The Colorado women’s golf team, ranked No. 43 nationally, will begin its spring season at the Collegiate Invitational held at Guadalajara Country Club in Mexico from January 30 to 31. The team aims to build on a strong fall performance, which included setting a school record for stroke average at 73.29 and winning the Ram Classic in Fort Collins. The Buffaloes also secured second place at Denver’s Ron Moore Intercollegiate and tied for sixth at the Nanea Invitational in Hawai’i.
After nearly three months away from competition, the Buffaloes resumed practice on January 15 to prepare for the upcoming tournament. Head coach Madeleine Sheils emphasized the importance of an early start: “It’s really good for our team to start competing right away,” Sheils said. “It sharpens our focus in practice and makes us make the absolute best out of every winter practice session, knowing we have a tournament coming up quickly. Certainly, this time of year, for every team across the country, most players have taken a really long break from competitive golf, so there’s rust everywhere. But we’re excited to knock it off early and start competing right away.”
To further their preparation, Colorado spent three days training in Arizona. The team practiced at Grand Canyon’s facility in Tempe and participated in an unofficial scrimmage against Grand Canyon University. Their final day featured a qualifying round at Whisper Rock Golf Club in Scottsdale with support from CU Athletic Hall of Famers Gary Barnett and Bruce Gamble.
“It was a productive weekend, and we feel really grateful we had the opportunity to do that and make sure we’re getting ready for competition in the best way,” Sheils said.
The Collegiate Invitational will include 12 teams, seven of which are ranked among the top 50 nationally. Five Big 12 Conference teams are participating, including No. 19 Oklahoma State.
Colorado’s lineup features Carolyn Fuller, Brenna Higgins, Ellen O’Shaughnessy, Maya McVey, and Vanessa Ngo—all of whom posted top-20 finishes during the fall season with multiple rounds under par.
Fuller led with a fall stroke average of 72.14 and was Colorado’s low scorer over the last two events. Ngo followed closely with a 72.45 average and contributed to the team score in more than 90 percent of her rounds.
The Guadalajara Country Club course is set up as a par-72 stretching up to 6,210 yards. The tournament format divides play into two days of 27 holes each rather than three traditional rounds.
“We need to have a really great plan for attacking the golf course, because it’s quite narrow and difficult around the greens,” Sheils said. “We need to go in with a smart plan and be committed to executing it throughout the weekend. And we also need to be patient with ourselves. The first tournament back, a lot of times, what is rusty is your decision-making and your ability to stay focused for a long day on the course. We’ve been working a lot on our attention and our commitment when we’re playing, and I think that continued focus will be a big key to our success.”
Colorado will play alongside Florida State (No. 28) and Houston (No. 32) during Friday’s opening round starting at 7:45 a.m., Mountain Time.
