CU golf places dead last in Big 12 Championship

Maria Eidhagen Harrouch stares down her drive. The senior finished as the highest Buff on the leaderboard, tied at No. 25. (Photo by Erik Williams/CUBuffs.com)

HOCKLEY, Texas – The Colorado Buffaloes women’s golf squad could not keep up with the best teams in the conference at the Big 12 Championship. The Buffs finished at the bottom of the leaderboard with a score of 58-over on Thursday. 

The disappointing tournament was the last of the year for the Buffaloes. Placing ninth, eighth and fourteenth (last) over their last three tournaments is a big factor in why the team will miss the NCAA regionals. 

The Arizona Wildcats, Oklahoma State Cowgirls and Arizona State Sun Devils finished the 54-hole tournament tied in first place with scores of 19-over. Arizona won a 5-player team playoff to capture the tournament win. 

The Kansas State Wildcats’ Sophie Bert was the only individual to finish the tournament under par. The senior shot 2-under en route to the individual title. 

Colorado was led by its lone senior, Maria Eidhagen Harrouch. She was the only member of the black and gold to shoot 3-over or better in two rounds. Harrouch finished the tournament at 10-over, good for No. 25 individually. 

Morgan Miller trailed the senior by two strokes, shooting 12-over at the tournament. The junior played her best golf in the third round, scoring 3-over. Miller’s final round propelled her to a tie at No. 37. 

Sydney Givens only managed to shoot three birdies across all 54 holes of golf. The freshman scored 4-over in her conference championship debut. Givens scored 6-over in the second and third rounds for a score of 16-over. 

Sophomores Vanessa Ngo and Francesca Sumcad rounded out the Buffs’ quintet in Texas. The underclassmen shot similar scores in each round of the tournament. The duo combined for 22-over in the first round, 19-over in the second and 9-over in the third. 

Unlike earlier in the year, Colorado played its best golf in the final round at the Big 12 Championship. 

“We had a better day today,” head coach Madeleine Sheils said. “Shooting the fifth-best round of the day demonstrated more of who we actually are as a team.”

Unfortunately for Buffs’ fans, the 20-over first round and 25-over second dug the team into a hole not even Nelly Korda could climb out of. 

The future is bright for the Buffs. Assuming no one transfers, the black and gold rotation will continue to improve as the talented underclassmen bloom into leaders and captains.