Buffs 15th Following First Day of PING/ASU Invitational

PHOENIX – The Colorado women's golf team finished the first round of the PING/Arizona State University Invitational with a 304, which is 15th overall.
 
Tournament host, ASU, took the day one lead at the par 72, 6,426-yard Papago Golf Course, firing an 8-under 280. The Sun Devils, who are currently ranked No. 9 by Golfstat, have a five-stroke lead over No. 1 Stanford (285). No. 2 Oregon, No. 18 Baylor and Northwestern are tied for third as all three carded a 286 in the first round.
 
"The team overall had a good ball-striking day," head coach Anne Kelly said. "We had a little trouble starting off today and adjusting to the speed of the greens. They were quite fast and firm today. Hailey (Schalk) played very solid with a little hiccup on No. 4 but fought back. We just need to putt a bit better, but overall making progress."
 
Hailey Schalk and Diane Baillieux are tied for 36th, both firing 74s.
 
Baillieux recorded a team-best 14 pars in the round and had one birdie as well. She played a very solid back nine, as the Buffs all started on the 10th tee. She made eight pars and only had one bogey to finish 1-over (37). Then on the front, she made three straight pars before recording her second bogey of the round. It was followed with another two pars before she recorded her third bogey of the round on No. 7. She finished the front nine with making par on No. 8 and then sank a birdie on No. 9 for another 1-over 37.
 
Schalk shot an even back nine, but it started with back-to-back bogeys before she made par on No. 12. Then she strung together three consecutive birdies to bring her round back to 1-under. She finished her back nine with a par, bogey and a par.
 
On the front nine, she ended up carding a 2-over (38). She made par on the first two holes before recording a bogey and double-bogey, respectively. After making par on No. 5, she made her fourth birdie of the day on the sixth hole and closed the round out making par on the last three holes.
 
Malak Bouraeda and Lauren Gooding are tied for 66th with 78s.
 
Bouraeda had a tough start to her day, carding a 6-over 42 on the back nine with four bogeys and one double, but she turned things around on the front nine as she shot an even 36 with two birdies.
 
Gooding recorded a 5-over on her back nine (41) with one birdie, four bogeys and one double. The front was much better for her as she shot a 1-over with one birdie and two bogeys.
 
Ellie Gower, who returned to CU's line-up after missing several events due to an injury, finished her first round back with a 79 and is tied for 75th. She recorded one birdie and made 12 pars in the round. Gower shot a 41 on the back nine to start and finished with a 38 on the front nine.
 
Arizona State's Alexandra Forsterling is the individual leader through 18 holes, as she carded a 6-under 66.  Starting on No. 10, she birdied four of her first six holes and holds a one-shot lead over New Mexico's Napat Lertsadwattana.
 
The second round is set for Saturday, with Colorado paired with Michigan, Washington and Harvard off the No. 10 tee beginning at 9:50 a.m. MDT.