Defending champ Alyaa Abdulghany shares lead at Colorado Women’s Open after first-round hole-in-one; 3 other past champs also in top 10
By Gary Baines
It was a day for former champions to flex their muscles at the Inspirato Colorado Women’s Open at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver.
Two of the four co-leaders, and four of the top nine players on the leaderboard after Wednesday’s opening round of the 2026 tournament have won the Women’s Open previously.
Defending champion Alyaa Abdulghany of Newport Beach, Calif., and 2023 winner Haylee Harford Sanchez of Leavittsburg, Ohio fired 4-under-par 68s to share the 18-hole lead with Kate Villegas of Arcadia, Calif., and Natasha Kiel of New Hope, Pa.
And Abdulghany did it with some flash as she made a hole-in-one at the 143-yard eighth hole, using an 8-iron. It was her eighth career ace and fourth in tournament action. She added seven birdies and five bogeys, leaving just five pars on her scorecard.
For her part, Harford Sanchez eagled the par-5 12th hole and carded four birdies and two bogeys. Villegas and Kiel each made five birdies and a bogey.
Two-time champion Becca Huffer of Monument, who placed third last year, shares fifth place at 69. Clariss Guce of Artesia, Calif., the CWO champ in 2022, opened with a 70, good for a tie for eighth place.
The low amateur after round 1 is Lavanya Gupta of India, who posted a 70. Team Colorado member Ashley Chang of Lone Tree is solo second among the amateurs at 71.
AIR Communities No. 1 team (Kiel and amateur Keaton Reidy of Littleton) shot a 10-under-par 62 to lead the pro-am competition.
Two rounds remain in the $200,000 Women’s Open, where the winner will receive $50,000.
For all the scores from the CWO, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com