Colorado women’s golf leads the Causeway Invitational after the first two rounds at Del Paso Country Club in Sacramento, California. The Buffaloes, ranked No. 47 nationally, finished Monday at 3-under par and are three strokes ahead of host UC Davis going into Tuesday’s final round. Colorado was the only team to score under par in both rounds.
“I was happy with the way we started,” said Colorado head coach Madeleine Sheils. “We looked solid first thing this morning and no doubt we competed until the last putt. There were some hiccups in between but overall a pretty solid day of golf.”
Sophomore Ellen O’Shaughnessy is tied for third place individually at 3-under par, one shot behind leaders Vani Karimanal of UC Davis and Eva Pett of San Francisco. O’Shaughnessy and Karimanal were the only players to finish both rounds under par. O’Shaughnessy shot a 71 in her first round and a 70 in her second.
O’Shaughnessy overcame a challenging start, playing her first four holes at 4-over before settling into her game. She played the next 20 holes without a bogey and recorded six birdies during that stretch, finishing with nine birdies on the day.
“I’m so impressed with Ellen’s steadiness on the golf course,” Sheils said. “She’s become a really smart player who never gives up. It is impressive that she had nine birdies on her card today, that says she’s doing a lot of things well in her game.”
Freshman Teemapat Pateetin stands in fifth place at 2-under par after posting Colorado’s best single round—a collegiate-best 69—during the morning session. Pateetin remained close to the lead throughout play, adding a second-round score of 73.
“(Teem) played with a ton of confidence and composure,” Sheils said. “She was striking her driver and her chipping and wedge play was great too. When her driver is good, she can put herself in such a great position and it really frees up the rest of her game. It was fun to see her in such a good place today.”
Junior Carolyn Fuller finished Monday at 1-over par after rebounding from an opening-round 74 with a team-best seventh under-par round this season (71) in the afternoon.
Third-year golfer Vanessa Ngo is tied for 20th at 4-over par after improving to an even-par 72 in her second round, which included an eagle on the third hole.
Maya McVey ended tied for 23rd at 5-over while Brenna Higgins (7-over) and Ananthi Vivek (8-over), both competing as individuals, rounded out Colorado’s participants.
The final round will begin Tuesday morning with Colorado paired alongside UC Davis and Sacramento State.
