After Six Year Hiatus, CU Women Return to NCAA’s Grandest Stage

Buffs grind at NCAA National Championship.

By Drew Kort

In 2012, the University of Colorado Women’s golf team competed in the NCAA Division I National Championship for the first time. Six years later, the Buffs were finally back among the top 24 teams in the country.

“Coming into every tournament, you want to win,” said CU head coach Anne Kelly ahead of Friday’s opening round. “We have a team of competitors that will do as well as they can. It’s a tough field. Everyone that qualified is a good team, so we have a challenge ahead of us.”

But, as is always the case in golf, the course is a player’s main competitor. Each member of the team would be tasked with navigating Oklahoma State University’s par-72, 6,328-yard Karsten Creek Golf Course.

The first round of the tournament saw high scores from most teams in the field. As a unit, the Buffaloes managed to grind out an 18-over-par score thanks to solid performances from its leaders.

The Aussie duo of Kirsty Hodkins and Robyn Choi fired 2 over par and 3 over par respectively. Senior Brittany Fan (Pearl City, Hawaii) continued her strong play as of late with a 3-over-par opening loop as well. The group was right in it and T13 going into the second round.

The grind would continue into Saturday as inclement weather added to the difficulty of the day’s task. CU slid one position down the team leaderboard into a tie for 14th despite a five-stroke team score improvement. Fan paced the squad with a 2-over 74 followed by Choi and frosh Alisha Lau (British Columbia, Canada) who carded a pair of 3-over 75s. Hodgkins logged a 5-over 77.

To earn the ability to participate in the fourth and final stroke play round of the event, a top-15 result was required of the Buffs.

“We have nothing to lose and everything to gain from this point in,” Kelly said with the third and potentially final round of the season looming. “Scores were better today because teams are getting used to it, but you can’t let up for a minute.”

With their backs against the wall, the squad stepped up, but it still wasn’t quite enough to prolong their season. Even after they shaved another four strokes off their aggregate score, they still fell outside of the top 15 teams into 19th. Choi put together her best loop of the event with a 2-under 70 followed by Fan with a 2-over 74. Unfortunately, the teams around them were able to make up even more ground. At 40 over par for the tournament, the Buffs team title run came to an end.

“We gave it all we had,” asserted Kelly. “Unfortunately, we made some unforced errors coming in. We didn’t have a bad day, it just wasn’t good enough. They were playing hard until the end.”

However, as one of the top nine individuals not on an advancing team at T24 on the individual leaderboard, Choi qualified for one last loop.

She shot a solid even-par 72 that consisted of three birdies and three bogeys to close out her season. She tied for 21st as an individual, making her CU’s highest finishing player in history of the NCAA Division I National Championship.

Meanwhile, a native Coloradan, Wake Forest’s Jennifer Kupcho, won the event, becoming the first female player from the state and the school to take the title.

After the confidence boost that this year likely gave the CU women, they may see themselves in a similar position during this time next season.

Click here for stats and scores from the championship.