Posts tagged PLATI
Buff golfers moving up in tourney
Feb 7th
WAIKOLOA, Hawai’i — The University of Colorado men’s golf team improved two spots here Friday into 15th place as the first rounds of the 24th annual Amer Ari Hawaii-Hilo Invitational are now in the books.
No. 3 Oklahoma State remained atop the leaderboard, owning a 28-under par team score of 548; the Cowbuys extened their lead to two strokes, but with No. 60 Oregon moving from sixth into second with a 26-under 550. No. 13 Washington also moved into the top five, jumping from 10th into third (16-under 272 on the day for a 26-under 552), with No. 25 Southern California and No. 26 Auburn tied for fourth (553); No. 17 UCLA had the best round of the day (17-under 271) and is alone in sixth with a 554.
Colorado, No. 83 in the final Golfweek fall rankings, moved from 17th to 15th with a two-round score of 568, or 8-under par. The Buffaloes turned in their second best single round score of the season, a 7-under 281, bested only by a 13-under 275 they scored in the first round of the last fall tournament at Texas-El Paso.
CU at one point was 14-under par as a team and in 10th place a little over midway through Friday’s round, with 17 birdies and only three bogeys collectively through either 10 or 11 holes, depending on where the players were on the course. But in the shotgun format, where the Buffs started on Friday positioned them to close with many of the more challenging holes.
“This will probably be one of if not the toughest tournament this spring in college golf, and we have an opportunity to keep moving up with a good final round tomorrow,” CU head coach Roy Edwards said. “I think we’re ahead of where we normally would be, we’re doing well and we don’t seem to have a lot of rust. More than anything, it took us a while to get used to the Bermuda greens. We just have to keep seeing a little more success with each round and continue building on that.”
The always tough field here has 10 of the nation’s top 50 competing, including three in the top 10; seven of CU’s Pac-12 rivals are among the group.
Freshman Jeremy Paul recorded CU’s best round for the second straight day, turning in a 4-under par 68, as he improved to 7-under 137 for 36 holes which has him tied for 12th overall. His round included seven birdies and eight pars against three bogeys, and he closed strong with two of those birds coming in his last four holes, including his final hole of the day (No. 12). He has an eagle, nine birdies and 22 pars through two rounds, with just four holes worse than par (all bogeys).
“Today was much better for sure, even though we played fairly similar to how we did on Thursday, we just made more putts,” Edwards said. “Jeremy played another solid round, though he really played better than he scored; he gave away a couple of shots on the par-5s. He usually plays those a few strokes under par and today he was even.”
Junior David Oraee also went sub-70 on Friday, carding a 3-under 69, scoring four birdies and 13 pars against a single bogey; he is in at even-par 144 with one round remaining, as he is tied for 63rd individually. He birdied three straight holes (Nos. 18, 1 and 2) at one point and had all four of his on the day in a six-hole span.
Sophomore Philip Juel-Berg is also tied for 63rd after fashioning a 2-over par 74, giving him an even-par 144 through two rounds. He had 14 pars for the second straight day, flipping his birdie-to-bogey count from three-to-one to one-to-three. He was even through his first 10 holes, but bogeys Nos. 6 and 8 jumped him to 2-over, where he remained for his final five holes.
Freshman Andrew Bonner played more consistently in the second round as he turned in a 1-under 71 for an even-par 144, also tying him for 63rd. He had three birdies and 13 pars against two bogeys Friday, cutting down his holes over par for the round from five to just two. He birdied his second hole of the day (No. 17) and remained under par from that point on for the entire round.
Freshman Yannik Paul opened up on fire, and after five birdies within a seven-hole span, stood at 5-under through10 holes, but he cooled off and came back down to Earth, playing his last eight holes at six-over to finish with a 1-over 73. His 36-hole total of 148 has him tied for 99th,
Senior Johnny Hayes is competing here individually, meaning his score doesn’t count toward CU’s team total; he shot a 3-over 75 for the second straight round, with his 6-over 150 total tying him for 107th. For the second straight day, he had one birdie, 14 pars, two bogeys and a double, except on Friday, he was even-par with two holes to go and finished up bogey-double.
“David played really solid today, anything under 70 is a good round here,” Edwards said. “There are a lot of those (rounds in the 60s) here because of the quality of the field, but breaking 70 is a quality score. He wasn’t himself yesterday but came back and showed what kind of player he has been and is for us. Yannik was on fire early on, but then had a couple of loose swings on just the wrong holes. Had those been on some holes where you could hit it a bit off line, you could still come back and make par. He just had a couple of bad breaks after a terrific start.”
Stanford’s Cameron Wilson used a 7-under 65 to take over the individual lead, as he is with a 12-under 132; three players are one stroke behind him, as 17 players are within five shots of the lead, all at 7-under or better.
The third and final round of the tournament is Saturday, with a shotgun start set for at 10:30 a.m. mountain time.
