Bronte Law doesn’t loom large stature-wise — she checks in at about 5-foot-4 — but she has made a habit of coming up big when she laces up her golf shoes.
Her record over the last year speaks for itself: 2014 English Women’s Amateur champ, third-place individual finish in the Women’s World Amateur Team Championships last September, two individual college titles this season, and currently No. 7 in the women’s world amateur ranks.
And on Tuesday in the Pac-12 Women’s Championships at Boulder Country Club, the UCLA sophomore showed what sets her apart as a 4-under-par 67 gave her the individual lead in arguably the toughest conference meet in the country.
Even though she’s relatively small, the 20-year-old has laid down the Law by regularly hitting it by most of her competitors. That’s led to her playing the three par-5s at Boulder Country Club in 5 under par for two days.
“For a short person, I don’t hit it too short,” she said with a smile on Tuesday. “It definitely gives me a huge advantage. Some of the par-5s today, I was hitting driver-6-iron, which makes a huge difference with some of the girls hitting 3-wood or they can’t reach (the green in two). I use it to my advantage. Because I hit it pretty straight as well, it definitely helps here. But knowing where to push it and hold back is really important on this course.”
After finishing birdie-birdie on Tuesday, Law (pictured above) sits at 5-under-par 137 going into Wednesday’s final round. Teammate Erynne Lee (70-68) is in second place, so it should come as no surprise that the No. 3-ranked Bruins share the team lead after two rounds. But the fact that No. 28 Oregon is tied for the top spot with them at 5-over-par 573 is noteworthy, especially with four of the top seven teams in the country competing in Boulder this week.
No. 6 Arizona (574) and No. 7 Washington (576) are also both still in the hunt for the Pac-12 title.
The host University of Colorado, ranked 39th by Golfstat, jumped three spots on the leaderboard on Tuesday, now sharing fifth place with top-ranked Southern California at 585. And the Buffs surged despite four of their five players bogeying their final hole (No. 9) on Tuesday. That includes CU’s top two players this week, Esther Lee and Alexis Keating, who missed par putts of inside 2 1/2 feet to conclude their rounds.
“We’d like to play No. 9 over,” said coach Anne Kelly, whose Buffs nevertheless cut seven strokes off their first-round total. “In every tournament, especially this one, you can’t let shots like that slip away. But overall it can’t take away from the way the (CU golfers) played today and how hard they fought. I’m really proud of them.”
Indeed, despite the rough finish, CU recorded the fourth-best score on Tuesday (289).
“I knew we would play better today,” Keating said. “We had some girls that didn’t play their best (Monday). I had full faith that they were going to come out today and make up for that. We’re a team and we’re here for each other. We play well for each other and pick up the slack when it’s needed. That’s what we do.”
Lee (left) and Keating share 12th place individually at 2-over-par 144. While Keating fired her second straight 72, Lee rebounded from a 76 Monday to post a 68 on Tuesday. The Buffs’ top player didn’t make a bogey until missing her 30-inch putt on her final hole.
“It lipped around the entire hole,” said the sophomore transfer from Duke. “If I even tried to do that, I couldn’t. It was some bad luck.
“But overall today was a lot better (than Monday). I kind of pulled myself out of my head a little bit. I was so focused yesterday on trying to go low that I kind of put a mental block on myself and I wasn’t feeling my game like I normally would. Today I just tried to be myself and more calm and just feel the club and the ball instead of forcing it.”
Lee, a native of Pueblo who moved to California as a 6-year-old, is looking for her sixth consecutive top-10 individual finish in the spring portion of the schedule.
As for Law, though the individual title is within her grasp as she holds a one-stroke lead, that isn’t her priority.
“That’s not something I’m thinking about right now,” said Law, who is one of the main contenders for the Annika Award, given to the top women’s college player in the country. “My main priority is to play well for the team. There’s no other focus than to be the best person I can be.”
This week marks the second big tournament Law has played in Colorado. In 2013, she represented Europe in the 2013 Junior Solheim Cup that was contested at Inverness Golf Club.
