Posts tagged Kent State
CU men’s golfs team in sixth at NCAA Central Regional
May 16th
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Colorado men’s golf team opened strong here Thursday in the NCAA Central/Fayetteville Regional, with the Buffaloes in sixth place and definitely in contention for a top five finish and the berth into the NCAA Finals that comes with it.
No. 33 Illinois leads the pack with a 6-under 282 score, thanks to the efforts of two true freshmen that combined to go 11 strokes under what some call the “happy side of par.” No. 4 Texas is second (285), followed by No. 11 Oklahoma State (286), No. 22 Kent State (288) and No. 12 and host Arkansas (290).
The Buffaloes, ranked No. 58 by GolfStat and No. 67 by Golfweek, turned in a 4-over 292 to stand in sixth. No. 20 SMU is five back of CU, with the remaining seven teams in the field all at 300 or higher.
The top five teams out of 14 competing will advance to the NCAA Finals, set for May 28-June 2 in Atlanta, Ga., as will the top two individuals not associated with the five teams that qualify.
The four Buffs who contributed to the team score made the turn at 1-over; they had a collective hiccup on the first four holes on the front side (4-over), but played the last five at 1-under. The end result was Colorado placing four in the top 25 through 18 holes, matched only by Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas, three of the nation’s top 12 teams.
“It was definitely a good start, which we chalk up to our primary focus today being was to be patient and have a great attitude,” head coach Roy Edwards said. “The guys were phenomenal with that. I’m really proud of them, and that’s really the main reason we enjoyed a solid round.
“We need to do the same thing for tomorrow,” he continued. “That’s to be patient, take it one shot at a time. Right now, they’re only thinking about their first tee shot (Friday). You cannot get ahead of yourself here. It rained overnight and the course was really soft, so it played as easiest as it’s going to get today. The scores are likely not going to be as low, so the emphasis will be on the importance of being patient. That’s what we’ll stress.”
Sophomore David Oraee led the Buffaloes with a 1-under 71, which has him tied for ninth individually. He had a steady round with four birdies and 11 pars against three bogeys; the four birds tied for 10th most in the field. Playing to even par much of the round, he finished with birdies on Nos. 7 and 9 with a bogeys sandwiched in-between to get it into red numbers on the 7,251-yard, par-72 The Blessings Golf Club course layout.
Freshman Philip Juel-Berg continued his stellar rookie season, posting a 1-over 73, which has him tied for 20th. He had three birdies, 11 pars and four bogeys on his day, as he made the turn at 3-over but played the front side at 2-under, thanks to birds on Nos. 6 and 9. There are 14 freshmen in the field; Juel-Berg finished currently is seventh among them, with three of the six ahead of him recording even-par rounds of 72.
CU’s No. 1 player and stroke average leader, senior Jason Burstyn, fashioned a 2-over 74, tying him for 25th; he had four birdies like Oraee, along with nine pars, four bogeys and one double. The latter came on No. 6, a 418-yard, par-4 that played as the day’s fourth toughest hole; that pushed him to 4-over on the day, but he bounced back and closed with birdies on Nos. 7 and 9.
Senior Derek Fribbs also shot a 74, with three birdies and 11 pars against three bogeys and a double. He got off to one of the hot starts of the day, standing 3-under after he birdied Nos. 12, 13 and 15 – a par-5, a par-4 and a par-3, respectively – but came back down to Earth with bogeys on No. 17 and then on Nos. 1 and 4. He was cruising along at even par until his final hole of the day, the 535-yard, par-5 No. 9, where he doubled after hitting his drive into a hazard. It was his first double bogey in six rounds.
“I was hitting it in their close and utilizing the slopes,” Fribbs said of his start. “But after a while, the putts weren’t falling. I still had opportunities on the back nine, I just couldn’t make any putts to take full advantage of things. The course played a little easier today than expected because you could hold your shots better than we thought, but we also had good course management today.”
Junior Johnny Hayes shot an 8-over 80, tying him for 60th, as he recorded two birdies and nine pars against five bogeys, a double and a triple. He scored the latter two in his first four holes to get to 5-over quickly, but settled down over the final 14 holes.
“Johnny had a rough start, but regrouped and then held it together pretty well for a bad start,” Edwards said. “For the most part, any time anyone made a mistake, they worked hard to make a bogey and nothing worse.”
Hayes certainly wasn’t alone in his struggles; the average score by the non-scorer for all 14 teams on Thursday was an 81.6; he actually tied for the fourth lowest as only three managed to break 80. Despite his troubles, he played the par-3 holes at a collective 1-under, tied for eighth best in the field.
Illinois freshman Charlie Danielson turned in the best round of the day to take the individual lead, as the 2012 Wisconsin state high school champion opened on the back nine and shot a 30, including five birdies over a seven hole span; he added two more birdies on the front side to finish with a 7-under 65. Freshmen dominated the top of the leaderboard Thursday, with Oklahoma State’s Jordan Niebrugge tied for second (67) and Illinois’ Thomas Detry fourth (68).
The field has been re-paired according to score for the second round; Colorado, the No. 10 seed here, will tee it up off the No. 1 tee beginning at 7:20 a.m. MDT with Kent State (No. 5 seed) and Arkansas (No. 2), who occupy the fourth and fifth spots ahead of the Buffs. The final round is set for a 7:50 a.m. start on Saturday.
CU media release
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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