A year ago, she dealt up some absolutely miserable weather conditions for the first round of the men’s NCAA regional at the course. And on Friday, she gave the women’s NCAA regional a taste of the same.

With the host University of Colorado playing in low-40-degree temperatures and intermittent rain on Friday afternoon, the Buffs remained on the bubble in their attempt to qualify for the NCAA Championship Finals for the first time in program history.

CU, seeded fourth in the 24-team field and ranked 10th or 11th in the nation, dropped to ninth place in the team standings at the NCAA West Regional. The Buffs need to finish in the top eight after Saturday’s final round to advance to the finals, scheduled for May 22-25 in Franklin, Tenn. CU is one stroke out of eighth place and two out of seventh.

The problem is, the Buffs may have to play the pivotal final round with four golfers instead of five, which would be a big disadvantage given that the best four scores any given day count toward the team total. Sophomore Alex Stewart, who leads the team in stroke average, withdrew from round 2 after 14 holes on Friday due to illness. Because she was 8 over par for the round at the time, her score likely would have been the one CU threw out on Friday, so the withdrawal didn’t have an immediate effect. If she can return Saturday, her score can help the team total, but if she can’t, CU won’t be able to toss out its high score.

“We need five (Saturday),” coach Anne Kelly said. “It’s a lot of pressure going in (if Stewart is out), but we’ll deal with it if it happens.”

Added senior Emily Talley (pictured): “I hope Alex is feeling better because then the weight won’t be on just four of us.”

The Buffs did easily win a tournament in October 2010 at Colorado National with only four players competing in the final round after several teammates were involved in a three-car accident the night before. But the field for the CU Heather Farr Memorial Invitational is not what it is for the NCAA West Regional.

“Alex is a very big part of this team, so obviously not having her in the lineup will hurt a bit,” said senior Jessica Wallace, the individual champion at the 2010 Heather Farr tournament. “But (last time it happened) everyone kind of stepped up. We’ve done it before so I’m very confident in the four players that are for sure playing tomorrow and if Alex is able to play, it’s just a welcome addition.”

With a 22-over-par 598 total, CU will go into the final round 18 strokes off the pace being set by leader Stanford. But more importantly, the Buffs are just five strokes removed from fifth place and six shots removed from 16th place.

Yes, it’s that close.

“Going in, we were the fourth seed, and I feel if we don’t finish that or better we’ll be a little disappointed,” said Talley, who bogeyed all four par-5s on Friday. “But if we can make it to nationals we’ll be pleased no matter what.”

On Friday, sophomore Jennifer Coleman dealt with the inclement weather the best, shooting an even-par 72. But no other Buff broke 75. It was similar to Thursday in that regard. Also similar is that CU didn’t finish its round well. On Friday, the Buffs went 3 over par just on No. 18, with Wallace taking a double bogey and Kristin Coleman a bogey.

The Buffs hope those trends don’t continue on Saturday.

“I know (we’re) not where we wanted to be,” Wallace said. “But the fact of the matter is, we play well tomorrow and we’ve got it.”

Both of the other Colorado-based schools also struggled on Friday. The University of Denver, making an NCAA regionals appearance for the 11th straight year, posted a 311 score and stands at 615 overall, good for 19th place. The University of Northern Colorado (324 for a 635 total) is in 23rd place in the 24-team field.

Catherine O’Donnell of North Carolina leads the individual competition after two rounds as she’s carded scores of 70-69 for a 5-under 139 total.

The Coleman sisters and Colorado State senior Brianna Espinoza are the top individuals from Colorado schools, all standing in 30th place at 5-over-par 149. Also at that figure is former Colorado state high school champion Somin Lee, a freshman at Pepperdine.

Another former state high school champ, New Mexico’s Beth Buchner, struggled to an 81 on Friday, which left her at 157 overall.

CU will tee off No. 10 on Saturday beginning at 7:30 a.m., while DU and UNC will start at 12:55 p.m. off Nos. 1 and 10, respectively.

Admission is free for spectators.

NCAA West Regional
At Par-72 Colorado National GC in Erie

9. Colorado 297-301–598
30. Jennifer Coleman 77-72–149; 30. Kristin Coleman 71-78–149; 40. Jessica Wallace 75-75–150; 54. Emily Talley 76-76–152; 126. Alex Stewart 75-NS.

19. Denver 304-311–615
54. Kelly Drack 75-77–152; 63. Tonje Daffinrud 76-77–153; 71. Rachael Watton 76-78–154; 91. Sarah Faller 77-79–156; 111. Anna Christenson 77-84–161.

23. Northern Colorado 311-324–635
54. Carleigh Silvers 75-77–152; 95. Chelsea Silvers 78-79–157; 117. Hannah McNeley 80-83–163; 120. Libby Avery 78-90–168; 121. Ali Nelson 84-85–169.

