BOULDER – The Colorado women’s golf team has had a great start to the fall.
A team win at the Ram Classic and a second-place showing at Denver’s Ron Moore Intercollegiate have the Buffaloes trending upward.
The early-season performances were honored this week as Colorado debuted at No. 52 in the first NCAA rankings of the season.
Those recent successes will be put to the test this week as Colorado heads to the Stanford Intercollegiate, Oct. 17-19, at the Stanford Golf Course.
The 19-team field at the Stanford Intercollegiate is loaded, to say the least. The field consists of four of the top six teams in the country, including the third-ranked and host Cardinal. Ten teams are in the top 25 and 15 are in the top 40.
“We’re excited to get after it,” Colorado head coach Madeleine Sheils said. “A lot of great teams are competing here, and Stanford is a wonderful championship golf course. Any opportunity we have to test ourselves against the best, we want to take that because that’s where you really learn the strengths and weaknesses of your game.”
Sheils is no stranger to the Stanford Golf Course, spending three seasons with the Cardinal helping them to the 2022 NCAA Championship. The Buffaloes have played this course four of the last five seasons, finishing eighth at the Stanford Intercollegiate last fall.
“The Stanford course challenges every part of your game,” Sheils said. “You need to drive the ball well, you need to hit your irons well and the greens have quite a bit of slope and we expect the hole locations to be tricky and green speeds to be fast all weekend. Having patience and a positive attitude are key.”
Junior Maya McVey is Colorado’s No. 1 golfer coming into the Stanford Intercollegiate with a 71.88 stroke average over eight rounds. She has logged back-to-back top 5 finishes after tying for fifth at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate.
A two-time Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-Region pick at NCAA Division II power Central Missouri, McVey hasn’t missed a beat in her jump to Colorado.
“Maya has been just an incredible addition to the team,” Sheils said. “It was obvious based on her results at Central Missouri and how far she and her team went (runner-up at the NCAA II championship) that her game was trending up. I feel fortunate we get to be a part of that forward trend. She works crazy hard at it, putting more hours than just about anyone I’ve seen. It’s really fun to have her on board.
Colorado’s top five golfers from the Ron Moore Intercollegiate will make up the team’s Stanford Intercollegiate lineup. Junior Carolyn Fuller tied for eighth at the Ron Moore at 2-under-par. Sophomore Ellen O’Shaughnessy tied for 13th at 1-under. Redshirt sophomore Vanessa Ngo tied for 17th at 1-over, finishing the tournament with a 69. Freshman Teemapat Pateetin had her first two collegiate under-par rounds at Ron Moore, finishing tied for 26th at 4-over.
Colorado will join No. 25 UCLA and No. 28 Arizona for Friday’s first round, off the No. 1 tee beginning at 1:40 p.m. Those same three teams will pair in Saturday’s second round, starting at 9:25 a.m. off the back nine. Sunday’s final round is a shotgun start beginning at 9:30 a.m.
