Colorado Ties For Sixth At USF Intercollegiate

SAN FRANCISCO — The University of Colorado women's golf team shot its best of three rounds Tuesday at the University of San Francisco Intercollegiate, with a 4-over par 288, good enough to move up one notch and finish tied for sixth overall at 21-over, 873, as the par 71 54-hole tournament wrapped up at The Olympic Club Ocean Course.
 
Colorado caught Oregon State, which had a six-stroke edge on the Buffaloes after the first 36 holes. The Beavers were 10-over on the day to also finish at 873.
 
Preseason No. 9 ranked San Jose won the USF Intercollegiate at 4-under, 848, four strokes better than preseason No. 5 ranked UCLA. The Spartans had an incredible final round, shooting 10-under as a team to pull away from the Bruins who finished at even-par, 852. California was one stroke behind at 1-over, 853 and Pepperdine finished fourth at 3-over, 855.
 
San Jose State's Kajsa Arwefjall won medalist honors at 11-under, 202, three strokes better than BYU's Allysha Mae Mateo at 8-under. Arwefjall shot a tournament-low 7-under, 64, on Wednesday playing a near-perfect round with seven birdies and no bogeys.
 
Colorado made great strides in 48 hours. After beginning at 12-over for the first 18 holes, the Buffaloes settled down to shoot just 9-over par the final 36. On Tuesday, the Buffaloes shot no worse than bogey on any hole.
 
"I was proud of them today," Colorado head coach Anne Kelly said. "With the exception of San Jose State, we were competitive with every other team today, so that's a good sign."
 
While Colorado didn't have an individual round crack into to the 60s, shooting just three rounds of par or better, the Buffaloes limited the high totals too with 5-over, 76, proving to be the high mark.
 
Four of Colorado's five golfers finished in the tournament's final top 25.
 
"We reduced the big numbers today, so that's good," Kelly said. "We played more consistently and made more pars. Going forward, to be more competitive we need one or two players to break pars consistently, but I think we're right there. A lot of positive things came out of this tournament and definitely points out areas we need to work on."
 
Sophomore Lauren Gooding shot even-par 71 in the final round to finish with a career-best 54-hole total of 216. She had a bogey off the 520-yard, par 5, No. 1, but played even the next six holes before picking up a stroke with a birdie at the 365-yard, par 4, No. 8. Gooding picked up another birdie at No. 11, but dropped back to even with a bogey at No. 12. She stayed steady from there with pars on the final six holes to finish in a tie for 14th overall, her second career top 20 finish.
 
Freshman Morgan Miller matched Gooding's final-round effort, logging even-par for her best of three initial collegiate rounds. Miller had consecutive birdies on No. 2 and No. 3 to quickly get to 2-under, but dropped back to even with bogeys at No. 4 and No. 6. She was 1-over after 10, but birdie at the par 4, No. 13, got her back to even and she completed her round with five straight pars to finish the tournament tied for 22nd overall at 6-over, 219.
 
Junior Hailey Schalk matched her first round score with a 2-over, 73, to finish 24th overall and once stroke behind Miller at 7-over, 220. Schalk had a great start with a pair of birdies on the course's first two long par 5's, on No. 1 and No. 4, both playing at 520 yards. She couldn't gain any traction from there however, falling back to even by the turn and playing the back nine at 2-over.
 
Sophomore Natalie Vo had the Buffaloes' high score of the round, but a solid 3-over, 74, was good enough to finish the tournament in a tie for 25th at 8-over, 221. Vo was arguably the most consistent among the Buffaloes not logging a score any higher than bogey over her 54 holes. She had five bogeys in the final round, but minimized that with birdies on a pair of par 3's at no. 2 and No. 17.
 
Freshman Makenzie Cooper finished tied for 36th at 10-over, 223. She had the best round of her young career, carding a 2-over, 73 on Tuesday. Cooper had two early bogeys at No. 3 and No. 4, but evened out with pars on 10 of her next 11 holes. She picked up her lone birdie of the round at the 444-yard, par 5, No. 11.
 
Colorado will continue its fall season in two weeks with the Golfweek Red Sky Challenge. The 54-hole event will be played at the Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott, Colo, Sept. 26-28.