Lady Buffs Climb to Fifth Place Finish in Puerto Rico

CU women jump from 10th in Lady Puerto Rico Classic.

By Drew Kort

The University of Colorado women's team in Puerto Rico.
The University of Colorado women’s team in Puerto Rico.

A week after the University of Colorado men’s golf team began its spring season in Hawaii, the women’s team got its start in sunny—and windy—Puerto Rico.

The Lady Puerto Rico Classic was held at the par-71 Rio Mar Country Club’s Ocean Course in Rio Grande.

The No. 19 ranked Lady Buffaloes showed a bit of rust in round one, finishing the day 10th out of 11 competing teams with a score of 26-over-par 310. Strong winds of up to 25 mph also inflated the scores.

Despite the team’s slow start and the blustery conditions, Sophomore Robyn Choi (Queensland, Australia) remained steady, grinding to a 4-over-par 75. She was T19 going into the second round.

By day two, however, the team had shed most of its rust. Colorado jumped four sports to sixth place on the team leaderboard with an aggregate 15-over-par 299.

 

Australian Robyn Choi led the Buffaloes in Puerto Rico
Australian sophomore Robyn Choi led the Buffaloes in Puerto Rico.

The Buffs logged the second lowest score of the day, and their charge was due to the continued stellar play of Choi and fellow Aussie, sophomore Kirsty Hodgkins. The duo from Queensland shot 72-73 respectively. Choi entered the final round four strokes out of the lead and in a tie for fifth on the individual leaderboard at 5 over par.

Again, the team’s score continued to drop, and their leaderboard position continued to rise. The squad carded a 14-over-par 298 on day three of the tournament—good enough to finish alone in fifth place.

Impressively, CU had three finishers in the top-20. Choi led the way with a T3 finish at 7 over par, and not far behind her was Hodgkins, who completed her three rounds in 14 over par. Senior Brittany Fan (Pearl City, Hawai’i) fought her way to a T20 finish with a final tally of 15 over par.

“Overall it feels like we just went through spring training week,” head coach Anne Kelly said after the final round. “We’re looking forward to the next tourney.”

No. 4 ranked Arkansas landed atop the team leaderboard after they shot 30 over par for three rounds. Arkansas’ Maria Fassi took the individual title at 3 over par.

The Buffs will be back in action on Feb. 26-27 at the Bruin Wave Invitational in San Luis Obispo, California.

Click here for tournament stats and scores.

GET COLORADO GOLF NEWS DIRECTLY TO YOUR INBOX