Choi 2nd after opening round
Freshman fired a 5-over 77 at Pelican Lakes.
In her first schoolgirl championship round, Mullen freshman Sofia Choi is right on the leader.
Choi turned in a 5-over-par 77 under horrendous conditions on Monday in the opening round of Colorado’s Class 4A tournament. Trying to play in the cold, wind, rain and gray at Pelican Lakes G.C. in WIndsor, Choi is five shots back of accomplished front-runner Hailey Schalk of Holy Family, who won the past two 3A titles before moving up a class.
Mullen’s second entrant, Paige Sowitch, came in a 33-over 105. It was that kind of day as only four players in the field were able to break 80.
In a tough beginning, Choi triple-bogeyed No. 1, a 7 on the par-4, 352-yard No. 17-handicap hole. However, she birdied the 499-yard No. 2 par 5 to get back on track and eventually go out at 3-over 39. And despite back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 13-14 and another stroke glitch on No. 16, Choi birdied the par-3 1th and parred No. 18 to come home in 38.
Schalk had a bogey and birdie on the front nine and parred the back side to go 36-36. After she bogeyed No. 2, she turned in pars on 15 of the next 16 holes with the one difference being a birdie on the 337-yard, par-4 No. 8.
Vista PEAK junior Kylie Severin is third at 78 and Windsor senior Jessica Zapf, third a year ago, is fourth at 79.
Teamwise, Windsor, which won its first girls golf championship in 2018, has opened a 21-stroke lead over second-place Niwot. The Wizards scored 253 to the Cougars’ 274.
With conditions also slowing down play considerably on Monday, a change for Tuesday will be a 9 a.m. shotgun start.
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