Lee Earns WomenGÇÖs Golf MVP Honor

BOULDERGÇöThe University of Colorado womenGÇÖs golf team celebrated its season prior to a busy postseason Friday night at the Boulder Cork. Sophomore Esther Lee was named the teamGÇÖs MVP and junior Alexis Keating was honored with the teamGÇÖs academic award.

Additionally, redshirt freshman Tori Glenn and sophomore Natalie Vivaldi were both recognized for their academic improvement.

Simply put, Lee is having one of the best seasons in CU womenGÇÖs golf history. Her overall stroke average of 72.89 and her spring average of 71.88 are both on pace for CU records. She had one win, earning co-medalist honors at the Bay Area Intercollegiate, and has three top five finishes and seven top 10GÇÖs.

She also has five rounds in the 60s this year, most in CU history for a season and already third most for a career at Colorado. She became the first player in program history to earn first-team All-Pac-12 honors this season and was earlier this week awarded the CUSPY for Female Athlete of the Year among all CU student-athletes.

Keating is majoring in Communication with a minor in Education and has been playing her best golf of late. She tied the CU record with a 66 in the final round of the 2015 Pac-12 Championships, which the Buffs hosted at the Boulder Country Club, enabling the Buffs to outplay top-ranked USC head to head by eight strokes to finish fifth. She finished fifth being named to the All-Pac-12 Championship team, her second top five finish of the season.

Glenn and Vivaldi have both hit their stride academically in their second season on the team. Glenn, majoring in Psychology, played in 16 rounds for the Buffs with a stroke average of 80.63. She showed signs of brilliance with two birdies on the season, including a hole-in-one on her first hole of her third ever event at the Golfweek Collegiate Challenge.

Vivaldi is majoring in Communication with a minor in Leadership and has consistently been in the Buffs rotation all season. She has played in all 28 rounds for the Buffs with a stroke average of 78.0. Nothing if not consistent, she has an identical 78.0 stroke average in both the fall and spring with one round of even par and 21 total rounds in the 70s.

The Buffs are in the midst of finals and will then leave for St. George, Utah, where they are seeded the No. 9 team in the NCAA Regional Championship. The top six teams then advance to the NCAA Championships in Bradenton, Fla.