Bronte Law doesn’t loom large stature-wise — she checks in at about 5-foot-4 — but she has made a habit of coming up big when she laces up her golf shoes.

Her record over the last year speaks for itself: 2014 English Women’s Amateur champ, third-place individual finish in the Women’s World Amateur Team Championships last September, two individual college titles this season, and currently No. 7 in the women’s world amateur ranks.

And on Tuesday in the Pac-12 Women’s Championships at Boulder Country Club, the UCLA sophomore showed what sets her apart as a 4-under-par 67 gave her the individual lead in arguably the toughest conference meet in the country.

Even though she’s relatively small, the 20-year-old has laid down the Law by regularly hitting it by most of her competitors. That’s led to her playing the three par-5s at Boulder Country Club in 5 under par for two days.

“For a short person, I don’t hit it too short,” she said with a smile on Tuesday. “It definitely gives me a huge advantage. Some of the par-5s today, I was hitting driver-6-iron, which makes a huge difference with some of the girls hitting 3-wood or they can’t reach (the green in two). I use it to my advantage. Because I hit it pretty straight as well, it definitely helps here. But knowing where to push it and hold back is really important on this course.”

After finishing birdie-birdie on Tuesday, Law (pictured above) sits at 5-under-par 137 going into Wednesday’s final round. Teammate Erynne Lee (70-68) is in second place, so it should come as no surprise that the No. 3-ranked Bruins share the team lead after two rounds. But the fact that No. 28 Oregon is tied for the top spot with them at 5-over-par 573 is noteworthy, especially with four of the top seven teams in the country competing in Boulder this week.

No. 6 Arizona (574) and No. 7 Washington (576) are also both still in the hunt for the Pac-12 title.

The host University of Colorado, ranked 39th by Golfstat, jumped three spots on the leaderboard on Tuesday, now sharing fifth place with top-ranked Southern California at 585. And the Buffs surged despite four of their five players bogeying their final hole (No. 9) on Tuesday. That includes CU’s top two players this week, Esther Lee and Alexis Keating, who missed par putts of inside 2 1/2 feet to conclude their rounds.

“We’d like to play No. 9 over,” said coach Anne Kelly, whose Buffs nevertheless cut seven strokes off their first-round total. “In every tournament, especially this one, you can’t let shots like that slip away. But overall it can’t take away from the way the (CU golfers) played today and how hard they fought. I’m really proud of them.”

Indeed, despite the rough finish, CU recorded the fourth-best score on Tuesday (289).

“I knew we would play better today,” Keating said. “We had some girls that didn’t play their best (Monday). I had full faith that they were going to come out today and make up for that. We’re a team and we’re here for each other. We play well for each other and pick up the slack when it’s needed. That’s what we do.”

Lee (left) and Keating share 12th place individually at 2-over-par 144. While Keating fired her second straight 72, Lee rebounded from a 76 Monday to post a 68 on Tuesday. The Buffs’ top player didn’t make a bogey until missing her 30-inch putt on her final hole.

“It lipped around the entire hole,” said the sophomore transfer from Duke. “If I even tried to do that, I couldn’t. It was some bad luck.

“But overall today was a lot better (than Monday). I kind of pulled myself out of my head a little bit. I was so focused yesterday on trying to go low that I kind of put a mental block on myself and I wasn’t feeling my game like I normally would. Today I just tried to be myself and more calm and just feel the club and the ball instead of forcing it.”

Lee, a native of Pueblo who moved to California as a 6-year-old, is looking for her sixth consecutive top-10 individual finish in the spring portion of the schedule.

As for Law, though the individual title is within her grasp as she holds a one-stroke lead, that isn’t her priority.

“That’s not something I’m thinking about right now,” said Law, who is one of the main contenders for the Annika Award, given to the top women’s college player in the country. “My main priority is to play well for the team. There’s no other focus than to be the best person I can be.”

This week marks the second big tournament Law has played in Colorado. In 2013, she represented Europe in the 2013 Junior Solheim Cup that was contested at Inverness Golf Club.

Joining Law and Lee in the hunt for the individual title are Arizona State’s Noemi Jimenez, Arizona’s Lindsey Weaver and first-round leader Caroline Inglis of Oregon, who share third place at 139. Jimenez, the No. 6-ranked women’s amateur in the world, made it to 7 under par overall on Tuesday, but played her final six holes in 4 over par. Earlier in the round, she eagled the 389-yard, par-4 first hole (her 10th).

Wednesday’s final-round tee times will range from 9 to 10:52 a.m.

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
5. (out of 11 teams) Colorado 296-289–585
12. Esther Lee 76-68–144; 12. Alexis Keating 72-72–144; 25. Brittany Fan 73-75–148; 35. Natalie Vivaldi 75-76–151; 42. Jamie Oleksiew 79-74–153.

