Senior Yannik Paul enters is eighth and final semester as a Buff, the most experienced member of the team.
Photo by: Tony Harman
Golfers To Make Spring Debut Again in Paradise
January 30, 2018 | Men's Golf
Buffs Open Spring Slate 13th Straight Year In Hawai'i
WAIKOLOA, Hawai'i — It's almost like a broken record, but in a good way, as the University of Colorado men's golf team will open the spring portion of its schedule for the 13th straight year here Thursday in the 27th annual Amer Ari Hawaii-Hilo Invitational.
The tournament, which runs this Thursday through Saturday, is one of many that open the spring collegiate season and should provide an early indication of where the Buffaloes stand nationally' by their own admission, they had a rather pedestrian fall, finishing down the line in the rankings (No. 54, Golfweek; No. 65, GolfStat). Those are still well within qualifying range for the NCAA Championships.
One again the field comprised here is one of the strongest in the spring, with seven of the nation's top 18 teams from the final Bushnell Coaches poll of the fall set to compete here, including top-ranked Oklahoma State and No. 4 Georgia Tech. Others include Auburn (No. 9), Stanford (No. 11), Texas Tech (No. 13 and the defending champion), Texas (No. 16) and Southern California (No. 18). Overall, 10 teams in the nation's top 50 are participating, and as always is the case, the 18-team field is saturated with Pac-12 Conference teams, six of which are competing this time around.
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; temperatures are forecast to be in the upper 70s, but with the potential for light showers only on Thursday afternoon (the trade winds can often kick up on occasion).
Colorado head coach Roy Edwards said of the fall season, "We had some good, and some in-between; we didn't end on a good note (10th place in Hawaii's Princeville meet on a different island). It wasn't the way we wanted to end the fall, but I'm very excited for the spring. This is a team that has a chance to be very good, and this offseason will dictate if we're going to have a good team or a great one."
The Buffs did tie for the title in their own Mark Simpson Invitational, and had a third place finish at Air Force and a sixth place showing in New Mexico. But the UNM and Hawaii meets are currently ranked among the nation's top 25 to date, whereas the other two were down the line, thus CU's lower team ranking than this time a year ago (24th). But the opportunity is there for Colorado to zoom up the polls with six tournaments ahead of the Pac-12 Championships, the most CU will have in a spring season since 2013.
"We had a good weekend in Arizona about 12 days ago, and we're in Hawaii for four days prior to prepare as well, sort of an equalizer in comparison to many teams set to compete here," Edwards said. "Most of the guys were able to play a lot in Boulder up until the Arizona trip, and only when we returned did we have significant snow. So combining all that, I believe we're in good shape and are looking forward in getting ready to go."
"As always, this tournament has consistently been ranked among the top amateur tournaments in the world, not just in college golf," Edwards added. "The teams it attracts have players highly ranked on the amateur lists, and that puts it on par with the NCAA regionals. It's a great tournament in a special place to start the spring season, and because of the competition here, not only does it serve as great motivation for our guys to go out and perform well, you get a pretty good idea of where you stand out of the chute for the spring portion of the season."
Six Buffaloes are on trip: seniors Spencer Painton (71.2 fall stroke average), Yannik Paul (71.9) and John Souza (72.3) and sophomores Daniel O'Loughlin (71.0, the team leader) and Trevor Olkowski (72.6). Sophomore Victor Bjorlow (72.3) rounds out the Colorado contingent as he will be playing as an individual while the other five will count toward CU's team scoring total in the event. O'Loughlin, Olkowski, Painton and Souza played in all four fall tournaments, while Bjorlow and Paul competed in three.
NOTES: It's the 15th time CU will participate in this meet on Hawai'i's "Big Island," having done so two other times when it wasn't the team's first spring competition … Last year marked Colorado's best finish in the event, with the Buffaloes tying for fourth with a 23-under par 841 team score (with rounds of 281-279-281) … Graduated senior Jeremy Paul led the Buffs individually, tying for fifth with an 11-under 205 tally … Current assistant coach Patrick Grady has CU's best individual finish in this meet, as he tied for third as a senior in 2009 (firing a 4-under 212); Paul and Michael Baird ('08) have the best gross scores of 205 … The Buffs opened the spring in Hawai'i one other time, in 1993 in the John Burns Intercollegiate on Oahu.
