Buffs’ Rally Comes Up Stroke Short, Finish Seventh at NCAA Columbus Regional

Wednesday, May 10

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Colorado

NCAA Regionals

Buffs’ Rally Comes Up Stroke Short, Finish Seventh at NCAA Columbus Regional

May 10, 2017 | Women's Golf

Results

By: Maggie Still, Assistant SID

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The University of Colorado women's golf team put together its best round of the tournament here on Wednesday in the final 18 holes at the NCAA Columbus Regional, but its rally to finish in the top six and advance to the NCAA Championships came up short. Only one heartbreaking stroke separated the Buffs from No. 33 ranked Michigan to continue postseason play.

Colorado carded a 909 or 45-over par final score for the event while Michigan closed at 44-over 908 to take sixth place and the right to advance.

"Heartbroken to say the least," head coach Anne Kelly said. "The team played their hearts out and to miss two years in a row by only one shot is hard to take. But, this team will bounce back and learn from this experience. I'm so proud of them! They gave it their all and that's all I can ask of them as a coach."

The Buffaloes, who entered the day tied for ninth place, posted a 297 or 9-over par team score in the final round and in the process, put the pressure on both No. 13^th ranked Arkansas and Michigan down the stretch. Colorado, moved into sixth place after hole No. 14 where three Buffs dropped a birdie and Kirsty Hodgkins fired out an eagle to push the team above the red line. From the 14^th hole and on it was a battle between Michigan, Arkansas and CU. The Buffs and the Razorbacks were through their round and Michigan still had a few holes to go and held on to their lead finishing one stroke ahead of CU.

Florida and South Carolina shared the team-title with a 22-over 886. No. 5 ranked Florida State finished in third with a 27-over 891 while host Ohio State placed fourth at 29-over 893. Purdue moved up one spot to finish the tournament in fifth place at 40-over 904 while Michigan rounded out the top six teams advancing as they finished at 44-over 908.

Brittany Fan anchored the Buffs over the 54-hole tournament, she posted a final score of 8-over par 224. Fan turned in her best round on Wednesday, carding a 1-over 73. She closed out the front nine at 2-over with three bogeys and a birdie. And when the team needed to hold steady Fan did just that as she fired out four straight pars to begin the back nine. Hole No. 14 was a special hole for the Buffs as Fan was one of three who dropped a birdie to push the Buffs into sixth place. Fan stayed consistent the rest of the way adding on four more pars to finish at 1-under on the back nine. Fan collected 34 pars and seven birdies over the tournament to finish tied for 13th overall.

Freshman Kirsty Hodgkins shot a 1-over par on Tuesday alongside Fan and recorded a 9-over 225 three day total. She was the only Buff to card an eagle during the tournament as she dropped her first career eagle on hole No. 14 to help move the Buffs into sixth for a short time. In the final round, Hodgkins shot even par on the front nine and fought hard on the back nine recording her eagle and a birdie against two bogeys and a double. Hodgkins recorded 33 pars and five birdies over the tournament to finish tied for 22^nd.

Robyn Choi closed out the tournament with her best round shooting a 2-over 74. She went 75-78-74—227 or 11-over at the event. She had a strong back nine in the final round Tuesday, which was key to helping the Buffs stay in the hunt, paring four holes with three birdies on the back nine. Although, Choi closed out the tournament with a bogey and double, her birdie on hole No. 14 was a clutch moment to help out her team. Choi finished tied for 26th in the standings and collected a team best 8 birdies for the event.

Senior Esther Lee, only one of six Buffs in CU history to have played in three regionals, closed out her stellar career with a 5-over 77 on the final day. She led the entire field with 37 total pars for the event. She went 81-75-77—233 or 17-over. Lee had the most consistent day firing out 14 pars against three bogeys and a double on hole No. 18. Lee tied for 51^st in the standings and finishes her Buff career with the best stroke average for a senior 73.03 in school history.

Lauryn Keating shot a 12-over 84 to give her a 41-over 257 tournament total. She struggled in the front nine starting her morning at 8-over. She settled down a little on the back nine recording a birdie on hole No. 14 with her teammates but couldn't keep her momentum as she finished the back nine at 4-over. Keating finished in 93^rd place.

NOTEABLE:

Buffaloes finish with a 96-43 record
Recorded 10 top-10 finishes in 11 events played
CU carded eight top-5 finishes, which is the second most in school history behind the 2010-11 team when they had 10
Esther Lee closed out her career with a 73.03 stroke average which is the lowest average by a senior golfer at CU
This is the second year in a row the Buffs have missed the NCAAs by one stroke. Last year the Buffs finished in seventh one stroke behind Virginia.

BUFF INDIVIDUALS

T13	Brittany Fan	77	74	73	224
T22	Kirsty Hodgkins	80	72	73	225
T26	Robyn Choi	75	78	74	227
T51	Esther Lee	81	75	77	233
93	Lauryn Keating	90	83	84	257

TOP INDIVIDUALS

T1	Kelly Grassel, Florida	74	72	70	216
T1	Ana Pelaez, South Carolina	76	70	70	216
T3	Katelyn Dambaugh, South Carolina	77	70	70	217
T3	Marta Martin Garcia, Purdue	70	76	71	217
T5	Ainhoa Olarra, South Carolina	76	73	70	219
T5	Katja Popacar	74	75	70	219

TEAM SCORES

T1	Florida	297-293-296	886
T1	South Cariolina	309-289-288	886
3	Florida State	299-298-294	891
4	Ohio State	302-289-302	893
5	Purdue	302-305-297	904
6	Michigan	312-293-303	908
7	COLORADO	313-299-297	909
8	Arkansas	309-301-300	910
9	Texas A&M	308-301-308	917
10	San Jose State	310-304-306	920
T11	Houston	323-300-305	928
T11	Old Dominion	327-297-304	928
13	Wisconsin	314-302-314	930
14	Louisville	341-300-319	933
15	Delaware	320-310-308	938
16	Kentucky	326-311-306	943
17	Missouri State	324-315-329	968
18	Cleveland State	340-328-328	996