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.

In fact, there will be five such events held in Colorado next month. We’ll give a rundown on those later in this story, but first let’s note the two new or reinstated tournaments on the local schedule — both set for after the September rush.

First, as has been previously reported, the University of Denver women’s program will bring back the Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate Oct. 10-12 at Highlands Ranch Golf Club. The tournament was last held in 2009. Moore, a Colorado Golf Hall of Famer, was a major supporter of DU athletics, and in 2011, the Moore family donated Highlands Ranch Golf Club to the university.

But the real eye-catching college tournament that will be conducted in Colorado during the 2014-15 season will be the Pac-12 Conference Women’s Championships, set for April 20-22 at Boulder Country Club.

The University of Colorado, of course, switched to the Pac-12 three years ago, but this is the golf program’s first chance to host the conference championships. And what a conference it is from a women’s golf perspective.

Barring the unforeseen, the field at Boulder Country Club in the spring will include the defending NCAA Division I champion (Doris Chen of Southern California) and three other top-seven finishers from the 2014 national finals (Lauren Kim of Stanford, Manon Gidali of Arizona and Louise Ridderstrom of UCLA). Also expected to be on hand at BCC are Alison Lee of UCLA, currently the No. 3-ranked women’s amateur golfer in the world, and Noemi Jimenez of Arizona State, presently No. 9 among the world’s top women’s amateurs.

The Pac-12 field in Boulder will feature four of the top seven team finishers from the 2014 NCAA finals — Southern California (second), UCLA (third), Arizona State (fifth) and Arizona (seventh) — along with seven of the top 22.

And besides CU hosting and competing in the event, adding local flavor will be the presence of former longtime University of Denver coach Sammie Chergo, who is just beginning her first season as head coach at Oregon State.

As for the men’s golfers from Colorado-based Division I programs, four of the five local teams (Air Force, Colorado, Colorado State and Northern Colorado) will begin their seasons at Air Force’s Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational Sept. 6-7 at Eisenhower Golf Club. Other Division I tournaments set for Colorado are CSU’s Ram Masters Invitational at Fort Collins Country Club Sept. 15-16, and the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational at Colorado National Golf Club in Erie Sept. 29-30.

On the women’s side, September tournaments in Colorado include CSU’s Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic at Ptarmigan Country Club in Fort Collins Sept. 8-9, and the Golfweek Conference Challenge at Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott Sept. 22-24.

Here’s a rundown of all this season’s NCAA Division I tournaments scheduled in Colorado, with the local participating teams:

MEN

Sept. 6-7 — Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, Eisenhower GC at Air Force Academy (Air Force, CU, CSU, UNC).

Sept. 15-16 — Ram Masters Invitational, Fort Collins CC (CSU, DU, Air Force, UNC).

Sept. 29-30 — Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, Colorado National GC in Erie (CU, DU, Air Force, UNC).

WOMEN

Sept. 8-9 — Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic, Ptarmigan CC in Fort Collins (CU, CSU, UNC)

Sept. 22-24 — Golfweek Conference Challenge, Red Sky GC in Wolcott (CU, DU)

Oct. 10-12 — Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate, Highlands Ranch GC (DU, UNC)

April 20-22 — Pac-12 Conference Women’s Championships, Boulder CC (CU)