Other Scores of Local Interest
30. Somin Lee, Pepperdine, 75-74–149; 30. Brianna Espinoza, Colorado State, 76-73–149; 95. Beth Bucher, New Mexico, 76-81–157.

For complete scores, CLICK HERE. 
 

With the CU women’s golf team on the bubble in an NCAA regional it’s hosting at Colorado National Golf Club in Erie, the Buffs have some work to do if they’re to qualify for the national championship finals for the first time in program history.

So Talley and Wallace’s focus will be on rallying the team rather than donning a cap and gown.

“This is more important to me than the graduation ceremony would be,” said Wallace, who still has to take a couple of classes next month to receive her diploma.

“This is enough like a graduation out here,” Talley added, speaking of the regional tournament. “You’re ‘walking’ on your home course. This is awesome. This is where it is right now.”

But given that the Buffs are the 10th- or 11th-ranked team in the nation — and the No. 4 seed at the NCAA West Regional at Colorado National — they were hoping for a better opening round on Thursday. With a 9-over-par 297 total on their home course, the Buffs are in a three-way tie for seventh place in the 24-team field and trail leader Stanford by 10 strokes.

The top eight team finishers after 54 holes will earn berths in the NCAA Championship Finals.

The 297 total “probably is (disappointing), but we need to just take it one round at a time and definitely try to improve our score the next two rounds,” said sophomore Alex Stewart, CU’s No. 1 player.

Sophomore Kristin Coleman (pictured), the Buffs’ No. 5 player, matched her lowest score of the season by shooting a 1-under-par 71. That gives her a share of fourth place individually, four strokes behind leader Sydney Burlison of Stanford.

The problem was, no CU teammate followed Coleman’s lead. Stewart and Wallace carded 75s, Talley posted a 76 and Jennifer Coleman a 77.

And the end of the round wasn’t something to write home about. Talley went 5 over par for her last six holes and Stewart went 2 over for her last five, while Wallace went 4 over from her 12th through 16th holes.

“The greens are like U.S. Open greens,” CU coach Anne Kelly said. “They’re super fast. We’ve never seen the greens this fast before. But it’s great experience for these players. It is a championship course for sure.”

As for the other two Colorado-based teams competing, the University of Denver, making its 11th consecutive NCAA regional appearance, stands in 17th place at 304, while Northern Colorado is 21st at 311. The positive news is that the field is tightly packed, with the 10 teams from 10th to 19th place all within eight strokes of the final national qualifying spot.

“A day like today, you can lose the tournament; you don’t want to shoot yourself out of it,” DU coach Sammie Chergo said. “We did just OK. I don’t think anyone is happy with how they played today, but the good news is we’re in the middle of the pack and we have two days to go.”

DU junior Kelly Drack was high on the leaderboard after being 2 under par through 10 holes, but she went 5 over down the stretch and made a double bogey on the final hole when she pulled her second shot into a creek bed. Still, she led DU with a score of 75.

Talley, a four-year standout for CU, was likewise upset with her finish. She was 1 under par through 12 holes before finishing at 76.

“I had my first four-putt ever so that was no fun,” Talley said, referring to her four strokes from 30 feet on her 17th hole, No. 8 at Colorado National. “The greens are getting fast and I’m just a little hesitant with the putting. Other than that, I thought I hit the ball pretty well, but going 4 over in the last three holes is not a good way to finish. That’s no fun.

“It’ll be OK. We have two more rounds and we’re not too far off (the pace). We’re not in trouble. But being on your home course, you’re like, ‘I should know these greens. I should be comfortable on these greens.'”

Kristin Coleman, the first CU player off, had her best scoring round since the opening day of the season last September. She made five birdies, offset by four bogeys.

“It was a good round,” said Coleman, who is trying to keep an even-keel regardless of the stakes involved. “It’s just another tournament. It’s not any more pressure” than usual.

Kelly was certainly impressed by how her No. 5 player delivered on a day in which the other Buffs were just OK.

“Kristin did great,” Kelly said. “I’m really proud of her. She’s been working hard. You can tell she’s been close and she really came through today.”

The Buffs will begin their second round on Friday at 12:56 p.m. DU will start at 7:30 a.m. and UNC at 8:25.

CHIP SHOTS: In Friday’s second round, Talley and former CU teammate Emily Childs of Cal will be paired together at 1:07 p.m. Childs transferred from CU to Cal after her freshman season. … Somin Lee of Pepperdine, who grew up in the Denver area, shot a 3-over-par 75 in Thursday’s first round. Another Coloradan playing for an out-of-state school, Beth Buchner of New Mexico, opened with a 76. … Colorado State senior Brianna Espinoza, competing only as an individual, also posted a 76 on Thursday. … Eddie Payton, older brother of the late Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton, coaches the Jackson State women’s golf team, which is in 24th — and last place — after Thursday’s first round. … With Colorado National having some of its carts decked out in the colors and insignia of Pac-12 Conference schools, representatives from the five participating conference teams (CU, Stanford, Cal, UCLA and Oregon State) are riding around in “personalized” carts. … UCLA, the defending national champion and the top-ranked team in the country, stands in third place after the first round and trails leader Stanford by three.

