Colorado Finishes Sixth At Sun Devil Winter Classic

Team Results | Individual Results

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The Colorado women's golf team entered the final round of the Sun Devil Winter Classic sixth, and that is where it stayed as the Buffaloes were unable to make up any ground on the five higher positioned teams on Wednesday.
 
CU earned an 895 for the three-day event after carding a 301 in the third round at the 6,482-yard, par 72 Talking Stink- North Course. The Buffaloes were able to hold onto their lead over seventh-place Washington (898).
 
Southern California won the tournament, finishing with a three-day 6-under 858. The Trojans recorded rounds of 289 and 286 the first two days but saved the best for last with a 5-under 283 in the final 18-holes. They defeated Arizona State by four-strokes (862). ASU and USC were the only two teams to record sub-par scores as Arizona, the third-place finisher, was 20-over (884). Oregon took fourth (886) and UCLA finished fifth (887).
 
Junior Alisha Lau had the best day for the Buffs, but senior Kirsty Hodgkins continued her solid tournament play. Lau shot a 72 with a team-round-best four birdies, four bogeys and 10 pars. It was the best 18 of the tournament for her as she shot a 75 on Monday and a 76 on Tuesday. Lau finished the event tied for 22nd (75-76-72—223).
 
Three of her four birdies were on the front nine and with just one bogey and five pars, Lau was 2-under through the first nine. Unfortunately, she recorded three other bogeys on the back nine, in addition to making par on five holes. She was 1-over with the final hole to play and on the 323-yard, par 4 No. 18, Lau sank her fourth birdie to bring her back to even for the round.
 
Hodgkins has been consistent, shooting rounds of 73 and 72, respectively, in the first two days, and it was more of the same from the senior during the third round as she finished up with another 73. At just 2-over for the tournament, she placed 10th, which was the 12th top-10 finish of her career and put her third on CU's career list.
 
Like Lau, she had a great front nine. She made seven pars and had one birdie and one bogey to balance each other out. The back nine was almost as neat. She was 2-over after hitting back-to-back bogeys on No. 11 and 12 and like Lau, sank a birdie on No. 18 to finish just 1-over for the day.
 
"I'm really proud of Kirsty and Alisha for their rounds today," head coach Anne Kelly said. "There were challenging hole locations and they handled them well along with wind on the back nine. Otherwise, the back nine proved difficult for the rest of the team. Overall we are making progress; we just have to stay away from the "easy" mistakes and be a bit more disciplined and thoughtful when conditions change or hole locations are tough."
 
Junior Malak Bouraeda slipped into a tie for 19th after finishing with a 222. She carded rounds of 72-72-78, suffering a bit of trouble in the third round with only one birdie. Sophomore Ellie Gower also recorded a 78 in her third round and tied for 44th in the event. Freshman Hailey Schalk tied for 49th overall and had her second-best round of the tournament with a 79.
 
Arizona State's Linn Grant won the tournament after shooting a 67 in the final round. She had been tied with UCLA's Emma Spitz after two rounds, but Spitz carded a 70 in the final round to fall to second.
 
Colorado will be home for the next couple of weeks before traveling to California for the Bruin Wave Invitational, March 1-3.