HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. – The Colorado women’s golf team played their best tournament of the year this past weekend at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate.
The Buffs finished third in the tournament, shooting a 3-under 861, their first under-par tournament score of the year.
The black and gold were led by freshman Sydney Givens, who had her first dominant performance at the collegiate level. Givens finished the tournament at 5-under 211, which landed her tied at the No. 5 spot.
The weekend was a tale of two stories for the Buffaloes, as they found themselves near the bottom of the standings after the first round, shooting a combined 7-over 295.
Sophomore Carolyn Fuller and junior Morgan Miller were the highest-ranked Buffs after the first round, as they both shot par. Despite four birdies and an eagle for Fuller, four bogeys and a double bogey evened her score. Miller also holed four birdies in her first round but was not able to close the day in the negatives.
The two promising freshmen, Givens and Ellen O’Shaughnessy, rounded out the Buffs team score on Friday. O’Shaughnessy finished the front nine even, but four back-nine bogeys bumped her score to 3-over 75. Unlike her later rounds, Givens scored a 4-over 76 in the first round, leaving her outside of the top 50 participants.
Sophomore Vanessa Ngo was inserted into the quintet after being the only Buff to finish inside the top 10 at the Colonel Wollenburg Classic. Despite the change, Ngo had a shaky start, finding herself five strokes over par through just the first six holes. Ngo picked it up to finish the round, but her score of 5-over 77 was one stroke higher than any other Buff and left off Colorado’s team score for Friday.
Colorado also sent senior Maria Eidhagen Harrouch to compete as an individual at the tournament. Unfortunately for the Buffs from a team standpoint, she had the best first round out of any other golfer wearing black and gold. Harrouch tallied four birdies on the front nine and finished at 3-under 69, which landed her inside the top 10.
The Buffs team score improved significantly in the second and third rounds on the back of the freshman Givens.
After a tough 18 holes to open the tournament, Givens was on fire to start the second round. The freshman had four birdies on the front nine and finished the day at 5-under 67. Givens had the best round by any Buff at the tournament. In the third round, Givens continued her excellence, holing six birdies on her way to scoring a 4-under 68. The freshman was the highest-finishing Buff on the podium.
Similarly to Givens, Ngo found a rhythm in the second round after a troubling start. She was the only other Buff who scored under par and finished the round at 1-under 71. Ngo stayed somewhat consistent in the third round, shooting a 1-over 73, landing her just outside the top 40.
O’Shaughnessy slightly improved her play on Saturday, shooting a 1-over 73 with three birdies and four bogeys. The third round resembled more of the first for the freshman as she shot a 3-over 75, and failed to crack the top half of the leaderboard.
Unlike many of her teammates, Miller’s score worsened in the second round. Despite six birdies for the junior, she ended the day at 2-over 74. Despite the underwhelming performance, Miller more than made up for it on Sunday. She duplicated Givens third round score of 4-under 68, with the help of six birdies. Miller finished the tournament as the second-highest Buff, tied at No. 13.
Fuller, who was leading the Buffs on the first day, struggled on the second 18. Fuller scored 3-over 75, which left her at the bottom of the quintet for the second round. The sophomore was able to replicate her first round as she shot an even par in the third. Fuller finished the tournament with a combined 3-over 219, leaving her tied at No. 31.
Harrouch could not build off her first round as she shot six bogeys on Saturday and ended at 5-over 77. A dominant day could have seen the senior inside the top three individuals after two rounds. Instead, Harrouch sat outside the top 25 heading into the final round. The third round resembled much of the first for Harrouch. She holed five birdies on her way to a 2-under 70, round and leaving her tournament score at even par, good enough for a tie at No. 17.
With the first top-three finish of the year, the Buffs are now chasing their first win of the season. Colorado will compete in the Stanford Intercollegiate starting on Oct. 18.
Cover photo by CUBuffs.com
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