Burstyn, Juel-Berg Pace Buffaloes With 2-Under 68s

 

 

PALO ALTO, Calif. —

There are three top 10 teams and 11 in the top 75 competing here, with host and No. 10 Stanford the day one leader with an 8-under par 272 score.  Five strokes separate the top six teams through 18 holes, with six strokes the difference between seventh and 12th; the Buffaloes are in the middle of that logjam, with a 3-over 283 score that is good for ninth place.

 

“A great day for golf, the weather conditions were perfect,” head coach Roy Edwards said.  “That’s why the scores are so good and so bunched.  Overall, we had a decent day as far as our team score was concerned.  The only thing that prevented us from shooting lower, or under par, is that we had some mistakes, but even those were few and far between.

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“For the most part we played smart, and mitigated the big numbers,” he added.  “It’s so tightly bunched, we did what we should have done and didn’t get tripped up by the tough holes.  There are a lot of good teams in this field and this is a great test for us at this stage of the season, one month out from the Pac-12 Championship.”

 

Senior Jason Burstyn and freshman Philip Juel-Berg paced the Buffaloes on Thursday, each recording 2-under par 68 scores on the 6,727-yard, par-70 Stanford Golf Course layout which tied them for 13th place.

 

Starting on the No. 1 tee, Burstyn turned a 3-under 32 on the front nine, with the aide of an eagle on the par-5 No. 7 hole.  On the back, he couldn’t get some birdie putts to fall and endured two bogeys to bring him back closer to par in the end.

 

Juel-Berg played a fantastic back nine, firing a 31; after turning at 2-over, he birdied Nos. 10, 13, 15 and 16 and finished with a team-best six birdies, along with nine pars two bogeys and a double.  He, too, endured a patch where he scored those three holes over par but had a birdie among them.  He now has scored 12 birdies in his last two rounds, including 10 in his last 27 holes.

 

“Jason and Philip were really solid most of the day; both had to overcome a tough stretch around the middle of their rounds,” Edwards said.  “Philip had a pretty good fall, though struggled a bit to start the spring but has come back to play well the last month.  He’s a good player and he keeps getting better and better … and is making fewer and fewer freshman mistakes.”

 

Senior Derek Fribbs carded a 3-over 73, scoring four birdies and eight pars, with five bogeys and a double, tying him for 61st.  He opened strong, with two birdies in the first three holes, but then endured a bad patch where he played the next eight holes at 6-over.

 

Redshirt freshman Drew Trujillo fashioned a 4-over 74, tying him for 66th place, as he had three birdies, nine pars, five bogeys and a double.  He started off with a birdie, but played the next six holes at 5-over before closing by playing the course at even par over his final 11 holes.

 

Sophomore David Oraee carded a 5-over 78, tying him for 76th.  He had two birdies and 10 pars against five bogeys and a double for his day, as he continued struggling this week on the west coast; he was 23-over par for the UC-Irvine Anteater, very uncharacteristic for him, especially coming off a 1-under performance at Bandon Dunes three weeks ago.

 

Collectively, the five Buffs scored 18 birdies Thursday, one more than in the final round of the Anteater invite, which was one more than CU had in Monday’s two rounds.  Big numbers were kept to a minimum in the first round here, as CU had just four double bogeys and nothing worse.

 

Nine players are tied for the individual lead with 4-under 66 scores; the most compelling of that group being San Jose State’s Cody Blick, who made the turn at 1-over but rallied to score six birdies en route to a 30 on the back nine.

 

The second round of the tournament is set for Friday, with the final round on Saturday.  Play begins each day at 9 a.m. MDT off the No. 1 and 10 tees.

by CU SPORTS INFORMATION SERVICE!!!!!

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