The UCA women’s golf took off to Wolcott, Colorado to play in the Golfweek Conference Challenge Sept. 23 – 25 and finished 15th out of the 18 teams who played in the tournament with a score of 906 (+42). 

Playing on the Red Sky Golf Club, a Par 72, 6,261-yard course, the first day ended in low rankings for the Bears who finished Monday in 17th with a score of 311 (+23). Sophomore Tania Nunez had the lead, opening the first round with a 75 (+3) after birdieing the 9th hole as well as the three of the four holes after that. She was tied for 49th by the end of the day. Below her was sophomore Elin Kumlin in 70th with 78 (+6) after the first round. Freshman Camila Moreno was tied for 85th with 81 (+9) and sophomore Karley Whittington came in tied at 89th with a first-day score of 82 (+10).

Playing on what Head Coach Natasha Vincent calls a “pretty big, intimidating course” was one thing the players had to get used to. Although UCA has played there in the past, a young team of three freshman and four sophomores would introduce it to some of the players for the first time.

“Altitude and that elevation change is usually my biggest concern when we go out there,” Vincent said. “Distances change and the ball flies a lot longer.”

However, the once the team got used to the change in speed and elevation, they began to catch up quickly.

On Tuesday, the Bears returned to the course and enjoyed improvement as a team and as individuals. Nunez took the lead again, improving by three strokes and jumping up 19 spots on the leaderboard, ending the day in 29th. Her total for the two days came in at 147 (+3). Freshman Pim-Orn Thitisup also moved up 8 spots from the first day, ending the second day tying for 53rd with a two-day total of 152 (+8) after birdieing two holes and shooting a 75 (+3) on Tuesday. As a team, the Bears closed out the day tied for 15th. Kumlin moved up to 74th after shooting birdies on the par-3 17th and par-5 18th holes. Moreno also moved up the leaderboard and finished the day tied at 79th.

On the last day of the tournament, Whittington and Thitisup led the team, both shooting a 71 (-1). Thitisup finished 39th with a tournament total of 223 (+7). Nunez, who collected 10 birdies for the tournament, two of which were recorded on Wednesday, tied for 48th with 225 (+9). Kumlin shot up 11 spots with her Wednesday score of 73 (+10) after having recorded four birdies for the day and a total of nine for the tournament. She tied for 63rd with 229 (+13). Her jump up the leaderboard at the last minute gave her a good feeling about returning the tournament in the future.

“[On the] last day I played much better,” Kumlin said. “I was hitting the fairways and placed myself good on the greens. It’s always fun to play good the last day, and leaving the tournament with a good feeling for next year.”

Also on the last day, Moreno finished tied for 83rd with 237 (+21) and Whittington came in tied at 86th with 238 (+22).

“I’m proud of them,” Vincent said. “We went from being in their last position to beating three pretty good teams to move ourselves out of that bottom three.”

Vincent said experience and maturity will be key for this team’s growth and success. She said they are already hitting more greens on average than any other team she has had in the past. 

The tournament was conquered by Ole Miss, who placed 1st with 849 (-15). 

The women will play again on Sunday, Oct. 27 at the Little Rock Women’s Golf Classic at the Diamante Country Club in Hot Springs Village.