TUCSON, Ariz.—The No. 23 University of Colorado women’s golf team got its spring season underway Sunday as the Buffaloes sit tied for fifth place at the Arizona Wildcat Invitational after shooting a first-round 13-over par 301 here at the par 72, 6,321-yard Vistoso Golf Club.
The top seven consists of teams ranked in the top 44 nationally as host and No. 22 Arizona lead the field with a 3-under par 285, followed by top-ranked UCLA in second place four strokes back at 1-over par 289. No. 8 Arizona State is right in the mix,wholesale golf clubsanother two strokes back at 3-over par 291. No. 44 New Mexico is in fourth place at 12-over par 300 while both the Buffaloes and No. 40 Denver sit tied for fifth at 13-over par 301. No. 41 Stanford is in seventh at 17-over par 305.

“To be honest, we’re a little rusty,” CU coach Anne Kelly said. “Some of them struggled putting. That’s the hardest thing, for us to be sharp in the first tournament of the spring. It’s hard for us to get putting going on the winter greens.”

Senior Emily Talley and sophomore Jenny Coleman led the way for the Buffaloes, with Coleman shooting even par 72, good for seventh individually, while Talley was one stroke back at 1-over par 73, tied for ninth place. Coleman stayed right around even par most of her round and pared out the last seven holes of her round to maintain the score. She had a bogey on her third hole and then birdied her fifth to get back to even par. She then went 1-under par on her ninth hole of the day and then got a bogey on her 11th hole to come back to even par where she remained throughout.

“Jenny played really solid,” Kelly said. “I was really happy with a lot of the things I saw. Overall, everybody hit the ball well. It’s just a matter of getting the feel with the putter and getting the competitive confidence back.”

Talley was playing between 1- and 3-over most of the round and fought her way back to 1-over par with birdies on two of her final four holes. She finished the day with four birdies, three bogeys and one double bogey with 10 pars to finish at plus one.
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