Women’s golf finish ninth at Nanea Invitational
The Colorado Buffaloes women’s golf team travelled out to Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i earlier this week for the Nanea Invitational. Shortened from a three-day to a two-day event, the Buffaloes finished ninth out of 11 teams in their last tournament of 2026.
The event took place at the Nanea Golf Club, which is uniquely set on the slopes of Mount Hualalai. The par-73 course stretches 6410 yards in 18 holes and has a course rating of 76.1.
Colorado was represented by seniors Maya McVey, Carolyn Fuller, junior Ellen O’Shaughnessy, and sophomores Brenna Higgins and Anathi Vivek.
In the 2025 Nanea Invitational, Colorado finished tied for sixth, shooting a team score of 876 (E). Fuller, O’Shaughnessy and McVey all represented the Buffs last year, with Fuller leading the team, shooting three under.
Heading into the tournament, Maya McVey was the top-ranked golfer on Colorado’s squad, sitting at No.143 in the nation. Earlier this year, she finished second at the Leadership and Golf Invitational, and 16th in the Stanford Intercollegiate.
The event was shortened from three days to two days due to heavy storms projected to hit the Island of Hawai’i late Tuesday. On Monday, players played 36 holes throughout the day before playing the remaining 18 holes on Tuesday morning.
The Buffs sat in eighth place after the first round. The early tee times for the golfers led to Colorado coming out of the first round shooting a team score of 298 (+6). Carolyn Fuller led the charge in this round, shooting a 73 (E), with Vivek, McVey and O’Shaughnessy shooting 74 (+1), 75 (+2) and 76 (+3), respectively.
The second round commenced as soon as the first round ended, meaning the Buffaloes had another full round of golf ahead of them. With tee times at 11:30 a.m. local time, Colorado was due to wrap their day up with around eight hours of golf under their belt.
This second round turned out to be a struggle for Colorado. The squad moved back one spot to ninth, shooting a team score of 308 (+16). This time, McVey was the team leader shooting a 74 (+1), with Fuller shooting a 76 (+3), O’Shaughnessy shooting a 78 (+5) and Vivek shooting an 80 (+7). This round was the highest scoring for the Buffaloes.
The third round started on Tuesday morning. Colorado had their best round of the event, shooting a team score of 293 (+1). McVey had the best round by a Buffalo in Hawai’i, shooting a 70 (-3), with O’Shaughnessy also shooting under par at a 71 (-2). Fuller and Higgins also had decent rounds, shooting 76 (+3) each.
The late push was not enough to propel the Buffaloes to a higher spot in the event, however, as they finished Tuesday afternoon sitting at ninth with an 899 (+23). Maya McVey finished the tournament at 24th out of 60 golfers, shooting a 219 (E) over the three rounds.
The invitational featured five ranked teams, all of them shooting under par. Arizona State, UCLA, Stanford, Texas, and Texas A&M finished in the top five, respectively, with Arizona State winning the invitational with an 843 (-33) overall.
With the Buffs finishing their Fall 2026 season in Nanea, they now await 2027, beginning on February 1 at the Paradise Invitational in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
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