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Buff Golfers are hungry for NCAA championship
May 15th
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Colorado men’s golf team is back in the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2009, as the Buffaloes are ready to go in the Central/Fayetteville Regional which begins here Thursday.
Colorado, ranked No. 58 in the nation (GolfStat; No. 67 Golfweek) is the No. 10 seed in the field is looking to advance to the NCAA Championship Finals for the first time since 2002.
The Buffs have been idle since May 1, when they finished 10th at the Pac-12 Championships in Los Angeles. CU was in position for a first division (top six) finish, but had a disastrous final day that dropped it from seventh into 10th.
“We really haven’t practiced since the Pac-12 Championship,” said head coach Roy Edwards. “That is by design. These guys are students first and they had their semester projects and finals until (last) Thursday. So they were all in with those responsibilities. Now they can clearly and fully focus on the task at hand.
“We’re absolutely hungry to get back out there,” he continued. “We had a really odd weather month leading up to the Pac-12 Championships and couldn’t get in the kind of practice we needed, yet we were still in decent position for an upper division finish. Most of the guys got a solid competition round in for U.S. Open Local Qualifying (Monday) to get the rust off. They’re anxious to get out there and prove that the final round (at Pac-12’s) was a blip on the season.”
The four Buffs who have played in all 12 tournaments (38 rounds) this season, seniors Jason Burstyn andDerek Fribbs, sophomore David Oraee and freshman Philip Juel-Berg along with junior Johnny Hayes will represent Colorado in the regional. Only Fribbs, as an individual last year, and Hayes, with his former school Towson State in 2010, have played in the postseason before.
For the Buffaloes to have a chance to advance to the Finals, which run May 28-June 2 in Atlanta, its No. 1 golfer this season, Burstyn, needs to rebound from an uncharacteristic poor performance at the Pac-12s, where he just wasn’t able to get anything going; he tied for 66th with a 33-over score of 313. Edwards expects him to back to his old self.
“He was a little off, and he’s no different than most in that he needs to keep learning to adapt to different situations,” Edwards said of his team’s stroke average leader (72.8). “He normally does that, and in this case, I think he’s ready to move on. History shows that the few times he has played poorly, he’s bounced back to play really well. I don’t think it will be any different this week.”
As for the team to have overall success, he pointed to what the Buffaloes did when they won the Air Force Falcon Invitational last September and the Bandon Dunes Championship in March.
“We have to minimize our mistakes, the focus has to be on being as smart as possible,” he noted. “We haven’t seen the course yet, but I understand it’s very difficult. It’s an event where you don’t care if you finish first or fifth. We need to be patient, make good decisions and overall manage our individual games. When we’ve done that, we’ve played our best, and if we can do that here, we have a great shot at advancing to the Finals.”
“If we are disciplined in our decisions at all times we have a great shot. The five teams who make the least number of controllable mistakes will advance. This has more to do about us doing our job than anything else.”
Arkansas is the host school, with The Blessings Golf Club serving as the host course; BGC has a 7,251-yard, par-72 layout (37-35 configuration) that was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. It opened in 2004, and its rating (79.1) and slope (153) makes it one of the most difficult courses in the U.S., as its topography is characterized by hilly terrain creating numerous sidehill lies, dramatic elevation changes, forced carries over ravines and valleys, and large, undulating Bent grass greens, with Clear Creek in play on several holes. The fairways/roughs are Zoysia.
Colorado will tee off at 8:10 a.m. (MDT) on Thursday off the No. 10 tee, with the Buffs paired with Indiana (No. 11 seed) and UNC-Wilmington (No. 12). The field will be re-paired according to score after the first and second rounds, with all tee times between 8:20 and 10:20 a.m. for the second round (Friday) and between 7:50 and 9:50 a.m. for the final round (Saturday).
The top five teams and top two individuals who are not members of those squads will advance to the NCAA Championship Finals, which are scheduled for May 28-June 2 in Atlanta, Ga.
David Plati
Associate AD/Sports Information
University of Colorado Buffaloes
357 UCB / Fieldhouse Annex #50
Boulder, CO 80309-0357
303/492-5626 (office)
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CU golfers head to the regional tournament
May 7th
Colorado, ranked No. 60 in the nation (GolfStat; No. 67 Golfweek) is the No. 10 seed in the field.
“We’re obviously really pleased about the selection, and it’s representative of a strong year by the team and all the hard work has paid off,” said head coach Roy Edwards. “Everyone is excited to advance to the regional, and we’re really excited that we get the chance to advance to the Finals from there.”
