COLUMBIA,
Mo.—The No. 17 University of Colorado women’s golf team sits in second place
through 36 holes in the Fourth Annual University of Missouri Johnie Imes
Invitational here Monday.
Oklahoma
State leads the 15-team field with a 3-over par score of 579, shooting 5-over
par 293 in the morning and a 2-under par 286 in the afternoon. The
Cowgirls hold an 8-stroke advantage over the Buffaloes, who sit at 11-over par
587. The Buffs improved nine strokes between the morning and afternoon
rounds, shooting a 10-over par 298 in the morning and 1-over par 289 in the
second round. The Buffs hold a 1-stroke advantage over No. 20 Oklahoma
(588) while Florida International (593) and Kansas State (599) round out the
top five.
“Oklahoma
State is historically a top team, but we’re by no means out of it,” CU coach Anne
Kelly said. “We all have to play good golf tomorrow to catch
them. It’s fun to be in the mix, that’s what it’s all about; it’s what we
play for. We’ll go out and do our best and see what happens.
“We
threw a few shots away today and that’s still frustrating, but the exciting
thing is we can still get better; we haven’t played our best golf yet. Of
course we want to win, but our focus is working hard this fall to improve on
some things.”
A
trio of Buffs carded two good rounds and junior Jessica Wallace is
pacing CU on the 6,204-yard, par-72 The Club at Old Hawthorne course, turning
in a 72-69—141 effort, or 3-under par to stand tied for second, just one stroke
off the lead. Junior Emily Talley (75-71—146) is tied for ninth at
2-over par while freshman Kristin Coleman (73-74—147) is tied for 11th
at 3-over par. Both sophomore Taylor Doyle (t-38th; 78-75—153) and
freshman Jenny Coleman (t-49th; 80-75—155) shot 3-over par in the second
round, improving by three and five shots from their respective first-round
scores. Junior Meaghan Kari (80-83—163) is in 77th place playing
individually.
“We won’t have a
problem making up strokes tomorrow,” Talley said. “Everybody can find
strokes. We’re playing well, but we all know we can play better and get
our strokes lower.”
“If we have a
solid five-player effort, we can catch them,” Wallace said. “That’s the plan
going into it.”
Wallace
carded nine birdies with two bogeys and two double bogeys in the 36
holes. She turned in a 4-under par 32 on the front nine in the second
round, matching the best known mark in CU history. She recorded her
first round in the 60s at CU and along with Talley, they both recorded their
fifth round under par this season, which already ranks third in CU history for
a season.
“Playing 36
holes is always tiring,” Wallace said. “To be able to play better in the second
round given that is an accomplishment. I’ve been working with (assistant
coach Brent Franklin) since I got here with my swing and it feels
natural now, I’m not thinking about it as much. The last few weeks we’ve
been working on chipping and that’s working well, too.”
“Jess played
very well today,” Kelly said. “She’s playing very well to the greens and
probably left a few shots on the greens. Her hard work with Brent is
really paying off, and that’s fun to see.”
Talley
rebounded from a rough start in which she bogeyed four of her first six holes
in the first round and then played the remaining 30 holes at 2-under par.
She played the back nine of the first round at 2-under par despite a
double-bogey on the par 5 15th. In the two rounds, she played the back
nine at 3-under par.
“The beginning
of my round, for some reason, I wasn’t playing with confidence,” Talley
said. “The greens are tricky, there are breaks that you have to pay
attention to. Once I started doing that, I was able to pull it together and got
some good birdies and finally started getting the yardage down. Tomorrow
I need to start confident and not waste five holes getting there.”
Kristin
Coleman played the most consistent golf for the Buffaloes in the first two
rounds, combining for four birdies and seven bogeys to go with 25 pars in the
first 36 holes. Doyle was under par through her first 14 holes in the
second round before playing the final four holes at 4-over par. Jenny
Coleman was on a bit of a roller coaster to start her second round, with two
birdies and four bogeys in her first seven holes before a string of seven
straight pars. She finished with 10 pars in the last 11 holes.
Princeton’s
Kelly Shon is leading the field at 4-under par, carding a 70-70—140.
Wallace is tied with Oklahoma State’s Courtney McKim at 3-under par 141 after
posting the best round of the day, a 4-under par 68 in the second round.
Oklahoma’s Ellen Mueller and OSU’s Hillary Wood are tied for fourth, three
shots behind Wallace and McKim with even par 144s.
Tuesday’s
final round gets underway with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. The Buffs will
then return here in the spring for the Big 12 Championships.
“It’s a
challenging course, I’m glad we’re playing it before the Big 12 Championships,”
Kelly said. “There are a lot of blind shots and it’s definitely a course you
have to play to know what you’re doing.”
“There are a lot
of blind shots, it helps seeing it now, letting it settle in and coming back in
the spring, it will be beneficial,” Talley said. “It’s a beautiful
course, a great setting.”
BUFFALO
INDIVIDUALS
t-2. Jessica
Wallace... 72-69—141
t-9. Emily
Talley...... 75-71—146
t-11. Kristin
Coleman... 73-74—147
t-38. Taylor
Doyle...... 78-75—153
t-49. Jenny
Coleman..... 80-75—155
77. Meaghan Kari...... 80-83-163
TOP FIVE
INDIVIDUALS
1. Kelly Shon, Princeton............ 70-70—140
2. Courtney McKim, Oklahoma
State... 73-68—141
Jessica Wallace, Colorado........ 72-69—141
4. Ellen Mueller,
Oklahoma.......... 73-71—144
Hillary
Wood, Oklahoma
State..... 72-72—144
TEAM SCORES
1. Oklahoma
State.......... 293-286—579
2. Colorado................ 298-289—587
3. Oklahoma................ 292-296—588
4. Florida International... 304-289—593
5. Kansas
State............ 301-298—599
6. Wisconsin............... 297-304—601
t-7. Arkansas-Little
Rock.... 309-295—604
t-7. Texas
State............. 307-297—604
9. Baylor.................. 306-301—607
10. Kansas.................. 306-302—608
11. Missouri................ 302-308—610
12. Princeton............... 300-311—611
13. Illinois
State.......... 320-302—622
14. Missouri................ 315-313—628
15. Nebraska................ 320-314—634