Joining Law and Lee in the hunt for the individual title are Arizona State’s Noemi Jimenez, Arizona’s Lindsey Weaver and first-round leader Caroline Inglis of Oregon, who share third place at 139. Jimenez, the No. 6-ranked women’s amateur in the world, made it to 7 under par overall on Tuesday, but played her final six holes in 4 over par. Earlier in the round, she eagled the 389-yard, par-4 first hole (her 10th).
Wednesday’s final-round tee times will range from 9 to 10:52 a.m.
For all the team and individual scores, CLICK HERE.
Here are the local scores for the various conference tournaments being played early this week.
Pac-12 Women
April 20-22, 2015 at Par-71 Boulder CC
5. (out of 11 teams) Colorado 296-289–585
12. Esther Lee 76-68–144; 12. Alexis Keating 72-72–144; 25. Brittany Fan 73-75–148; 35. Natalie Vivaldi 75-76–151; 42. Jamie Oleksiew 79-74–153.
Summit League Women
April 20-22, 2015 in Seaside, Calif.
1. (out of 9 teams; leads by 8) Denver 307-312–619
2. Elyse Smidinger 77-75–152; 4. Jessica Carty 74-82–156; 5. Mariell Bruun 77-80–157; 9. Isabel Southard 79-79–158; 17. Aleana Groenhout 83-78–161.
Mountain West Women
April 20-22, 2015 in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
6. (out of 9 teams) Colorado State 304-299–603
5. Allie Andersen 74-72–146; 14. Mikayla Tatman 75-75–150; 28. Jessa LaBarbera 77-78–155; 30. Elisabeth Rau 82-74–156; 37. Sarah Archuleta 78-81–159.
Also
10. Former Coloradan Paige Spiranac, San Diego State, 72-77–149; 37. Coloradan Samantha Stancato, Wyoming, 75-84–159; 40. Coloradan Taylor Dorans, Wyoming, 77-84–161.
Big Sky Women
April 19-21, 2015 (final) in Chandler, Ariz.
7. (out of 12 teams) Northern Colorado 303-312-305–920
4. Amanda Myers 71-72-80–223; 21. Baile Winslow 78-78-74–230; 29. Christina Ferreira 78-81-74–233; 34. Nicole Okada 76-82-78–236; 50. Kala Keltz 89-81-79–249.
Also
11. Coloradan Jaylee Tait, Montana State, 81-76-69–226.
RMAC Women
April 20-21, 2015 (final) in Avondale, Ariz.
Colorado-Based Team Scores — 1. Metro State 301-298–599; 2. CSU-Pueblo 308-310–618; 6. Regis 310-329–639; 4. Colorado Mesa 314-311–625; 5. Adams State 315-311–626; 7. CU-Colorado Springs 318-328–646; 8. Colorado Christian 334-325–659; 12. Fort Lewis 372-386–758.
Top 5 Individuals — 1. Leina Kim, CSU-Pueblo 69-66–135; 2. Julie Sanchez, CSU-Pueblo, 74-71–145; 3. (tie) Cha Cha Willhoite, Metro State, 72-75–147; Nathalie Gallacher, Metro State, 74-73–147; Bobbi Pierson, Western New Mexico 72-75–147.
RMAC Men
April 20-21, 2015 (final) in Goodyear, Ariz.
Colorado-Based Team Scores — (1. Western New Mexico won with an 883 total); 2. Colorado School of Mines 300-281-307–888; 3. Colorado Christian 296-303-290–889; 4. CSU-Pueblo 292-296-305–893; 5. CU-Colorado Springs 304-300-305–909; 6. Colorado Mesa 302-302-318–922; 7. Regis 293-314-317–924; 8. Fort Lewis 329-310-314–953; 10. Adams State 323-327-326–990.
Top 5 Individuals — 1. (tie) Nathaniel Goddard, Colorado Christian, 74-74-72–217; Nick Berry, Mines, 74-64-79–217; Harry Wetton, Western New Mexico, 71-76-70–217; 4. Patrick Skakel, CU-Colorado Springs, 70-71-77–218; 5. Andrew Kennedy, Colorado Christian, 71-76-72–219.
