Buffs take home hardware in Fort Collins amid rainout

Maya McVey celebrates a putt at the Colonel Wollenberg Ram Classic on Monday. McVey led the Buffs at the tournament with a score of 4-under. (Photo via CUBuffs.com)

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – For the first time since 2017, the Colorado Buffaloes women’s golf team seized victory. A dominant 11-under first round put the Buffs in first place, and they never looked back. 

Heavy rain pushed the second round to Tuesday and ultimately cancelled the third round of the Colonel Wollenberg Ram Classic at the Ptarmigan Golf Country Club. 

The Buffs shot 12-under in the tournament, beating out Cal Poly and CSU Fullerton by seven strokes. The win was truly a team effort, showcased by three of the black and gold quintet members placing inside the top-6 individually. Cal Poly’s Taylor Baker and UNLV’s Foong Zi Yu shared the individual title, shooting 6-under. 

Colorado sent all seven of its golfers to Fort Collins; both Ellen O’Shaughnessy and Ananthi Vivek as individuals. 

Junior Maya McVey was tied with Baker at 7-under for the individual lead through the first round. The Central Missouri transfer was unable to keep up in the second round, shooting 3-over. McVey fell to fourth individually, with a score of 4-under. 

In her second collegiate tournament, Brenna Higgins finished sixth overall, shooting 4-under. The freshman holed seven birdies en route to a 3-under in the first round. Four bogeys plagued Higgins’ second round, resulting in a score of 1-over. 

Carolyn Fuller had two polar opposite rounds on her way to finishing 1-under. The junior dug herself into a hole in the first round, shooting 6-over. Miraculously, she still finished under par by putting together the best round of her collegiate career. Five birdies and two eagles led to her 7-under round. Fuller finished tied for tenth. 

Vanessa Ngo and Teemapat Pateetin both shot even-par on Monday. Ngo’s five bogeys outweighed her three birdies in the second round. The sophomore finished the tournament at 2-over. 

Pateetin also stumbled in the final round. The freshman was in control going into the 16th hole, but a rare quadruple bogey on the par-5 hole dropped her final tournament score to 4-over. 

Both of the golfers Colorado sent as individuals finished over par. O’Shaughnessy shot 1-over at the tournament with rounds of 2-over and 1-under. Vivek struggled in her first collegiate tournament. The freshman finished 11-over, partly due to her team-low 8-over in the second round. 

The squad has a weekend off to celebrate the win before heading to Highlands Ranch on Oct. 3 for the Ron Moore Intercollegiate.