Summit League Women
April 20-22, 2015 in Seaside, Calif.
1. (out of 9 teams; leads by 8) Denver 307-312–619
2. Elyse Smidinger 77-75–152; 4. Jessica Carty 74-82–156; 5. Mariell Bruun 77-80–157; 9. Isabel Southard 79-79–158; 17. Aleana Groenhout 83-78–161.

Mountain West Women
April 20-22, 2015 in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
6. (out of 9 teams) Colorado State 304-299–603
5. Allie Andersen 74-72–146; 14. Mikayla Tatman 75-75–150; 28. Jessa LaBarbera 77-78–155; 30. Elisabeth Rau 82-74–156; 37. Sarah Archuleta 78-81–159.
Also
10. Former Coloradan Paige Spiranac, San Diego State, 72-77–149; 37. Coloradan Samantha Stancato, Wyoming, 75-84–159; 40. Coloradan Taylor Dorans, Wyoming, 77-84–161.

Big Sky Women
April 19-21, 2015 (final) in Chandler, Ariz.
7. (out of 12 teams) Northern Colorado 303-312-305–920
4. Amanda Myers 71-72-80–223; 21. Baile Winslow 78-78-74–230; 29. Christina Ferreira 78-81-74–233; 34. Nicole Okada 76-82-78–236; 50. Kala Keltz 89-81-79–249.
Also
11. Coloradan Jaylee Tait, Montana State, 81-76-69–226.

RMAC Women
April 20-21, 2015 (final) in Avondale, Ariz.
Colorado-Based Team Scores — 1. Metro State 301-298–599; 2. CSU-Pueblo 308-310–618; 6. Regis 310-329–639; 4. Colorado Mesa 314-311–625; 5. Adams State 315-311–626; 7. CU-Colorado Springs 318-328–646; 8. Colorado Christian 334-325–659; 12. Fort Lewis 372-386–758.
Top 5 Individuals — 1. Leina Kim, CSU-Pueblo 69-66–135; 2. Julie Sanchez, CSU-Pueblo, 74-71–145; 3. (tie) Cha Cha Willhoite, Metro State, 72-75–147; Nathalie Gallacher, Metro State, 74-73–147; Bobbi Pierson, Western New Mexico 72-75–147.

RMAC Men
April 20-21, 2015 (final) in Goodyear, Ariz.
Colorado-Based Team Scores — (1. Western New Mexico won with an 883 total); 2. Colorado School of Mines 300-281-307–888; 3. Colorado Christian 296-303-290–889; 4. CSU-Pueblo 292-296-305–893; 5. CU-Colorado Springs 304-300-305–909; 6. Colorado Mesa 302-302-318–922; 7. Regis 293-314-317–924; 8. Fort Lewis 329-310-314–953; 10. Adams State 323-327-326–990.
Top 5 Individuals — 1. (tie) Nathaniel Goddard, Colorado Christian, 74-74-72–217; Nick Berry, Mines, 74-64-79–217; Harry Wetton, Western New Mexico, 71-76-70–217; 4. Patrick Skakel, CU-Colorado Springs, 70-71-77–218; 5. Andrew Kennedy, Colorado Christian, 71-76-72–219.
 

In fact, what happened in Daytona Beach had a major impact on the field of one of the bigger golf tournaments that will be held in the Centennial State in 2015.

Colorado — specifically, Boulder Country Club — will host the Pac-12 Women’s Golf Championships April 20-22. And considering four of the top six women’s golf teams in the Golfweek national rankings are from the Pac-12, suffice it to say that quite a few of the best women’s amateurs in the world will be coming to Boulder to compete in the spring.

But after what happened in Florida on Sunday, the field will be somewhat less stellar.

Golf is one of the rare college sports where it’s not particularly unusual for some of the best competitors to leave programs in the middle of the season. It happened two years ago when Jordan Spieth exited the University of Texas during the winter break. Closer to home, Sue Kim left the University of Denver women’s program in mid-season several years ago to go pro and eventually made it to the LPGA Tour.

And on Sunday at the LPGA Q-school finals, three Pac-12 women’s players — all among the best in women’s amateur golf — qualified for the LPGA Tour. All three immediately turned professional, thereby hastily ending their college careers. And, of course, that means that the Pac-12 Championships Boulder Country Club is hosting suddenly lost three of its top competitors.

And these certainly weren’t just any players. They include the No. 1 and No. 2 women’s college golfers in the country, according to Golfweek — senior SooBin Kim of Washington and sophomore Alison Lee of UCLA — along with No. 19 Jing Yan, Kim’s freshman teammate at Washington.

Lee, who played on the U.S. team for the Junior Solheim Cup at Inverness Golf Club in Englewood during the summer of 2013 (pictured above), shared medalist honors in the 90-hole LPGA qualifying finals on Sunday with Australian Minjee Lee.

“I don’t have any words to express how I feel right now,” Alison Lee said. “On the green when I made my putt for par and when I realized I got my LPGA card, I was just filled with joy. Then I got off, and I just thought about what it meant to be pro and I thought about my team and my school and my coach and it kind of did make me sad.”

