288—852 (-12) | ||||
| 3. | Colorado State | 283-289-293—865 (+1) | ||||
| 4. | Grand Canyon | 290-291-285—866 (+2) | ||||
| 5. | Colorado | 290-288-289—867 (+3) | ||||
| 6. | CSU Fullerton | 287-286-299—872 (+8) | ||||
| 7. | Long Beach State | 293-286-294—873 (+9) | ||||
| 8. | Nevada | 289-287-299—875 (+11) | ||||
| 9. | San Diego State | 295-286-302—883 (+19) | ||||
| 10. | Wyoming | 292-293-306—891 (+27) | ||||
| 11. | Washington State | 306-293-294—893 (+29) | ||||
Players Mentioned
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