Buffs Fall To 11th At Pac-12 Championship

PULLMAN, Wash. — Colorado fell three spots to 11th place after the second round of the 2024 Pac-12 Women's Golf Championship after shooting 3 over 291 at the Palouse Ridge Golf Club on Monday.
 
Despite shaving 12 shots off their first-round score, the Buffaloes dropped from eighth to 11th at 18 over through two rounds, one shot behind California (+17) and two in back of Oregon State (+16).
 
While scoring came at a premium on Sunday with just one team scoring in the red, the opposite was the case on Monday with nine of the 11 teams shooting under par. Colorado had the high round of the day at 3 over while Oregon State played even.
 
The top four teams were all double-figures under par on the day. Top ranked Stanford is in first place at 16-under, six strokes ahead of No. 7 USC which was a whopping 20 under in the second round. No. 16 Oregon is in third place at 6 under.
 
Colorado had a fast start. Beginning on the back, graduate senior Sabrina Iqbal and juniors Lauren Waxer-Gooding and Maria Eidhagen Harrouch all birdied the 531-yard par-5 10th. The Buffaloes climbed to 5 under through six holes with seven birdies to that point, equaling their total from the first round.
 
Colorado, without the services of season stroke average leader Morgan Miller this week due to an injury, began to stall out from there. The Buffaloes dropped four strokes from 16th through the 18th, but still good enough for a 1 under finish on the back. Colorado faded on the front with only three birdies from the Buffaloes' four scoring golfers on the final nine holes.
 
"We got off to an impressive start but we couldn't sustain it," Colorado head coach Anne Kelly said. "Unfortunately a poor finish for our team on the second nine. We will need to dig deep and finish strong tomorrow. Weather was much better today with less wind. We didn't take advantage of the scoring opportunities."
 
Waxer-Gooding leads Colorado through two rounds, tied for 34th at 4-over 148 after shooting even-par 72. She was at 2 under quickly, adding a birdie at the par-4 12th. Waxer-Gooding fell back to even after a bogey at the 18th and stayed there for the rest of the round.
 
Colorado's other four golfers are in a nine-way tie for 38th place at 7-over 151. Iqbal had Colorado's low round of the day at 2-under 70. Determined to make up for a season-high 81 in the first round, Iqbal birdied three of her first six holes to get to 3 under. She dropped back to 1 under at the turn, but played solid on the front with eight pars and a birdie at the 380-yard par-4 eighth.
 
Eidhagen Harrouch shot 74, improving on her first-round score by three strokes, including birdies on two of the three par-5s on the back nine. Senior Hailey Schalk shot a 75, improving her first-round total by one. Freshman Francesca Sumcad, who had Colorado's low 18 holes on Sunday with a 74, shot 77 in the second round.
 
USC's Catherine Park is the leader after two rounds at 10-under 134, holding a four-shot lead over Stanford's Megha Ganne. Five others are seven shots off the pace at 3 under.
 
Colorado will pair with California and Oregon State in Tuesday's final round. The groups will start on the back at the 10th tee, beginning at 10:10 a.m. MT.