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KAILUA KONA, Hawai’i – Colorado women’s golf remained in contention for a top-5 spot in a loaded field after shooting 2-over-par, 294, in the second round of the Nanea Invitational, Tuesday at the Nanea Golf Club.
The Buffaloes were six strokes higher than Monday’s 4-under round and stand at 2-under through 36 holes. Colorado slipped one notch on the leaderboard to seventh after two rounds, but played even with their closest competitors, and stands one shot out of fifth place heading into Wednesday’s final round.
Colorado entered the round among a group of four teams separated by a single stroke between fourth and seventh place. The Buffaloes, paired on the day with two of those teams, played even with California and just one shot behind No. 17 UCLA as those two former Pac-12 Conference rivals are tied for fifth overall at 3-under.
The fourth team in that initial logjam, No. 10 Texas, shot 11-under on the day to join the top four that put some distance between themselves and the rest of the field. No. 21 Arizona State is the leader after two rounds at 22-under, one shot ahead of top-ranked Stanford, which tied the Longhorns for the best round of the day. Texas is in third at 16-under, one shot ahead of No. 6 Auburn, the first-round leader, which dropped back to fourth after a 6-over round on Tuesday.
The Buffaloes, ranked No. 44 in the nation in the latest NCAA Scoreboard rankings, nearly matched their 4-under performance from Monday, which was the program’s best in 31 all-time starts on the 6,446-yard, par-73 Nanea course. Colorado played at or just under par for most of the round, but hit a snag late, dropping four strokes over the final four holes, including a pair of double-bogeys on the par-5s at the fourth and sixth.
“We played a ton of good golf again today, but just unfortunate to kind of stub our toe coming in with some big numbers, the two doubles on the par 5s,” Colorado head coach Madeleine Sheils said. “But overall still a lot of really good golf and still in the position to make a run as high as we can tomorrow.”
Junior Carolyn Fuller once again led the way with a 1-under, 72, and is tied for 11th overall at 4-under, just two strokes out of the top four and six off the lead. She birdied her first hole, the 462-yard, par-5 sixth and played even the rest of the way. Fuller added birdies on a pair of par 4s at the 12th and 15th as she recorded her fourth-straight sub-par round.
Redshirt sophomore Vanessa Ngo shot even-par 73 Tuesday to remain at 1-under for the tournament and tied for 23rd overall. Ngo was at 2-under through her first five holes, and stayed right at that mark all the way until the last hole of the day, where she doubled at the sixth.
“Another great under-par round for Carolyn and with Vanessa at even, those are two great rounds for those two,” Sheils said. “I’d love to see Carolyn chase that top five or top 10 finish tomorrow.”
Freshman Teemapat Pateetin is tied for 29th overall at 1-over, following a round of 74 on Tuesday. Pateetin was 2-over through nine holes, before climbing back to 1-over with a birdie at the 18th. She fell to 3-over after a double at the fourth, but rebounded with consecutive birdies at the fifth and sixth to close out her round.
Sophomore Ellen O’Shaughnessy is tied for 37th at 2-over after shooting a 75 in the second round. O’Shaughnessy began her day with 14-straight pars before dropping to 2-over with bogeys at the fourth and fifth. Junior Maya McVey is in 54th place at 3-over after shooting a 76 in the second round, three strokes better than Monday.
Of the sixth teams ahead of the Buffaloes in the standings, five are ranked in the top 21 in the nation.
“I think the team realizes just how capable we are of competing with these teams consistently,” Sheils said. “Everybody is really appreciating the position that we’re in. We’re so grateful to be here in Hawai’i and playing this unbelievable golf course. We’re full of gratitude for the moment and hoping to end the chapter on a high note, but we still feel like there’s a lot of golf to play.”
Individually, Auburn’s Anna Davis shot a second-round 3-under 70 to climb to 10-under overall and has a two-stroke lead heading into Wednesday’s final round over Cindy Hsu of Texas and Kelly Xu of Stanford, both at 8-under. First round leader Charlotte Cantonis of Auburn and Arizona State’s Isla McDonald O’Brien sit four shots back at 6-under.
Colorado will open Wednesday’s third round in the same scenario as it did on Tuesday. The Buffaloes will be grouped with UCLA, California and San Jose State between the No. 6 and No. 10 tees with a shotgun start at 11:30 a.m. MT.
The Buffaloes were six strokes higher than Monday’s 4-under round and stand at 2-under through 36 holes. Colorado slipped one notch on the leaderboard to seventh after two rounds, but played even with their closest competitors, and stands one shot out of fifth place heading into Wednesday’s final round.
Colorado entered the round among a group of four teams separated by a single stroke between fourth and seventh place. The Buffaloes, paired on the day with two of those teams, played even with California and just one shot behind No. 17 UCLA as those two former Pac-12 Conference rivals are tied for fifth overall at 3-under.
The fourth team in that initial logjam, No. 10 Texas, shot 11-under on the day to join the top four that put some distance between themselves and the rest of the field. No. 21 Arizona State is the leader after two rounds at 22-under, one shot ahead of top-ranked Stanford, which tied the Longhorns for the best round of the day. Texas is in third at 16-under, one shot ahead of No. 6 Auburn, the first-round leader, which dropped back to fourth after a 6-over round on Tuesday.
