Colorado Finishes PING/ASU Invitational Tied for 13th

PHOENIX – The Colorado women's golf team finished the PING/ASU Invitational tied for 13th with San Diego State after recording a 299 on Sunday in the third round.
 
The Buffaloes earned an overall score of 897 (304-294-299), which was seven strokes behind 12th-place Denver (890) and was nine strokes better than 15th-place Washington (906).
 
Arizona State won the tournament, shooting a 284 in its final round at the par 72, 6,426-yard Papago Golf Course. The Sun Devils led from the first day and never let go of their lead, finishing with an 839 (280-275-284). Heading into the third round, the No. 8 Sun Devils had a 17-stroke lead over Oregon and Baylor. ASU ended up with a 15-stroke win over No. 2 Oregon (854). Top-ranked Stanford and No. 19 Baylor tied for third (862).
 
Colorado's Hailey Schalk led the Buffs for the third straight tournament; the most by any individual Buff this season. Each tournament she has improved her score. At the Juli Inkster Meadow Club Collegiate (March 7-8), Schalk shot a 221. One week later at the Briar's Creek Invitational, she took two strokes off her score, carding a 219 to tie for 15th, which is her best overall finish.
 
Schalk kept that improvement going and shaved another three strokes off her score this weekend, finishing with a career-best 216. Her score tied her for 19th overall.
 
She recorded an even 36 on the back nine to start her final round. She started with a birdie and then made par. She followed it up with back-to-back bogeys before recording her second birdie of the round. Schalk finished the back nine making four consecutive pars. Her front nine was another even 36 with two birdies and two bogeys to card a 72 for her third round.
 
Teammate Malak Bouraeda showed some good improvement during the weekend as well, finishing tied for 33rd with a 219. She was 1-over (37) through her first nine with one birdie and six pars. She played another consistent nine on the front. Bouraeda made par on the first five holes before she recorded a bogey. But she followed it up by making another two par and finishing the round with a birdie to score a 1-over for the round.
 
Diane Baillieux tied for 53rd after firing a 75 in the third round. She was 2-over (38) on the back nine with a pair of bogeys and seven pars. On the front nine, Baillieux shot a 1-over (37) with one birdie, six pars and two bogeys. She finished the tournament with a 226.
 
Ellie Gower finished her first tournament back from injury with three rounds of 79 (237) which placed her 80th. She was 4-over in her back nine. She made par on the first three holes and added another two before making the turn to the front nine. She started the front nine by making par on the first four holes and finished with two bogeys, two pars and one double for a 40.
 
Lauren Gooding recorded an 82 on the final day. She carded a 41 in the back nine with one birdie and two pars. On the front nine, she also shot a 41 as she made par five times. Gooding tied for 81st (240).
 
"Hailey, Malak and Diane played pretty well today," head coach Anne Kelly said. "The hole locations were tough today and the wind was gusty. Lauren and Ellie hung in there and played hard, but just couldn't get things going. Overall a lot of good ball-striking; we just need a few more putts to drop."
 
Arizona State's Alexandra Forsterling, who led after the first day but moved down to second, earned her way back up to the top spot by shooting a 70 in the third round. She finished with a 9-under overall (66-71-70—207) and had a two-stroke advantage over UCLA's Emma Spitz (71-69-69—209) and teammate Ashley Menne (69-67-73—209).
 
The final regular season tournament for the Buffs is the Silverado Showdown, which they co-host with Oregon at the Silverado Country Club in Napa, Calif., April 4-6.