Preview for the Championships -
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BOULDER — Nothing to lose.
The 2022-23 season has not gone the way the University of Colorado women's golf team would have liked. The Buffaloes have battled inconsistencies up and down the roster which has led to frustrating results. Colorado has finished near or at the bottom of the standings in its last six tournaments, including all four this spring.
But the desire has never left, and the Buffaloes have kept competing. While being somewhat cliché, Colorado certainly has the nothing to lose mindset heading into this week's Pac-12 Women's Golf Championship.
"I think as a team, we're ready," Colorado freshman
Morgan Miller said. "We've got nothing to lose. Especially for me, I just have to go out there and play my game, chase after pins and make some putts."
The 2023 Pac-12 Championship will be held at the Papago Golf Course in Phoenix, Monday, April 17 through Wednesday, April 19. The 54-hole tournament will consist of three rounds, 18-holes each day.
Colorado, ranked No. 77 in the latest GolfStat rankings, most likely needs to win the Pac-12 title to advance to NCAA Regional play. The possibility of this being the last tournament of the season has the Buffaloes loose, ready to let it rip beginning Monday.
"We've got nothing to lose at this point," Colorado sophomore
Natalie Vo said. "We've come this far, we're going to play our best and compete."
Colorado saw the Papago Course just three weeks ago, competing at the PING/ASU Invitational. An encouraging sign for the Buffaloes is they had their best two spring rounds at Papago, carding 7-over, 295 in both the first and third round on their way to a 13th place finish.
"It was a great opportunity for us to get to know the course," said Miller who finished tied for 38th at 6-over, 222 at the event. "It was the first time I played it in a tournament round. I feel comfortable going in because now I've learned certain holes and what to do, what not to do.
"I've got to be smart on a couple more holes. I made the mistake on 18 and 9 to hit a drive and I got to change a couple clubs off the tee and put myself in a safe spot in the middle of the fairway to get (an easy shot) onto the green."
Papago will play at 6,563 yards for the Pac-12 Championship, 20 yards longer than at the PING/ASU event. It's the second-longest layout in Pac-12 Championship history and only the second over 6,500 yards (Sewailo GC in Tucson was 6,583 yards in 2017.
Colorado will pair with No. 26 UCLA in Monday's first round with the first golfers teeing off from the front nine at 10:40 a.m. MT. Live scoring is available at golfstat.com
Vo, who has been Colorado's top finisher the last two tournaments, had her career-best 54-hole score at the PING/ASU Invitational, tying for 15th overall at 2-over, 218. Vo leads the Buffaloes in season stroke average at 75.7 and is Colorado's No. 1 seeded golfer at the Pac-12 Championship. She finished 47th at the 2022 championship.
"The spring season I started off pretty slow and wasn't exactly very happy with my results," Vo said. "I've been working really hard, trying to perfect my swing again; to be able to play well and just play smart. The past few tournaments have been a good confidence base for me. Everything is in the right place right now."
Miller is Colorado's second-seed and leads the Buffaloes in stroke average for the spring season at 76.0. She has a team-best eight rounds at par or better in 2022-23.
Two long-time Buffaloes are getting their final crack at the Pac-12 Tournament. Senior
Issy Simpson will play in her second Pac-12 Championship, but first in a starting capacity. Simpson was a substitute at last season's event, and ended up playing the final round, shooting 4-over 76, after former Buff
Diane Baillieux had to withdraw early due to an academic commitment.
Simpson is averaging 77.7 per round during the spring season and overall has shot in the 70s in 12 of her 15 rounds.
Fifth-year senior
Malak Bouraeda is set to play in her fourth Pac-12 Championship (no event in 2020). After a battle with health issues, Bouraeda made her season debut at the Chevron Silverado Showdown two weeks ago. Playing as an individual, she tied for 61st at 16-over, 232.
Bouraeda will play in her 39th career tournament for Colorado. She tied for 26th at the 2022 Pac-12 Championship at 8-over, 224.
Graduate senior
Haylin Harris will round out the Buffaloes lineup as a late replacement for sophomore
Lauren Gooding. Colorado's third-best golfer by stroke average this season at 76.4, Gooding will miss her first tournament this year due to a hand injury.
Harris is appearing in her first Pac-12 Championship, but she's no stranger to postseason events. She made two NCAA Championship appearances for Michigan State in 2019 and 2021.
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