CU Women Golfers In 10th After First Day of Pac-12s

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Wet weather and an afternoon hail storm saw the 2014 Pac-12 Women’s Golf Championships delayed for an hour and 27 minutes in the first round of play here Friday. After 18 holes and some ups and downs, the No. 47 University of Colorado is in 10th place.

Led by senior Kristin Coleman, the Buffaloes shot 13-over par 301. Colorado, who sat in the middle of the pack for a good portion of the day, is 10 strokes out of the top five, and just three away from breaking into the top seven.  

“The team started out pretty steady and strong but unfortunately we did not finish well,” CU head coach Anne Kelly said. “We plan to come back strong tomorrow, putt better and make more birdies. Kristin was the highlight of the day and played a solid round of golf. The weather was tough coming in with rain, wind and hail that delayed play. Kristin handled the conditions and challenges well and finished 1-under … Overall we still see good progress with this team, we just have to play 18 solid holes and not make ‘easy’ mistakes on the home stretch.”

With the conference’s top six teams ranked in the Golfstat (4/23) top 11, and all but two teams in the in the top 50, the championship is full of stiff competition. UCLA, the nation’s second-ranked team, holds the top spot at 3-under par 285. No. 9 Stanford and No. 11 Arizona are close behind as the only other teams under par at 2-under par 286 and 1-under par 287, respectively. No. 8 Washington sits at fourth with a 2-over par 290, and No. 6 Arizona State rounds out the top five at 3-over par 291.

Kristin Coleman is off to a hot start, shooting 1-under par 71 to tie for eighth at the 6,256-yard, par-72 Trysting Tree Golf Club. Coleman is a single stroke out of the top five, and just four off the lead. Her 71 marks her lowest round of the 2013-14 season, and her lowest since her sophomore year. It also ties for the fifth lowest 18-hole score in program history at a conference tournament. Coleman now has 91 rounds in the 70s, tying for the fourth most at CU.

Coleman was 3-under par entering the back nine, making birdies on the par-4 Nos. 11 and 16 and the par-5 No. 15. Though she stumbled a bit with bogeys on the Nos. 3 and 4, she finished the round with five consecutive pars.

Competing in her program record-tying 46th event, Jenny Coleman is tied for 29th with a 3-over par 75 scorecard. She also had a strong start, going under par on her fifth hole after four straight pars and a birdie on the 472-yard, par-5 No. 14. Coleman would finish her front nine at an even par after making a bogey on the 364-yard, par-4 No. 16. Coleman began the back nine with three pars, but had three bogeys on her final six holes. She has now extended her program records at CU to 322 birdies and 1,455 pars.

In the first conference tournament of her career, freshman Natalie Vivaldi is tied for 44th at 5-over par 77. Vivaldi had a challenging start, making bogeys on four of her first seven holes. She had a much better finish to the day, making four consecutive pars before having another bogey on the 170-yard, par-4 No. 4. She quickly bounced back with a birdie on the No. 5, going par or better on her last five holes.

Sophomores Alexis Keating and Jamie Oleksiew are both tied for 51st with 6-over par 78s.

Keating had some unevenness in the opening round. She remained at an even par through the first three holes, but had a bogey on the 154-yard, par-3 No. 13. She got back even with a birdie on the No. 15, but went over par on her next two, making a bogey and a double bogey on the Nos. 16 and 17, respectively. She followed that up with three straight pars, but then had three more bogeys in a row before having four pars to end the day.

Oleksiew made two bogeys in her first three holes, but had 10 straight pars to even out at 2-over par. Unfortunately, she hit a rough patch on Nos. 5 through 7, making back-to-back bogeys and a double bogey. She got back to form in her final two holes, making her 13th and 14th pars of the round.

Stanford’s Mariko Tumangan is the tournament’s top individual at 5-under par 67, while Arizona’s Lindsey Weaver (Golfstat’s No. 13 golfer) is close behind with a 68. ULCA’s Louise Ridderstrom and Erynne Lee are tied for third with 3-under par 69s, while teammate Alison Lee, Arizona State’s Monica Vaughn and USC’s Annie Park complete the top five at 2-under par 70.  

The Buffs begin the second round Saturday at 9 a.m. PT with a shotgun start. The conference tournament concludes Sunday.