Kim, meanwhile, tied for 11th place, also earning her LPGA card, while Yan placed 34th and gained conditional LPGA status.

No doubt the departures of those players will take a toll on Washington — the No. 1-ranked women’s program in the nation — and No. 3 UCLA. Lee won the Pac-12 Preview tournament last month — in her final college event, as it turned out. Kim finished a stroke behind Lee there, and won one fall tournament, while Yan won another.

Not having those players at Boulder Country Club in April certainly is a blow, but that doesn’t mean the field won’t still be packed with top players. Barring the unforeseen, the defending NCAA Division I champion (Doris Chen of Southern California) will be on hand, along with three other top-seven finishers from the 2014 national finals (Lauren Kim of Stanford, Manon Gidali of Arizona and Louise Ridderstrom of UCLA).

In fact, after the fall portion of the college schedule, eight of the top 18 ranked women’s college golfers in the country — not counting Lee, SooBin Kim and Yan — come from Pac-12 schools.
 

But this year’s Colorado tournament schedule isn’t just a one-hit wonder.

Here are some of the other highlights and/or notable golf tournaments the state will host in 2013:

— On May 29, the West Course at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs will be one of just 20 sites nationally where Sectional qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Open will be held. Competitors will vie over 36 holes for spots in the 2013 Women’s Open, set for Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., June 27-30.

Last year, the Broadmoor qualifier produced two U.S. Open contestants from Colorado: Becca Huffer and Kelly Jacques (pictured).

— The Broadmoor’s West Course also will host U.S. Senior Open Sectional qualifying. The 18-hole test on June 17 will be one of 34 conducted across the country for the Senior Open, which is scheduled for Omaha Country Club July 11-14.

And though Colorado lost its U.S. Open Sectional qualifier several years ago, three Local qualifying tournaments are set in the state: May 6 at Desert Hawk in Pueblo West and May 13 at Heritage at Westmoor in Westminster and Collindale in Fort Collins.

— Some of the best female junior golfers from the U.S. and Europe will compete against one another in a Solheim Cup-related event in Colorado. The seventh Ping Junior Solheim Cup will be held Aug. 12-14 at Inverness Golf Club in Englewood.

Each team will include 12 players, age 12-18, with the contestants being finalized in July.

World Golf Hall of Famer Kathy Whitworth will captain the U.S. Junior Solheim Cup team, while Scotland’s Janice Moodie will lead the European squad.

— The PGA Junior Series, which features strong national and local fields for both boys and girls, will return to Eisenhower Golf Club at the Air Force Academy June 25-27.

Last year’s PGA Junior Series event at Eisenhower Golf Club was canceled at the last minute due to the Waldo Canyon Fire that burned near Colorado Springs.

— The Colorado Cup matches, where some of the best CGA/CWGA amateurs face their counterparts from the Colorado PGA, will be played on just one day this year after traditionally being a two-day affair. The 2013 Cup matches are set for June 5 at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora.

— In hopes of improving the field for both events, the typical dates of the HealthOne Colorado Women’s Open and the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open have been flopped this year. The seniors will compete May 29-31, with the women set for Sept. 4-6, and Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver again will host both tournaments.

The HealthOne Colorado Open will remain in its usual date slot, with the tournament scheduled for July 25-28 at GVR.

— As for the state’s top amateur championships, here’s the lineup: the CGA Match Play, first held in 1901, July 8-12 at Bear Creek Golf Club; the CGA Stroke Play, which dates back to 1937, Aug. 8-11 at Pinehurst Country Club; the CWGA Stroke Play, originally held in 1948, June 26-28 at the Ranch Country Club; and the CWGA Match Play, first contested in 1916, July 15-17 at the Club at Rolling Hills.

— Neither the boys nor girls Junior America’s Cup will be held in Colorado this year, but four of the state’s best boys players will have quite a treat this summer.

A year after the Colorado Girls’ Junior America’s Cup team got to compete in Maui, it’s the boys’ turn this time to head to Hawaii. The squad representing the CGA will play in the event July 30-Aug. 1. The girls, meanwhile, will be in Albuquerque this year, on the same dates.

— For the first time in recent years, the Colorado PGA Professional Championship — the highlight of the Colorado PGA tournament schedule — will be contested on the Western Slope. This summer’s tournament is set for Sept. 9-11 at the Fazio Course at Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott.

— The Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, which combines a college tournament with a high school all-star event, is set for Sept. 23-24 at Erie’s Colorado National Golf Club. The University of Colorado will host the tournament, which includes a separate competition — the CJGA Collegiate High School Invitational — featuring about 10 of the best boys players in the state.

— Top CJGA players will have the pleasure of competing at Cherry Hills Country Club — home of the PGA Tour’s 2014 BMW Championship — for the CJGA Tournament of Champions Oct. 5-6. A couple of months earlier, the CJGA 14-18 Junior Series Championship will go out of the norm in being held at two sites: Colorado Springs Country Club Aug. 5 and the Country Club of Colorado Aug. 6.