Buffs In Seventh At Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invite

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of Colorado women's golf team opened the fall slate of the 2021-22 season Monday at the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational, and after two rounds of action, are sitting in seventh.
 
The Buffs started the season like they ended the 2021 spring campaign at the Pac-12 Championship, carding a 287. They shot a 1-under to tie for first with Oregon State. New Mexico and San Diego State both shot even (288) and were tied for third heading into the afternoon round of play at the 6,317-yard, par 72 UNM Championship Course.
 
Colorado faltered in the second round, this time shooting a 299, and dropped down to seventh in the team standings with a combined score of 586.
 
After two rounds, San Jose State is the team leader. The Spartans shot a 294 through the first 18 holes and were seventh but fired a 277 to move all the way up to first (571). SDSU moved up to second (573) and UNM stayed at third (577). BYU moved up one spot to fourth (578) and Oregon State slid to fifth (579). Kansas is just ahead of CU in sixth (581).
 
Graduate transfer Diane Baillieux had an excellent debut round with CU, carding a 67 for the lowest first round score by a Buff in their first tournament. Starting on No. 10, she made par on the first five holes. Then she sank back-to-back birdies before finishing the back nine with another two pars and a 34 (2-under) on her scorecard. She started the front nine with a birdie and then made par on the following six holes to stay at 3-under before finishing the round with another two birdies for a 33 on the front nine.
 
She led the field after that first round by a stroke but was not able to hang on to it with a tough second round where she scored a 75. Once again she started on the back nine. Baillieux made two pars before sinking a birdie. She repeated that sequence on the next three holes and was 2-under with three holes left in the round. She made two more pars before recording her first bogey of the day, finishing the back nine 1-under (35). She made five consecutive pars on the front nine but recorded a bogey on each of the next four holes to finish the round.
 
Baillieux is currently tied for 10th (67-75—142).
 
Malak Bouraeda continued to be a steady presence for CU, carding an even 72 in each round. Her first round saw her make eight straight pars before making her first eagle of the season on No. 1, a 506-yard, par 5. She finished the front nine making six more pars and two bogeys before ending the round with another par on No. 10.
 
Bouraeda's second round was more balance. She recorded two bogeys but both were offset with a pair of birdies. She made par on the other 14 holes in the round. Heading into the final round, she is tied for 15th (144).
 
A pair of Buffs, Hailey Schalk and Natalie Vo, are tied for 56th (151) after the first day. Schalk recorded a 77 in the first round with one birdie and six bogeys but cut the bogeys back to just three in the second round with one birdie to shoot a 74. Vo, who was making her CU debut as well, recorded a 73 in her first round with two birdies and carded a 78 in her second round.
 
Ellie Gower is tied for 69th. She recorded a 75 in the opening round and a 79 in the second round. Competing as an individual in this tournament is Issy Simpson. She recorded a 158 (80-78) and is tied for 85th.
 
"Our team started out well this morning," head coach Anne Kelly said. "Everyone played pretty solid golf especially Diane. The second round was very disappointing. Our team made lots of pars but just not enough birdies. We plan to come out with a different mindset tomorrow and take advantage of more birdie opportunities."
 
BYU's Lila Galeai is the individual leader after recording rounds of 66 and 70 on Monday to shoot 8-under (136). She has a one-stroke advantage over Pepperdine's Kaleiya Romero and a two-stroke lead over San Jose State's Antonia Malate.
 
The third round is set for Tuesday and will be a shotgun start at 7:30 a.m.
 
NOTES: Baillieux recorded a 67 in her debut round for the Buffs, which is the program record … the previous best was a 68, shot by Julie Kim on Sept. 11, 2006, at the Ptarmigan Ram Classic in Fort Collins, Colo. … Her 67 (5-under) is tied for the ninth-lowest 18-hole score on a par-72 course … Colorado carded a 287 in the first round of the season – which is the same score of its final round of the 2021 season at the Pac-12 Championship – but that course was a par 71 and this was a par 72.