Colorado University Athletics
Carroll Opens With Par At NCAA's
May 14, 2003 | Men's Golf
David Plati, Assistant AD/Media Relations
The Buffalo captain, competing here as an individual, scored 36s on both the front and back nine on Kansas State's Colbert Hills Golf Course (7,525 yards, par-72) en route to firing an even-par 72 for the day. He played in the afternoon and started on the 10th tee, opening with 10 straight pars before scoring a birdie on the 374-yard, par-4 second hole. He then parred the next four holes before bogeying the 600-yard, par-5 No. 7 and then finished with a par, his 16th of the round. His previous best on the course was a 76 last October.
Carroll is one of six individuals competing in the regional, as Colorado wasn't invited as a team for the first time since 1998. The team leader in stroke average (73.6), he also topped the Buffaloes in 14 statistical categories. He is the first Buff to be invited to the regional without his teammates in the 15 years the NCAA has utilized the format.
The top 10 teams out of the 27 competing here will advance to the NCAA Finals in two weeks. Illinois is the team leader, in with an impressive 13-under par 275 team score after 18 holes, with SMU next at 277. The only Big 12 schools in the top 10 were Oklahoma State and Texas, both tied for seventh with 285 scores.
North Carolina State's Jason Moon shot a 66 to own a one-stroke lead over five others. Carroll is tied for 44th individually; the top two players not on the 10 teams advancing will move on the finals. Currently, there are 17 players not on the top 10 teams ahead of Carroll, though he's only four strokes off the pace.
Steve played pretty solid today. He hit 14 greens in regulation, and he only hit two bad tee balls; he saved par on one and the other led to his only bogey," CU head coach Mark Simpson said. "But he's striking the ball well. He knows he'll have to step it up in the par 5s. He played them to 1-over, and he'll have to be 4 or 5 under the next two days on them. He's certainly in contention in my estimation."
Carroll will tee off on No. 1 at 8 a.m. mountain time on Friday, with the final round of the regional slated for Saturday.