The Buffaloes, ranked No. 44 in the nation in the latest NCAA Scoreboard rankings, nearly matched their 4-under performance from Monday, which was the program’s best in 31 all-time starts on the 6,446-yard, par-73 Nanea course. Colorado played at or just under par for most of the round, but hit a snag late, dropping four strokes over the final four holes, including a pair of double-bogeys on the par-5s at the fourth and sixth.
“We played a ton of good golf again today, but just unfortunate to kind of stub our toe coming in with some big numbers, the two doubles on the par 5s,” Colorado head coach Madeleine Sheils said. “But overall still a lot of really good golf and still in the position to make a run as high as we can tomorrow.”
Junior Carolyn Fuller once again led the way with a 1-under, 72, and is tied for 11th overall at 4-under, just two strokes out of the top four and six off the lead. She birdied her first hole, the 462-yard, par-5 sixth and played even the rest of the way. Fuller added birdies on a pair of par 4s at the 12th and 15th as she recorded her fourth-straight sub-par round.
Redshirt sophomore Vanessa Ngo shot even-par 73 Tuesday to remain at 1-under for the tournament and tied for 23rd overall. Ngo was at 2-under through her first five holes, and stayed right at that mark all the way until the last hole of the day, where she doubled at the sixth.
“Another great under-par round for Carolyn and with Vanessa at even, those are two great rounds for those two,” Sheils said. “I’d love to see Carolyn chase that top five or top 10 finish tomorrow.”
Freshman Teemapat Pateetin is tied for 29th overall at 1-over, following a round of 74 on Tuesday. Pateetin was 2-over through nine holes, before climbing back to 1-over with a birdie at the 18th. She fell to 3-over after a double at the fourth, but rebounded with consecutive birdies at the fifth and sixth to close out her round.
Sophomore Ellen O’Shaughnessy is tied for 37th at 2-over after shooting a 75 in the second round. O’Shaughnessy began her day with 14-straight pars before dropping to 2-over with bogeys at the fourth and fifth. Junior Maya McVey is in 54th place at 3-over after shooting a 76 in the second round, three strokes better than Monday.
Of the sixth teams ahead of the Buffaloes in the standings, five are ranked in the top 21 in the nation.
“I think the team realizes just how capable we are of competing with these teams consistently,” Sheils said. “Everybody is really appreciating the position that we’re in. We’re so grateful to be here in Hawai’i and playing this unbelievable golf course. We’re full of gratitude for the moment and hoping to end the chapter on a high note, but we still feel like there’s a lot of golf to play.”
Individually, Auburn’s Anna Davis shot a second-round 3-under 70 to climb to 10-under overall and has a two-stroke lead heading into Wednesday’s final round over Cindy Hsu of Texas and Kelly Xu of Stanford, both at 8-under. First round leader Charlotte Cantonis of Auburn and Arizona State’s Isla McDonald O’Brien sit four shots back at 6-under.
Colorado will open Wednesday’s third round in the same scenario as it did on Tuesday. The Buffaloes will be grouped with UCLA, California and San Jose State between the No. 6 and No. 10 tees with a shotgun start at 11:30 a.m. MT.
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS | ||||||
| Rank | Name | Score (To Par) | ||||
| T11. | Carolyn Fuller | 70-72—142 (-4) | ||||
| T23. | Vanessa Ngo | 72-73—145 (-1) | ||||
| T29. | Teemapat Pateetin | 73-74—147 (+1) | ||||
| T37. | Ellen O’Shaughnessy | 73-75—148 (+2) | ||||
| 54. | Maya McVey | 79-76—155 (+9) | ||||
| TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS | ||||||
| Rank | Name | Score (To Par) | ||||
| 1. | Anna Davis, Auburn | 66-70—136 (-10) | ||||
| T2. | Cindy Hsu, Texas | 69-69—138 (-8) | ||||
| T2. | Kelly Xu, Stanford | 69-69—138 (-8) | ||||
| T4. | Charlotte Cantonis, Auburn | 65-75—140 (-6) | ||||
| T4. | Isla McDonald O’Brien, Arizona State | 66-74—140 (-6) | ||||
| TEAM SCORES | ||||||
| Rank | Team | Score (To Par) | ||||
| 1. | Arizona State | 275-287—562 (-22) | ||||
| 2. | Stanford | 282-281—563 (-21) | ||||
| 3. | Texas | 287-281—568 (-16) | ||||
| 4. | Auburn | 271-298—569 (-15) | ||||
| T5. | California | 287-294—581 (-3) | ||||
| T5. | UCLA | 288-293—581 (-3) | ||||
| 7. | Colorado | 288-294—582 (-2) | ||||
| 8. | San Jose State | 292-293—585 (+1) | ||||
| 9. | Oregon State | 298-290—588 (+4) | ||||
| 10. | Washington | 296-306—602 (+18) | ||||
| 11. | Hawai’i | 295-311—606 (+22) | ||||