The tournament, which runs this Thursday through Saturday, is one of many that open the spring collegiate season and should provide an early indication of where the Buffaloes stand nationally' by their own admission, they had a rather pedestrian fall, finishing down the line in the rankings (No. 54, Golfweek; No. 65, GolfStat). Those are still well within qualifying range for the NCAA Championships.
One again the field comprised here is one of the strongest in the spring, with seven of the nation's top 18 teams from the final Bushnell Coaches poll of the fall set to compete here, including top-ranked Oklahoma State and No. 4 Georgia Tech. Others include Auburn (No. 9), Stanford (No. 11), Texas Tech (No. 13 and the defending champion), Texas (No. 16) and Southern California (No. 18). Overall, 10 teams in the nation's top 50 are participating, and as always is the case, the 18-team field is saturated with Pac-12 Conference teams, six of which are competing this time around.
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; temperatures are forecast to be in the upper 70s, but with the potential for light showers only on Thursday afternoon (the trade winds can often kick up on occasion).
Colorado head coach Roy Edwards said of the fall season, "We had some good, and some in-between; we didn't end on a good note (10th place in Hawaii's Princeville meet on a different island). It wasn't the way we wanted to end the fall, but I'm very excited for the spring. This is a team that has a chance to be very good, and this offseason will dictate if we're going to have a good team or a great one."
The Buffs did tie for the title in their own Mark Simpson Invitational, and had a third place finish at Air Force and a sixth place showing in New Mexico. But the UNM and Hawaii meets are currently ranked among the nation's top 25 to date, whereas the other two were down the line, thus CU's lower team ranking than this time a year ago (24th). But the opportunity is there for Colorado to zoom up the polls with six tournaments ahead of the Pac-12 Championships, the most CU will have in a spring season since 2013.
"We had a good weekend in Arizona about 12 days ago, and we're in Hawaii for four days prior to prepare as well, sort of an equalizer in comparison to many teams set to compete here," Edwards said. "Most of the guys were able to play a lot in Boulder up until the Arizona trip, and only when we returned did we have significant snow. So combining all that, I believe we're in good shape and are looking forward in getting ready to go."
"As always, this tournament has consistently been ranked among the top amateur tournaments in the world, not just in college golf," Edwards added. "The teams it attracts have players highly ranked on the amateur lists, and that puts it on par with the NCAA regionals. It's a great tournament in a special place to start the spring season, and because of the competition here, not only does it serve as great motivation for our guys to go out and perform well, you get a pretty good idea of where you stand out of the chute for the spring portion of the season."
Six Buffaloes are on trip: seniors Spencer Painton (71.2 fall stroke average), Yannik Paul (71.9) and John Souza (72.3) and sophomores Daniel O'Loughlin (71.0, the team leader) and Trevor Olkowski (72.6). Sophomore Victor Bjorlow (72.3) rounds out the Colorado contingent as he will be playing as an individual while the other five will count toward CU's team scoring total in the event. O'Loughlin, Olkowski, Painton and Souza played in all four fall tournaments, while Bjorlow and Paul competed in three.
NOTES: It's the 15th time CU will participate in this meet on Hawai'i's "Big Island," having done so two other times when it wasn't the team's first spring competition … Last year marked Colorado's best finish in the event, with the Buffaloes tying for fourth with a 23-under par 841 team score (with rounds of 281-279-281) … Graduated senior Jeremy Paul led the Buffs individually, tying for fifth with an 11-under 205 tally … Current assistant coach Patrick Grady has CU's best individual finish in this meet, as he tied for third as a senior in 2009 (firing a 4-under 212); Paul and Michael Baird ('08) have the best gross scores of 205 … The Buffs opened the spring in Hawai'i one other time, in 1993 in the John Burns Intercollegiate on Oahu.
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