“We’re obviously really pleased about the selection, and it’s representative of a strong year by the team and all the hard work has paid off,” said head coach Roy Edwards. “Everyone is excited to advance to the regional, and we’re really excited that we get the chance to advance to the Finals from there.”
Edwards indicated that he would select which five players will make the trip to Fayetteville in the coming days. Four Buffs, seniors Jason Burstyn and Derek Fribbs, sophomore David Oraee and freshman Philip Juel-Berghave played in all 12 tournaments (38 rounds) this season, and most likely will be among that quintet. If so, the fifth player will come from a pool of four others who have competed at various times throughout the season.
Juel-Berg led CU with a 24th place finish at the recently completed Pac-12 Championships, as Colorado placed 10th as a team. A disappointing final round cost the Buffs as high as a sixth place finish.
“We were really close to having a top six finish, and in a six-count-five format, and even though we finished 10th, the performance wasn’t that poor,” Edwards said. “We were only a few shots short of finishing much higher, but the important thing that happened is that the golf course (Los Angeles Country Club North) taught our guys a lot of how we have to play the game. So no matter where we finished, that was a very valuable experience that I believe we can carry over into regionals.”
How good is the Pac-12 Conference? The league received three No. 1 seeds (California, UCLA and Washington), and is sending 10 teams into regional play. Thus, all nine schools that bested CU in the league meet are also in the postseason, though none are joining the Buffaloes in Arkansas.
Old Big 12 Conference foes Texas (No. 1 seed) and Oklahoma State (No. 3) are in the Fayetteville draw, with the two ranked Nos. 5 and 16 in the nation, respectively; in-between is host and 13th-ranked Arkansas. The remainder of the field in seed order includes No. 21 SMU, No. 28 Kent State, No. 32 Illinois, No. 40 Liberty, No. 45 Tulsa, No. 53 Kentucky, No. 60 Colorado, No. 67 Indiana, No. 72 UNC-Wilmington, UM-Kansas City and Alabama State.
The Buffaloes will attempt to advance to the NCAA Championship Finals for the first time since the 2001-02 season; five times since that year CU has qualified to the regional but would go no further.
“It’s really everybody’s first time except for Derek, who played last year as an individual, so it will be a new experience for everyone,” Edwards said. “We’re going to embrace it and are looking forward to playing well.”
The top five teams and top two individuals who are not members of those squads will advance to the NCAA Championship Finals, which are scheduled for May 28-June 2 in Atlanta, Ga.
David Plati
Associate AD/Sports Information
University of Colorado Buffaloes
357 UCB / Fieldhouse Annex #50
Boulder, CO 80309-0357
303/492-5626 (office)
david.plati@colorado.edu
BUFF GOLFERS SLIP INTO SEVENTH AT PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
May 1st
LOS ANGELES — The University of Colorado men’s golf team slipped a notch from a tie for sixth into one for seventh after a high-scoring third round saw team scores escalate as the Pac-12 Conference Championships head into the final day of competition Wednesday.
No. 1 California remained in the lead but saw it shrink from nine strokes down to two. The Bears own a 1,056 team score, 6-over par, which is just ahead of No. 3 and host UCLA (1,058), which shot one of the two low rounds for the day, a 4-over 354. No. 4 Washington held its third place position, but is well back of the leaders at 1,078; Arizona State used the other low round in the field to zoom into fourth (1,084), with No. 7 Stanford rounding out the top five (1,092).
The Buffaloes, ranked No. 60, didn’t have a great day, but didn’t shoot themselves out of a first division finish, either. Colorado turned in a 30-over par 380 score for a 1,110 overall total, which has it tied with No. 11 Southern California and No. 51 Oregon State.
All 12 schools shot over par – to the tune of a total of 235 strokes. Only three players in the field turned in under par rounds Tuesday, with just four others matching par as the average score in the 72-man field jumped from 73.29 in the first round to 74.69 in the third.
The Buffs collectively recorded just eight birdies Tuesday, with 58 pars, 39 bogeys, four doubles and a quadruple.
“The hole locations were much more difficult,” head coach Roy Edwards said. “It was really tough out there, really hard. This is a major championship test, and in fields like this on a course like this, it’s hard to play 72 holes straight without having some struggles. And everyone went through it, this is one of USC’s home courses and they’re dead even with us through three rounds. It’s just a big time challenge out there, but the truth is that it is very fair. The greens are very firm and very, very fast. This is a top 10 golf course in the world since they restored it three years ago.”
