The University of Colorado women’s golf team didn’t win a team or individual title Wednesday at the Pac-12 Conference Championships at Boulder Country Club, but the Buffs nevertheless celebrated behind the 18th green — and had plenty of legitimate reasons to do so.

After all, the tournament hosts:

— Beat the No. 1-ranked team in the country, according to Golfstat, by outdueling Southern California in a head-to-head matchup on Wednesday.

— One of their players, junior Alexis Keating, matched the low score in the 21-year history of the CU program as she fired a 5-under-par 66 on Wednesday. (Jessica Wallace, 2011, and Emily Talley, 2012, shot 6-under-par 66s on par-72 layouts.) Keating (pictured above being hugged), who tied for fifth individually, recorded the best 54-hole conference championship score ever by a CU player (3-under-par 210).

— Posted their best finish in their four years at the Pac-12 Championships, placing fifth. That may not sound like much, but when you consider the conference currently has six teams in the nation’s top 20, that’s pretty stout. And for the record, the No. 39 Buffs beat four teams ranked ahead of them: No. 1 USC, No. 16 Stanford, No. 18 Arizona State and No. 36 Cal.

— Put a CU player on the All-Pac-12 first team for the first time as sophomore Esther Lee (left) earned the honor after placing 12th Wednesday.

“Today in general was just amazing,” Keating said after her seven-birdie round. “It was so special. I think this is where we’re supposed to be. I think we’re surprising people, which makes it a lot of fun. I’m so proud of my team. I can’t even put it into words.”

Added CU coach Anne Kelly: “This is what college sports is all about.”

Arizona, ranked sixth in the nation, captured the Pac-12 team championship, giving the Wildcats three tournament titles in their last four events. They posted a 1-over-par 853 total, good for a five-stroke victory over No. 28 Oregon. No. 7 Washington (861) was third and No. 3 UCLA (862) fourth.

Colorado, hosting its first conference championships since 1999, used its home-course advantage to close with a 1-under-par 283, the best single-round CU score in conference championship history. That gave the Buffs 868 for three days, their best postseason total ever. CU started the day even with No. 1 USC, but was eight strokes better than the Trojans while playing in the same groups on Wednesday.

“The Pac-12 is an extremely difficult conference,” Lee said. “Every team, every school, is so good. This feels kind of like a breakthrough for us. Maybe now we’ll finally realize that we can compete with the best.”

This week at Boulder Country Club, Oregon junior Caroline Inglis (left) was the best out of a stellar field that featured two of the world’s top 10-ranked women’s amateurs. Inglis recorded the first individual victory of her college career, and her 206 score was the best overall in Pac-12 Championships history, though not in relation to par. She became the first individual or team Pac-12 champion Oregon has produced.

“It’s awesome, really surreal,” said Inglis, who called it her top golf accomplishment. “I’m kind of speechless right now. The Pac-12s have such a great field. The are so many good players and so much good competition. That’s the part that makes it really special. I know I can stack up against them now.”

Inglis won despite a double bogey on No. 17, where she pulled her tee shot into the water and hit her approach over the green. But with her lead down to two, she nestled a chip shot on No. 18 to within a foot of the cup for a par to close with a 4-under 67.

UCLA’s Bronte Law, the 2014 English Women’s Amateur champion, and Arizona’s Lindsey Weaver tied for second place at 208. It was Weaver’s second consecutive runner-up finish at the Pac-12 meet. Noemi Jimenez of Arizona State, like Law ranked in the top 10 in the world among women’s amateurs, took fourth at 209.

Meanwhile, CU’s Keating shot the low round of her college career — by three strokes. She racked up seven birdies on the day, including ones on each of the last two holes. According to Boulder Country Club director of golf Kevin Bolles, she briefly held the women’s course record with her 66. Arizona’s Wanasa Zhou, playing just three groups behind Keating, proceeded to make the women’s course record her own with a bogey-free 6-under-par 65.

“It’s unbelievable,” Keating said of her day. “I can’t even explain the feelings I’m feeling right now. It’s so exciting to share this with my team and have them come and hug me after my last putt. It’s amazing, and having it be at one of our home courses makes it even that much more special.”

Noted Kelly about Keating: “She’s been so close all semester. I keep saying she’s hitting it like a tour pro, and she really is. For those birdies to finally convert for her is great. She kept knocking on the door and it finally opened for her. And her dad was watching. I’m thrilled for her.”

