SAN FRANCISCO — University of Colorado’s Brittany Fan had already made history when she teed off at the first round of the NCAA Stanford Regional Monday at the TPC Harding Park Course.
After shooting a 6-under, 66, the senior from Pearl City, Hawaii, is in position to make even more.
Only the second Buff to make four NCAA regional appearances, Fan’s 66 set a school regional round record and was a personal best, leaving her in a three-way tie atop the leaderboard with Stanford’s Andrea Lee and UCLA’s Mariel Galdiano.
She also paced 26th-ranked CU to a 4-under, 284, leading the Buffs to a second place tie with No. 16 Kent State in the team race. They sit four strokes behind top-ranked UCLA, and are five strokes ahead of sixth place, which is the cut line to advance to the NCAA finals.
“One of the best all-around team efforts we’ve had this semester,” Colorado head coach Anne Kelly said in a release. “We have a battle ahead of us and we just need to take this event a day and a hole at a time. The course is a good test of golf – tough but fair.”
Fan’s round included an eagle, four birdies and 13 pars, and was two strokes better than Colorado’s previous low 18-hole score of 68 by Emily Talley at the 2012 NCAA regional.
“A lot of (today) was the approach and putting for sure,” Fan said. “I wasn’t as sharp off the tee on the back, but I took advantage of some short clubs and made some putts. I probably left three or four shots out there, but I’m satisfied with my 66 and I’m excited for the next two days.”
As a unit, the Buffs only had 12 bogeys and no double-bogeys or worse.
Sophomore Kristy Hodgkins finished with a 1-under, 71, while sophomore Robyn Choi came in with a 1-over, 73. Junior Gillian Vance carded her second-best round of the season with a 2-over, 74 and freshman Alisha Lau, making her NCAA debut, scored a 4-over, 76.
“The big key to today’s round was Gillian and Alisha,” Kelly said. “They both played well and hung in there all day. Alisha got off to a tough start but played well on the back nine. Gillian was very consistent all day and really played well finishing the round – the closing four holes are very challenging out here.”