“I thought we did okay under the circumstances, and of course we wanted to play better,” Edwards added. “But we had way too many three-putts, my guess is somewhere around 20, 25. We were in pretty good spots for the most part, we only had a few bad approach shots, so for the most part things were in our control putting-wise. Much of the damage was early.”
CU’s six players were collectively 15-over par through just five holes, and also were 10-over the last three.
Freshman Philip Juel-Berg continued to pace the Buffaloes, though he shot a 7-over 77 in the third round; his 7-over 217 is tied for 20th on the 7,236-yard, par-70 Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course design. He had 11 pars and seven bogeys on his day, with his 39 pars tied for the most in the field and his 4.07 average on the par-4 holes is sixth best. Of the 16 freshmen in the field (including three redshirts), Juel-Berg is fifth among them heading into the last 18 holes.
Junior Johnny Hayes shot CU’s best round of the day, a 4-over 74, which gave him a 10-over 220 total that has him tied for 27th. He had two birdies, 10 pars and six bogeys for his round; he turned at 5-over but was one of the few players in the field to play either nine under par when he had both of his birds and just one bogey on the front side.
Senior Derek Fribbs turned in a 6-over 76 for a 221 score (11-over), as he had two birdies and eight pars against eight bogeys Wednesday. He was even though 10 holes but bogeyed six of the last eight holes coming into the clubhouse.
Fribbs and Juel-Berg have yet to have a score worse than a bogey.
Sophomore David Oraee fashioned a 5-over 75, which has him in as 12-over 222 for 54 holes; he had a birdie and 11 pars against six bogeys for his effort on the day. Like many of his teammates, he was over par early, in his case, 4-over seven holes in, but settled down and played the last 11 at just 1-over.
Redshirt freshman Drew Trujillo shot an 8-over 78 for a 233 score (23-over), as he had 10 pars against six bogeys and a double for the third round. Tied for 67th in the field, he opened with a double on No. 10 and then bogeyed the next three holes to stand 5-over just four holes in, but gathered himself to reel off eight straight pars.
Senior Jason Burstyn, CU’s No. 1 player and leader in stroke average (72.15), continued to struggle, though was playing a little better than he did Monday until he was derailed on his final hole of the day, the par-3 No. 9 where he scored a quadruple bogey after having some trouble in the bunker. He finished with a 9-over 79 for a 234 total (plus-24), which has him in 69th place entering the final round. He started the round well with a birdie, and had scored his third of the day right before the disaster on No. 9. Burstyn came into the meet with just one triple bogey in 34 rounds (and just three in 68 rounds dating to last year), but has had to endure a triple and a quad here this week.
Cal’s Max Homa is still riding his first round course record 61 and extended his individual lead to five strokes, as he shot a 71 in the third round for an 8-under 202. UCLA freshman Jonathan Garrick also shot a 71 for a 3-under 207 total, with four others six strokes back at 2-under 208.
The fourth and final round is set for Wednesday, with play beginning at 9 a.m. MDT off both the No. 1 and 10 tees; Colorado will be paired with USC and Oregon State and will begin play off the back nine on Wednesday in the first six groups to start the day.
“We’re hoping this was our ‘struggle’ round of the week and that we will finish strong and rebound Wednesday,” Edwards said.
NOTES: Through 54 holes, just six players are under par and two others at even … After six eagles were recorded on Monday, just one went into the books Tuesday … Fribbs (-4) and Hayes (-3) are two of just 18 players in the field to be more than 2-under par on the three par-5 holes … The Pac-12 Network will air highlights of the championship on Saturday, May 11, at Noon MDT.
LOS ANGELES — The University of Colorado men’s golf team slipped a notch from a tie for sixth into one for seventh after a high-scoring third round saw team scores escalate as the Pac-12 Conference Championships head into the final day of competition Wednesday.
No. 1 California remained in the lead but saw it shrink from nine strokes down to two. The Bears own a 1,056 team score, 6-over par, which is just ahead of No. 3 and host UCLA (1,058), which shot one of the two low rounds for the day, a 4-over 354. No. 4 Washington held its third place position, but is well back of the leaders at 1,078; Arizona State used the other low round in the field to zoom into fourth (1,084), with No. 7 Stanford rounding out the top five (1,092).
The Buffaloes, ranked No. 60, didn’t have a great day, but didn’t shoot themselves out of a first division finish, either. Colorado turned in a 30-over par 380 score for a 1,110 overall total, which has it tied with No. 11 Southern California and No. 51 Oregon State.