Lee, who had recorded five consecutive top-10 finishes, placed 12th on Wednesday at 215. CU teammate Brittany Fan (219) was 21st, Natalie Vivaldi (226) 38th, and Jamie Oleksiew (235) 51st.

CU will now wait for Monday’s announcement of the fields for the four NCAA regional tournaments. Arizona gained an automatic berth on Wednesday with its Pac-12 title, but the Buffs should have no problem earning an at-large spot.

For all the team and individual scores from the Pac-12 meet, CLICK HERE.
 

Here are the local scores for the various conference tournaments that concluded on Wednesday.

Pac-12 Women
April 20-22, 2015 (final) at Par-71 Boulder CC
5. (out of 11 teams) Colorado 296-289-283–868
5. Alexis Keating 72-72-66–210; 12. Esther Lee 76-68-71–215; 21. Brittany Fan 73-75-71–219; 38. Natalie Vivaldi 75-76-75–226; 51. Jamie Oleksiew 79-74-82–235.

Summit League Women
April 20-22, 2015 (final) in Seaside, Calif.
1. (out of 9 teams; won by 18) Denver 307-312-307–926
1. (won by 2) Elyse Smidinger 77-75-75–227; 3. Jessica Carty 74-82-75–231; 8. Isabel Southard 79-79-80–238; 8. Aleana Groenhout 83-78-77–238; 14. Mariell Bruun 77-80-84–241.

Mountain West Women
April 20-22, 2015 (final)  in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
6. (out of 9 teams) Colorado State 304-299-310–913
8. Allie Andersen 74-72-76–222; 11. Mikayla Tatman 75-75-74–224; 31. Elisabeth Rau 82-74-78–234; 39. Sarah Archuleta 78-81-82–241; 39. Jessa LaBarbera 77-78-86–241.
Also
14. Former Coloradan Paige Spiranac, San Diego State, 72-77-76–225; 29. Coloradan Samantha Stancato, Wyoming, 75-84-74–233; 43. Coloradan Taylor Dorans, Wyoming, 77-84-82–243.

Noemi Jimenez was named the Pac-12 Conference’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year in women’s golf on Sunday for her performance in the classroom. And on Wednesday she’d like nothing better than to pull off a clean sweep of sorts by winning the conference title.

The senior at Arizona State, who’s No. 6 in the women’s world amateur golf rankings, made a nice first step in that regard on Monday by posting one of just two sub-70 scores at Boulder Country Club in the first round of the 54-hole Pac-12 Conference meet.

Jimenez, a Spaniard, eagled her first hole (No. 10) from 25 feet on Monday — “it was a great eagle, I have to say,” she said — en route to a 2-under-par 69. That leaves the 2014 NCAA West Regional champion two strokes behind leader Caroline Inglis, a junior at Oregon.

“It would be the best week of the year” to capture both the scholarship award and the league title, said Jimenez (pictured above), who owns a 3.8 grade-point average as an Interdisciplinary Studies major. “I was really happy for the prize I received yesterday, so why not? If I can win the tournament too, that would be awesome. It would be really nice because I’m a senior.”

Inglis, who has posted top-10 finishes in each of her last four tournaments, made five birdies in her 67 on Monday. Six players joined Inglis and Jimenez in breaking par by opening with 70s. That includes UCLA’s Bronte Law, the No. 7-ranked women’s amateur in the world, and Stanford’s Mariah Stackhouse, who started her round with an eagle on the 389-yard, par-4 first hole.

With an even-par 284 total, Oregon leads the way team-wise in the Pac-12 meet, which features nine programs ranked in the top 40 in the nation. The Ducks entered the week No. 7 out of the Pac-12 teams, so it’s quite an upset that they’re on top after round 1. Defending champion Stanford (286) is second, while UCLA, ranked third in the country, is third at 287.

The host University of Colorado sits in eighth place at 296 despite its No. 1 player, sophomore Esther Lee, struggling to a 76, a score four strokes above her spring average.

“We’re a little disappointed,” CU coach Anne Kelly said. “It wasn’t our best start — a couple of the players did mention they were more nervous on the first tee today than they have been for a long time — but the team seemed to settle in and finished up pretty well. Unfortunately, Esther just had a bad day. She’s a great player, but in golf that happens. I’m proud of the other girls for stepping up and playing pretty well.”

Junior Alexis Keating led the way for CU with a 1-over-par 72, good for 12th place after a three-putt bogey on the 18th hole.

