SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Colorado Buffaloes women’s golf team finished sixth out of 12 schools at the San Diego State Classic on Tuesday. The Buffs shot a combined 16-over, yet shot only five more strokes than the third-placed University of Georgia Bulldogs.
The No.1-ranked Stanford Cardinal easily won the tournament, finishing with 32 fewer strokes than the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the next closest team score. Five out of the six golfers Stanford sent finished under par, including freshman Meja Örtengren’s 15-under. The native of Sweden shot 10-under 62, which tied Stanford’s record for lowest score to par.
The black and gold had a rocky start to the spring season after being disqualified from the Collegiate Invitational at Guadalajara, Mexico due to a series of unlucky events. Junior Morgan Miller caught an illness, leaving the Buffs with just enough golfers to compete. With no additional golfers, the Buffs could not afford any other mishaps. Unfortunately for CU, star freshman Sydney Givens was disqualified after accidentally signing the wrong scorecard, forcing the Buffs to back out of the tournament.
Nevertheless, Colorado’s quintet was healthy in California and ready to bounce back from the adversity in Mexico.
Maria Eidhagen Harrouch led the Buffs in San Diego. The senior finished the event 2-over, which landed her tied at No. 13 on the individual leaderboard. Harrouch played her best 18 holes in the first round. She had a promising start with birdies on the first three holes but could not keep the streak alive throughout the round. The senior finished the first round 3-under and tied in fourth place individually. However, Harrouch struggled in the final two rounds, shooting a combined 5-over, which dropped her out of the top 10.
Givens continued to be one of the Buffs’ most consistent golfers. The Austin, Texas native shot even par in the first two rounds of the tournament, leaving her a dominant third round away from a top-5 finish. Despite two early birdies in the final round, three bogies and a double bogey hindered Givens' final score (+3).
Miller was back in the quintet in San Diego. Through 16 holes in the first round, the junior was 2-under, but a triple bogey on hole 17 (par 5) tarnished her opening-round score. Miller finished the last two rounds a combined 4-over, which was also her tournament score. She was tied at No. 19 individually, her second-highest personal ranking this season.
Carolyn Fuller and Vanessa Ngo both struggled in Southern California. Fuller was stagnant to begin the event. In the first nine holes of the tournament, Fuller was 6-over, with four bogeys and a double bogey. Going into the third round, she was 13-over and sat tied at No. 54. Despite the early struggles, Fuller was the only Buff to shoot under par in the final round (-1). She jumped 17 spots on the leaderboard to No. 34.
Ngo started the tournament shooting 7-over in the first round. The sophomore got back on track in the second with a 1-over. Her third-round scorecard had a lot of drawing on it: five birdies, five pars, seven bogeys and a double bogey, equaling a score of 5-over.
Colorado has now competed against Stanford in three consecutive tournaments. Playing with the best is an opportunity for the Buffs to observe and understand what it takes to be the best. Iron sharpens iron, as it continued to do in San Diego.
The black and gold have three more tournaments to prepare for the Big 12 Championship in mid-April.
Next up for the Buffs is the Causeway Invitational in Sacramento, California, starting on Monday, February 24.
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