NCAA West Regional

At Par-72 Colorado National GC in Erie

7. Colorado 297
4. Kristin Coleman 71; 42. Alex Stewart 75; 42. Jessica Wallace 75; 54. Emily Talley 76; 70. Jennifer Coleman 77.

17. Denver 304
42. Kelly Drack 75; 54. Tonje Daffinrud 76; 54. Rachael Watton 76; 70. Anna Christenson 77; 70. Sarah Faller 77.

21. Northern Colorado 311

42. Carleigh Silvers 75; 82. Chelsea Silvers 78; 82. Libby Avery 78; 106. Hannah McNeley 80; 120. Ali Nelson 84.

Other Scores of Local Interest
42. Somin Lee, Pepperdine, 75; 54. Brianna Espinoza, Colorado State, 76; 54. Beth Bucher, New Mexico, 76.

For complete scores, CLICK HERE. 
 

After an off-season lull that lasted the better part of seven months, the next three weeks are jam-packed with a variety of tournaments. In addition to several state championships, there’s the always-intriguing U.S. Open qualifying and the first women’s NCAA regional ever held in the state.

The schedule runs the gamut from the girls state high school championships to the CGA Super-Senior Match Play for competitors 60 and older.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the key events that will take place in the next three weeks:

— The CGA Four-Ball Championship, set for Friday through Sunday at Legacy Ridge in Westminster, marks the first of 14 CGA Championships in 2012. The scratch best-ball stroke-play event, with open and senior divisions, will be contested over 54 holes.

Danny Riskam and Pete Mangold will defend their open-division title, while Keith Masters and John Applegate will try to make it two straight in the senior category. All told, 60 two-man teams will compete.

— Local qualifying for the U.S. Open, the first of two stages of Open qualifying, will take place at three sites in Colorado. A total of 236 players will vie at Walking Stick in Pueblo (Monday), the Heritage at Westmoor in Westminster (May 14) or Collindale in Fort Collins (May 14).

Five players from each site will earn spots in the 36-hole Sectional qualifying, which will be contested at 13 sites around the world, though there is no longer a Colorado-based Sectional.

The Open itself is set for The Olympic Club in San Francisco June 14-17.

A number of golfers who have qualified for the U.S. Open in the past are in the Local qualifiers in Colorado. Among them is Steve Irwin (pictured), son of three-time U.S. Open champion Hale Irwin. Steve Irwin, who advanced to last year’s Open after successfully negotiating the Local and Sectional qualifying, will be in the field at Walking Stick.

Other former U.S. Open competitors in Colorado-based Local qualifying include Tom Glissmeyer (Walking Stick) and Derek Tolan (Heritage), who both earned Open berths as 16-year-olds; Ben Portie (Heritage); Jason Preeo (Collindale); Dustin White (playing in his former hometown at Walking Stick); and former PGA Tour player Wil Collins (Walking Stick).

Also competing are Nationwide Tour player James Love (Walking Stick), 2010 Utah Open champion Nick Mason (Walking Stick), onetime Nationwide Tour winner Scott Petersen (Heritage) and high school phenom Wyndham Clark (Collindale).

In all, 9,006 entries were accepted for this year’s U.S. Open.

— The women’s NCAA West Regional, hosted by the highly ranked University of Colorado team, will be contested May 10-12 at Colorado National Golf Club in Erie.

UCLA, the top-ranked women’s team in the nation, is in the field.

For more on the West Regional, click here. 

— The first non-team championship on the CGA schedule is the CGA Senior Match Play and Super Senior Match Play, set for May 14-18 at Red Hawk Ridge in Castle Rock.

David Delich will defend his title, while 2011 CGA Senior Stroke Play champ Jerry Kidney is also in the field.

— A new event on the CGA schedule, the Mid-Amateur Match Play, will make its debut May 18-20 at Heritage Todd Creek in Thornton. That means mid-amateur players (25 and older) now have both stroke play and match play championships run by the CGA.

Keith Humerickhouse has won the last two CGA Mid-Amateurs, which has a stroke-play format.

— Two classifications of girls state high school tournaments will battle it out on May 21 and 22. The 5A meet, featuring the state’s largest schools, is set for Aurora Hills, while the 4A competition will be at Boomerang in Greeley.

Overland senior SeungHa Choi will be looking for her second straight 5A title, while a new champion will be crowned in 4A after 2011 winner Lindsay McGetrick of Valor Christian graduated.
 

