Colorado Ties For Fourth On the Final Day Of The Lamkin Invite

Lamkin Invitational Complete Results

RANCHO SANTE FE, Calif. – The Colorado women's golf team battled difficult and challenging course conditions on Tuesday in the final round of the Lamkin Invitational, but were unable to make up any ground in the team standings, and fell into a tie for fourth with the tournament host, San Diego State.
 
"It was a really tough course today," head coach Anne Kelly said. "They had extremely hard, difficult hole locations. It was like a U.S. Open or LPGA Championship course. It was hard today; even San Diego State struggled today on its home course."  
 
The Buffaloes shot a 26-over par in the final round and finished the tournament with a scorecard of 301-295-314—910. They had a fairly decent showing on Monday in their first two rounds at The Farm Golf Club, but the front nine of the 6,318-yard, par 72 course gave a few of them more trouble Tuesday. SDSU also recorded a 910 (301-293-316) as the Aztecs slipped from third to fourth in the last round.  
 
"We struggled on the front nine but overall made a good comeback on the back nine," Kelly said. "It was a good learning experience for everybody and definitely pointed out the things we need to work on, like our putting and wedges."
 
Southern California maintained its lead after the first day and won the invitational by 24 strokes, recording rounds of 295-290-295. The Trojans' 880 was just 16-over par. TCU and UCLA tied for second; both finishing with a 904. TCU moved up from fifth after the second round, while UCLA held steady at second.
 
Malak Bouraeda wasn't able to hang on to fourth in the third round, but she did finish in a tie for fifth for her third collegiate top-five finish. She entered the day with a 141, but shot a 7-over (79) to finish with a 4-over 220. Arizona's Therese Warner, who was playing as an individual, also recorded a 220.
 
She faired the best on the team on the front nine with a 1-over (37), making seven pars while recording one double bogey and one birdie. Her struggles came on the back nine. She made par to start, but had back-to-back bogeys to bring her score up to 3-over. She recovered by making par on the next two holes, but No. 15, a par-4, 365-yard hole, got the best of her as she needed seven shots to finish it. By that time she was 6-over with three holes left in the round, which she finished by making two more par and one final bogey.
 
"Malak played well except for two holes where she ran into trouble," Kelly said.
 
Kirsty Hodgkins was tied for 20th after two rounds and moved up into a tie for 18th after the third round. She finished the day with a 6-over 78, but if it weren't for the first four holes, she would have had a very nice round as Hodgkins had the unfortunate luck of recording four consecutive bogeys to start the day. After those first four holes on the front nine, she made par on the next five. The back nine was also pretty consistent for her. Despite a pair of bogeys on No. 10 and No. 14, she made par on the other seven holes. Overall, she recorded a 13-over 229 for the tournament.
 
Hailey Schalk also moved up in the individual standings with her 77 on the day. She entered the day tied for 31st and ended tied for 27th. She did not have the best showing on the front nine, starting with a double. She ended up recording a 5-over on the front nine, but shot even on the back nine. The bogey she recorded on No. 15 was canceled out by her birdie on No. 12, and she made par on the other seven holes. She finished her first tournament as a Buff with a scorecard of 78-77-77—232.  
 
Ellie Gower and Kelsey Webster also had some trouble on the front nine. Gower recorded four bogeys and two doubles, while Webster had four bogeys and one triple. Both rebounded nicely on the back nine. Gower recorded an even 36, making seven par in addition to one birdie and one bogey, and Webster finished with a 1-over 37. She made par on four holes and sank three birdies, but she also had another bogey as well as the second triple of her round. Both finished the day with an 8-over 80, although Gower's scorecard from Monday had her one stroke better for 31st (76-77-80—234). Webster ended up 32nd overall (81-74-80—235).
 
Overall there were a lot of good things," Kelly said. "As [associate head coach] Brent (Franklin) said, 'It's good to play a really challenging course at the start because hopefully, the next few courses won't seem quite as hard.' We just need to keep working and get a little bit better every day."  
 
USC's Allisen Corpuz recorded medalist honors with a 214 (71-69-74). She entered the day in a three-way tie for first (141) but pulled away by shooting a 74 in the last round, besting the other two she was tied with after 36-holes, Emma Spitz (UCLA) and Sara Kjellker (SDSU), who both shot a 75 to finish with a 215 for second-place.  
 
Colorado will have little time to rest before heading to Scottsdale, Arizona, to play at the Talking Stick Invitational, Feb. 15-17, at Talking Stick Golf Club. Arizona State will serve as the host.