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS (*—competing individually)
T12. Jeremy Paul…………………………. 69-68—137
T63. Philip Juel-Berg…………………….. 70-74—144
T63. David Oraee…………………………. 75-69—144
T63. Andrew Bonner…………………….. 73-71—144
T99. Yannik Paul…………………………… 75-73—148
T107. *Johnny Hayes……………………… 75-75—150
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
1. Cameron Wilson, Stanford………… 67-65—132
T2. Thomas Lim, Oregon……………….. 64-69—133
T2. Lorens Chan, UCLA………………….. 68-65—133
T2. Jeffrey Kang, USC…………………… 66-67—133
T5. Rico Hoey, USC………………………. 65-69—134
T5. Chelso Barrett, TCU………………… 66-68—134
TEAM SCORES
1. Oklahoma State…………………. 271-277—548
2. Oregon…………………………….. 276-274—550
3. Washington………………………. 280-272—552
T4. Southern California……………… 273-280—553
T4. Auburn…………………………….. 274-279—553
6. UCLA……………………………….. 283-271—554
T7. Georgia Tech…………………….. 286-270—556
T7. TCU…………………………………. 272-284—556
T7. Texas………………………………. 274-282—556
T10. Arizona State…………………….. 280-277—557
T10. Stanford…………………………… 281-276—557
12. Texas Tech……………………….. 278-282—560
13. Hawai’i-Hilo……………………….. 279-286—565
14. Oregon State…………………….. 285-281—566
15. COLORADO……………………… 287-281—568
16. Hawai’i…………………………….. 279-291—570
17. San Jose State………………….. 290-287—577
18. UC-Davis………………………….. 290-289—579
19. Osaka Gakuin…………………….. 286-295—581
20. CSU-Monterey Bay…………….. 295-287—582
DAVID PLATI | ASSOCIATE AD/SPORTS INFORMATION
Buff golfers prepare for tough Hawai’i tourney
Feb 6th
WAIKOLOA, Hawai’i — The University of Colorado men’s golf team arrived here Saturday in preparation for its spring opener, the 24th annual Amer Ari Hawaii-Hilo Invitational.
The tournament, which runs this Thursday through Saturday, will once again provide an indication of where the Buffaloes stand right out of the gate, not just nationally, but with seven other Pac-12 schools competing, the Buffs will get an early idea of where they stand in the conference.
The field here is annually one of the strongest in the spring, and it’s no exception this year with three top 10 teams competing and 10 of the top 50 and all but two (out of 17) in the top 100. It also includes 10 of the nation’s top 30 individuals and the No. 7 Division II program in CSU-Monterey Bay.
Colorado (No. 83 in the final Golfweek fall rankings), will be joined in the field by league counterparts Stanford (No. 9), Washington (No. 13), UCLA (No. 17), Southern California (No. 25), Arizona State (No. 37), Oregon (No. 60) and Oregon State (No. 67). Other top schools competing include No. 2 Georgia Tech, No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 19 Texas and No. 26 Auburn.
The three-day tournament is a real treat for the participants, as the tournament will be played on the renowned 7,074-yard, par-72 Waikoloa King’s Course on Hawai’i’s Big Island, a Scottish links-style layout with fairways interspersed between ancient lava fields, along with numerous lakes and pot bunkers. The teams will play 18 holes each day in a shotgun start format at 10:30 a.m. MST in weather expected to be near-perfect with temperatures in the low 80s.
Colorado head coach Roy Edwards said the team is looking forward to the spring season getting underway.
“This tournament annually has a great field, and it’s always really exciting,” Edwards said. “It’s been just over three months since our last tournament and we’re ready to get our spring season going. We’ve had some solid days of practice out here, which we were in need of considering the weather back home. If we take care of business and play the way we’re capable, we’re confident that we can beat some really good teams.”
Six Buffaloes are on trip; five will score for the team: junior David Oraee (73.9 fall stroke average) sophomore Philip Juel-Berg (73.5) and three true freshmen: Jeremy Paul (72.9), Yannik Paul (72.5) and Andrew Bonner (77.7). Oraee, Juel-Berg and Jeremy Paul played in all five competitions, while Yannik Paul appeared in four and Bonner two. Senior Johnny Hayes (74.4) will play as an individual.
DAVID PLATI | ASSOCIATE AD/SPORTS INFORMATION
$143 Million Athletic Facilities Re-Design Approved By 9-0 Vote
Dec 4th
DENVER – The University of Colorado athletic department on Wednesday took its most significant step forward in two-plus decades, receiving the green light from the school’s Board of Regents to proceed with a comprehensive facilities re-design and upgrade.
The Regents voted 9-0 to approve a $143 million plan presented by Athletic Director Rick George that will:
· Add an indoor multipurpose practice facility (football field/300 meter track), whose location is to be determined. The proposed site is on Franklin Field, just east of Folsom Field’s east side. The indoor facility also would be used for tailgating on game day;
· Refurbish the Dal Ward Athletics Center, which was completed in 1991, to include an Olympic sports strength training room in the sub-basement level and new locker rooms and equipment room on the field level.