All 12 schools shot over par – to the tune of a total of 235 strokes. Only three players in the field turned in under par rounds Tuesday, with just four others matching par as the average score in the 72-man field jumped from 73.29 in the first round to 74.69 in the third.
The Buffs collectively recorded just eight birdies Tuesday, with 58 pars, 39 bogeys, four doubles and a quadruple.
“The hole locations were much more difficult,” head coach Roy Edwards said. “It was really tough out there, really hard. This is a major championship test, and in fields like this on a course like this, it’s hard to play 72 holes straight without having some struggles. And everyone went through it, this is one of USC’s home courses and they’re dead even with us through three rounds. It’s just a big time challenge out there, but the truth is that it is very fair. The greens are very firm and very, very fast. This is a top 10 golf course in the world since they restored it three years ago.”
“I thought we did okay under the circumstances, and of course we wanted to play better,” Edwards added. “But we had way too many three-putts, my guess is somewhere around 20, 25. We were in pretty good spots for the most part, we only had a few bad approach shots, so for the most part things were in our control putting-wise. Much of the damage was early.”
CU’s six players were collectively 15-over par through just five holes, and also were 10-over the last three.
Freshman Philip Juel-Berg continued to pace the Buffaloes, though he shot a 7-over 77 in the third round; his 7-over 217 is tied for 20th on the 7,236-yard, par-70 Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course design. He had 11 pars and seven bogeys on his day, with his 39 pars tied for the most in the field and his 4.07 average on the par-4 holes is sixth best. Of the 16 freshmen in the field (including three redshirts), Juel-Berg is fifth among them heading into the last 18 holes.
Junior Johnny Hayes shot CU’s best round of the day, a 4-over 74, which gave him a 10-over 220 total that has him tied for 27th. He had two birdies, 10 pars and six bogeys for his round; he turned at 5-over but was one of the few players in the field to play either nine under par when he had both of his birds and just one bogey on the front side.
Senior Derek Fribbs turned in a 6-over 76 for a 221 score (11-over), as he had two birdies and eight pars against eight bogeys Wednesday. He was even though 10 holes but bogeyed six of the last eight holes coming into the clubhouse.
Fribbs and Juel-Berg have yet to have a score worse than a bogey.
Sophomore David Oraee fashioned a 5-over 75, which has him in as 12-over 222 for 54 holes; he had a birdie and 11 pars against six bogeys for his effort on the day. Like many of his teammates, he was over par early, in his case, 4-over seven holes in, but settled down and played the last 11 at just 1-over.
Redshirt freshman Drew Trujillo shot an 8-over 78 for a 233 score (23-over), as he had 10 pars against six bogeys and a double for the third round. Tied for 67th in the field, he opened with a double on No. 10 and then bogeyed the next three holes to stand 5-over just four holes in, but gathered himself to reel off eight straight pars.
Senior Jason Burstyn, CU’s No. 1 player and leader in stroke average (72.15), continued to struggle, though was playing a little better than he did Monday until he was derailed on his final hole of the day, the par-3 No. 9 where he scored a quadruple bogey after having some trouble in the bunker. He finished with a 9-over 79 for a 234 total (plus-24), which has him in 69th place entering the final round. He started the round well with a birdie, and had scored his third of the day right before the disaster on No. 9. Burstyn came into the meet with just one triple bogey in 34 rounds (and just three in 68 rounds dating to last year), but has had to endure a triple and a quad here this week.
Cal’s Max Homa is still riding his first round course record 61 and extended his individual lead to five strokes, as he shot a 71 in the third round for an 8-under 202. UCLA freshman Jonathan Garrick also shot a 71 for a 3-under 207 total, with four others six strokes back at 2-under 208.
The fourth and final round is set for Wednesday, with play beginning at 9 a.m. MDT off both the No. 1 and 10 tees; Colorado will be paired with USC and Oregon State and will begin play off the back nine on Wednesday in the first six groups to start the day.
“We’re hoping this was our ‘struggle’ round of the week and that we will finish strong and rebound Wednesday,” Edwards said.
NOTES: Through 54 holes, just six players are under par and two others at even … After six eagles were recorded on Monday, just one went into the books Tuesday … Fribbs (-4) and Hayes (-3) are two of just 18 players in the field to be more than 2-under par on the three par-5 holes … The Pac-12 Network will air highlights of the championship on Saturday, May 11, at Noon MDT.