“I’m feeling really good about everything, but I just needed a few more putts to drop,” she said. “There were a couple of tough pin placements but it was a ton of fun. It had a blast.”

Inglis (left) seemed to have a better handle on the greens than just about anyone as she holed “five or six” putts of longer than 15 feet.

“It was a good day. It was fun,” she said. “I putted really well. I didn’t even hit the ball that well, but my putting was really good today. I wasn’t hitting it close, but I was making a lot of 15-, 20-, 25-footers, which isn’t always the case in golf. It was pretty nice to have some of those go in. … I know my game and I know I’m cable of going low, (but) 67 is an awesome score.”

Inglis’ Oregon team is ranked No. 28 in the nation, according to Golfstat — which is pretty good, but not great by Pac-12 standards.

“Going into postseason, it’s kind of ‘go time’,” she said. “It’s time to peak and play well. It’s a great start to the tournament. Hopefully we can follow it up with more good rounds.”

Meanwhile, 2013 NCAA champion Annie Park from Southern California opened with a 74 and shares 26th place.

For all the team and individual scores, CLICK HERE.
 

Here are the local scores for the various conference tournaments being played early this week.

Pac-12 Women
April 20-22, 2015 at Par-71 Boulder CC
8. (out of 11 teams) Colorado 296
12. Alexis Keating 72; 21. Brittany Fan 73; 33. Natalie Vivaldi 75; 37. Esther Lee 76; 49. Jamie Oleksiew 79.

Summit League Women
April 20-22, 2015 in Seaside, Calif.
T1. (out of 9 teams) Denver 307
*1. Jessica Carty 74; *7. Elyse Smidinger 77; *7. Mariell Bruun 77; *13. Isabel Southard 79; 25. Aleana Groenhout 83.
* — indicates an All-Summit League first-team player.

Mountain West Women
April 20-22, 2015 in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
7. (out of 9 teams) Colorado State 304
9. Allie Andersen 74; 14. Mikayla Tatman 75; 24. Jessa LaBarbera 77; 29. Sarah Archuleta 78; 41. Elisabeth Rau 82.
Also
3. Former Coloradan Paige Spiranac, San Diego State, 72; 14. Coloradan Samantha Stancato, Wyoming, 75; 24. Coloradan Taylor Dorans, Wyoming, 77.

Big Sky Women
April 19-21, 2015 in Chandler, Ariz.
7. (out of 12 teams) Northern Colorado 303-312–615
2. Amanda Myers 71-72–143; 28. Baile Winslow 78-78–156; 37. Nicole Okada 76-82–158; 41. Christina Ferreira 78-81–159; 50. Kala Keltz 89-81–170.
Also
33. Coloradan Jaylee Tait, Montana State, 81-76–157.

RMAC Women
April 20-21, 2015 in Avondale, Ariz.
Colorado-Based Team Scores — 1. Metro State 301; 3. CSU-Pueblo 308; 4. Regis 310; 5. Colorado Mesa 314; 6. Adams State 315; 7. CU-Colorado Springs 318; 8. Colorado Christian 334; 12. Fort Lewis 372.
Top 5 Individuals — 1. (tie) Leina Kim, CSU-Pueblo 69; Mary Driscol, Western New Mexico 69; 3. (tie) Cha Cha Willhoite, Metro State, 72; Bobbi Pierson, Western New Mexico 72; 5. (tie) Julie Sanchez, CSU-Pueblo, 74; Nathalie Gallacher, Metro State, 74; Nicole Hulbert, Regis, 74.

RMAC Men
April 20-21, 2015 in Goodyear, Ariz.
Colorado-Based Team Scores — 1. Colorado School of Mines 300-281–581; 3. CSU-Pueblo 292-296–588; 4. Colorado Christian 296-303–599; 5. CU-Colorado Springs 304-300–604 and Colorado Mesa 302-302–604; 7. Regis 293-314–607; 8. Fort Lewis 329-310–639; 9. Adams State 323-327–650.
Top 5 Individuals — 1. Nick Berry, Mines, 74-64–138; 2. Patrick Skakel, CU-Colorado Springs, 70-71–141; 3. (tie) Nathaniel Goddard, Colorado Christian, 74-74–145; Conrad Smith, Mines, 75-70–145; 5. (tie) Hayden Ritter, CSU-Pueblo, 73-73–146; Calum Hill, Western New Mexico, 72-74–146.