Mission accomplished.

Three Colorado-based Division I teams — the host University of Colorado and conference champions University of Denver and University of Northern Colorado — will be in the 24-school field for the NCAA West Regional set for May 10-12 at Colorado National Golf Club in Erie. And Colorado State senior Brianna Espinoza will be one of six individuals competing.

In addition, freshman Somin Lee, whose hole-in-one during the West Coast Conference Championship helped Pepperdine to the title, will be returning to play in her home state.

The regional fields were announced Monday night by the NCAA Women’s Division I golf committee.

In addition to the local players, the competitors in Erie will include the defending NCAA champion UCLA Bruins and North Dakota State’s Amy Anderson, the 2009 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion.

Four players ranked among the top 10 in women’s college golf will tee it up in Colorado (best national ranking noted): Erynne Lee of UCLA (2); Lee Lopez of UCLA (6); Tiffany Lua of UCLA (7); and Anderson (9).

And four programs in the top 10 national team rankings will be bound for Erie (best national ranking noted): UCLA (1), North Carolina (6), LSU (6) and Cal (9).

“It’s a tough field,” said CU coach Anne Kelly, whose team is seeded fourth in the West Regional. “There are 8-12 really good teams, but all of the regionals have that. That’s what it’s all about. You’ve got to play the best to be the best.”

The top eight team finishers (and two individuals not on those teams) at Colorado National — and each of the other two regional sites in State College, Pa., and Columbus, Ohio — will advance to the Div. I NCAA Championship Finals, set for May 22-25 in Franklin, Tenn.

As a three-time winner this season, and as one of the top 12-ranked teams in the nation, CU is a good bet to advance, especially on its home course. The Buffs, who are headed to just their third NCAA regionals, have never qualified for the national finals. But they are ranked the highest they’ve ever been in program history.

“I think we have a good chance” to go to nationals, Kelly said. “But we have to go out and play our game and not get ahead of ourselves. We’ve been pretty good about that this year. This is a really good team, they work hard and they’re motivated to make it happen.”

It doesn’t help that the tournament falls at the end of CU’s final exams and during graduation — Emily Talley and Jessica Wallace are seniors this year — but the Buffs hope things fall into place.

“We won’t have many team practices between now and the tournament,” Kelly said. “Hopefully the players can get all of their exams done by (May 8). That’s the hard part, having regionals at this time of year.”

As for DU and UNC, they’re both coming off conference victories. The Pioneers claimed their ninth consecutive Sun Belt championship, with freshman Rachael Watton earning the individual title. Northern Colorado won its first Big Sky Conference championship, with sisters Carleigh and Chelsea Silvers finishing 1-2, respectively.

For both DU and UNC, it was their first team title of the season. DU, which has qualified for the NCAA regionals 11 consecutive years, is seeded 15th out of the 24 teams at Colorado National, while UNC is 23rd.

Here are all of the teams that will compete at Colorado National (in order of seeding) — 1. UCLA; 2. LSU; 3. North Carolina; 4. Colorado; 5. California; 6. Baylor; 7. Pepperdine; 8. Cal-Davis; 9. Oklahoma; 10. Texas Tech; 11. Tulsa; 12. TCU; 13. Iowa State; 14. Stanford; 15. Denver; 16. UNLV; 17. New Mexico; 18. Oregon State; 19. Illinois; 20. Kennesaw State; 21. San Jose State; 22. Missouri State; 23. Northern Colorado; 24. Jackson State.

Meanwhile, three teams from Colorado — Colorado Mesa, Colorado State-Pueblo and Adams State — made the women’s Div. II regional field on Monday. They’ll compete May 6-8 in the Central Regional in Elephant Butte, N.M., along with individual qualifiers Nicole Hulbert and Lara Mocs from Regis, and Maria Manrique of Colorado Christian. The top three team finishers will advance to the national finals, set for May 16-19 in Louisville, Ky.

Men’s NCAA Tournaments

The men’s Div. I NCAA regional selections will be announced on May 7.

The men’s Div. II regional lineups were unveiled on Friday, and four teams from Colorado will compete in the West/Central Super Regional May 7-9 in Litchfield Park, Ariz.: Colorado School of Mines, CU-Colorado Springs, Colorado State-Pueblo and Colorado Mesa. In addition, Minkyu Jeon of Colorado Christian and Charlie Laudermilk of Fort Lewis will compete as individuals.

The top five team finishers in each super regional will earn spots in the national finals, set for May 15-19 in Simpsonville, Ky.

Mines, the top seed in the Central Region, won its first conference title since 1968 by capturing the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Spring Championship. All told, the Orediggers have won six tournaments this season.

Senior Jim Knous, who claimed the RMAC individual title, was the RMAC’s Player of the Year.