· Redesign Dal Ward’s first floor for the expansion of Olympic sports/sports medicine, a leadership development center and an end zone club with club seating and loge boxes;
· Transform the second floor of Dal Ward to increase the athletic department’s academic support system from its current 5,115 square feet to 17,200 square feet. The training table will remain on the second floor;
· Add a 21,900-square foot high-performance sports center on the northeast corner of the stadium, as well as a rooftop terrace on the northeast corner (which will generate revenue by being rentable for non-game-day events), converting the south offices at Folsom Field to retail space. The rooftop terrace is also to be used on non-game-day events.
· Also proposed for the third floor of the sports performance center are team meeting rooms. Coaches’ offices and athletic administration offices will move from their current locations at Folsom Field’s “gates” to the suite level (fourth) on Folsom’s east side.
“I’m very excited about what this will do for our program long-term,” said George, who was named CU’s athletic director on July 18 and started work on Aug. 12. “It will allow us to create a world-class, holistic student-athlete experience. It will allow us to compete for and win championships, and it will allow us to become fiscally responsible. I believe it’s a long-term sustainable model.”
He said the long-range, comprehensive plan obviously was well-received by the Regents: “Getting a 9-0 vote is very rewarding for the whole group that has worked on this.”
By the time ground is broken – hopefully this spring – on the department’s “sustainable excellence initiative,” George hopes to have one-third of the money raised. “It could be corporately, it could be an annual revenue that we generate, it could be private donors.”
Regent Steve Bosley called George’s proposal “a well-thought out business plan” that represents a large and potentially lucrative investment for the campus, city of Boulder and state. Of the possible criticism aimed at launching such a project without a large number of donations in hand, Bosley said, “That dog won’t hunt.” He said he prefers “starting with a vision and turning it into a plan.”
Close to $10 million “in actual gifts and concrete pledges” has been raised thus far, George said. “And in the last two months, we’ve canvassed all areas of the country, from our own backyard to each coast and have ‘asks’ out there in the neighborhood of $40 million more.”
While a $50 million goal initially was stated, with an early December timetable, George said that number “was never one that we had to meet by December. We are enthusiastic, focused and driven on raising the initial funds needed for the plan . . . however, it is not, and never has been, a deal-breaker to have raised the money by the first of December.”
The upgrading of CU’s facilities, said George, goes beyond potentially leveling the playing field in the Pac-12. Rather, “It’s what we should be doing for our student-athletes,” he said. “This is a significant area of need for our student-athletes. We don’t have locker room spaces, we don’t have academic spaces that our student-athletes need to be successful, to have a great experience – and we need to address that.
“We have a strength facility that’s only 10,000 square feet for 300-plus student-athletes, spirit squad, what have you. It’s a need, something we need to have for this program to be successful. Notwithstanding what other schools are doing, what they’re doing is great, but this is what we need at CU to be successful long-term.”
In attending Pac-12 Conference football games over the past several years – CU has been a Pac-12 member since 2011 – Regent Sue Sharkey said she became aware of a facilities upgrades from “seeing cranes all over the place” at football stadiums. “We need to get it done and we need to get it done now,” she said.
In addition to George’s presentation on Wednesday, the Regents heard from football coach Mike MacIntyre; men’s basketball coach Tad Boyle (via video); Kris Livingston, associate athletic director/student success; Miguel Rueda, head athletic trainer. The Regents also watch several video presentations from student-athletes in all sports speaking about their various facility needs.
MacIntyre told the board he was “excited” about the future of the university and CU football, but added, “There’s a ceiling we’ll hit in recruiting if this (the facilities upgrade) if this not done. It’s always either the first or second question I get in recruiting. He also said coaches he recruits against in the Pac-12 Conference have come into Colorado pursing in-state prospects and, because of CU’s current facilities, have questioned the school’s overall commitment to athletics. His first Buffs team finished 4-8 overall, 1-8 in the Pac-12 Conference.
Livingston told the Regents the athletic department’s academic support system’s physical resources have shrunk over the last several years from 8,400 square feet to just over 5,000 square feet. By way of comparison to another Pac-12 member, Oregon’s athletic department academic space is at 40,000 square feet. But Oregon also has nearly twice as many student-athletes as CU’s 340.
Rueda said the high performance sports center would help him and his staff better identify and treat student-athletes before minor injuries become major. The center, he added, “will allow for a program where our student-athletes will receiver world-class and holistic resources dedicated to helping them achieve.”
George said the proposal’s next phase is a presentation to architects. He hopes ground can be broken this spring, with a completion date of the 2015-16 academic-athletic year. The upgrades, he said, will put the Buffs “on par with the best out there” and will “set us up for the long-term and put an end for any Band-Aid type improvements to get us through the short-term. We’ll be set for a long time.
DAVID PLATI | ASSOCIATE AD/SPORTS INFORMATION