Colorado University Athletics
MEN'S GOLF HOSTS 6TH ANNUAL STEVINSON INVITE
March 28, 2004 | Men's Golf
(Monday's pairings listed below)
The University of Colorado is hosting the sixth annual CU-Stevinson Ranch Invitational on March 29-30 in Stevinson, Calif. The 14-team field features eight schools from NCAA District 5, Colorado's district. Here is the basic tournament information:
COURSE INFORMATION: The tournament will take place at Stevinson Ranch Golf Club in Stevinson, just outside of Turlock, Calif. The championship layout is a 7,206-yard, par-72 configuration, and the greens feature bent grass. The telephone number to the pro shop is 209/668-8200; the course also has a web site at www.stevinsonranch.com.
PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS (5-man teams): Cal-Irvine, Cal-State Stanislaus, Colorado, Drake, Illinois State, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Long Beach State, Missouri, Pacific, San Jose State, Washington State and Wichita State. That's eight competing schools from the NCAA's District 5, 14 in all, along with five individual slots to fill a 15th "team" space in the pairings.
Those ranked in the top 125 in Golfweek/GolfStat (as of March 27): Kansas (#23/#23), Kansas State (#33/31), Colorado (#41/#43), Wichita State (#56/#54), Missouri (#72/#89), Cal-Irvine (#73/#70), Washington State (#91/#94), San Jose State (#94/#91), Long Beach State (#99/#105), Iowa State (#110/#103) and Pacific (#107/#112). Cal-State Stanislaus is the No. 2 team in Division II as ranked by GolfStat. Top individuals include Kane Webber (Colorado, Sr.), ranked No. 34 by GolfStat and No. 54 by Golfweek; Andrew Price (Kansas, Jr., 61 GW/70 GS); Kevin Ward (Kansas, Jr., 82 GW/96 GS); Vinnie Poncino (UC-Irvine, Sr., 87 GS/116 GW); Judd Easterling (Wichita State, Jr., 93 GS/134 GW) and Ben Kern (Kansas State, 98 GW). CSU-Stanislaus's Ryan Thornberry (Soph.) and Billy Moon (Fr.) are ranked No. 23 and No. 64 by GolfStat, which merges all divisions individually.
FORMAT (54 holes): College-Am/practice rounds on Sunday; 36 holes on Monday and 18 holes on Tuesday in a shotgun format. Tee times of 8 a.m. each day, with the second round on Monday immediately following completion of the first round as there is continuous play to complete the 36 holes.
RESULTS: Results will be available on CU's web site, www.CUBuffs.com linked from within the Colorado story and/or from our golf page. Results should be posted by 7:30 p.m. (PST) on Monday and by 3:00 p.m. (PST) on Tuesday. Quick quotes from winning coach and medalist will be provided if time permits as well. Due to the off-site location and lack of practical office facilities (we are basically in a rural area), results will not be faxed to individual schools. However:
Results will also be e-mailed (in Adobe PDF format) to those who provide me an e-mail address. Please e-mail me (david.plati@colorado.edu) with the e-mail address of the SID you would them sent to (prefer just SID's, media only if you are in a bind).
SID/CONTACT PERSONNEL: Colorado sports information director David Plati is staffing the meet. He can be reached at the Stevinson pro shop (209/668-8200). CU assistant head coach Brad Neher is the tournament director and is the back-up contact.
COLORADO GOLF NOTES
QUICKLY: Colorado will participate in the sixth annual CU-Stevinson Ranch Invitational, set for March 29-30 in Stevinson, located in central California (south of Turlock in the heart of the state)" A few years back, CU head coach Mark Simpson had the idea of hosting a meet for District 5 teams at a good weather site, since many of the schools only faced each other once or twice a year at the most and usually in less-than-preferential weather conditions; the first five tournaments have been a success and are quite popular with the participating teams" Monday's competition will feature two rounds with shotgun starts at 8:00 a.m. and around 1:00 p.m. (PST), with Tuesday's final round also featuring an 8:00 a.m. shotgun start" For this meet, Stevinson Ranch will play to a 7,191-yard, par-72 layout; the course has a 74.7 rating and slope of 138, and features greens with bent grass" Kansas won the first four CU-Stevinson meets (with scores of 866, 877, 899 and 861) and Pacific captured last year's (866); CU has posted 904, 885, 904, 884 and 881 totals those same five meets in finishing seventh, second, second, seventh and seventh, respectively" All five meets have been decided by eight strokes or less (by 3, 8, 5, 1 and 6).
THE COACH: Mark Simpson (Colorado '83) in his 28th season as head coach of the Buffaloes. The 53-year old native of Durango, Colo., lettered three years as a Buff golfer between 1970-73. His college career highlight was winning the Weber State Invitational in 1971, with coaching career highlights coming in 1981, when he was named the Big Eight and District Five Coach-of-the-Year, and in 2000, when he was named co-Big 12 Coach-of-the-Year. The program has enjoyed great success under Simpson's tutelage, with 14 trips to the NCAA Championships along with six All-Americans and several all-league selections. He has also been very active in collegiate golf administration, and wrapped up a two-and-a-half year term as the president of the Golf Coaches Association of America in June 2002; he is currently serving as immediate past-president.
CU TIES: The Buffaloes have a solid tie-in to the Stevinson Ranch facility. George Kelley, the founder and owner of Stevinson Ranch, lettered in golf at Colorado in the early 1970s and is friends with Simpson, who also happened to letter on the links the same decade. Kelly is one of just 25 Buffaloes to have earned medalist honors in major tournament play, winning the Galveston Island Intercollegiate during the '72-73 school year, and led the team in stroke average the '72-73 season (74.00 for 16 rounds).
THE ROSTER: Simpson is taking six Buffs to California, as five will officially count toward CU's team score and one will compete individually. Senior captains Jeff Hanson and Kane Webber and sophomores Kenny Coakley, Edward McGlasson, Blake Moore and Derek O'Neill will participate at Stevenson Ranch. Webber comes in with one of the top "total short games" in the nation as compiled by GolfStat (ranking eighth through March 26 with a .681 percentage). Hanson will play individually, the others in their order of finish at the Western.
Overall-----------------------------
Player Rd Strokes Avg.
KANE WEBBER...... .............................. 24........... 1708............... 71.17
KENNY COAKLEY. ............................. 21........... 1533................ 73.00
EDWARD McGLASSON.................... 24............ 1763................ 73.46
DEREK O'NEILL..... ............................. 18............ 1339................ 74.39
JEFF HANSON....... ............................. 21............1568................. 74.67
BLAKE MOORE..... ............................ 9.............. 674................ 74.89
Top 10 Finishes (6)? Webber 4, McGlasson 2. Top 20 Finishes (14)? Webber 7, Coakley 3, Hanson 2, McGlasson 2. Rounds In The 60s (15)? Coakley 5, Webber 5, Hanson 2, McGlasson 2, O'Neill 1. Subpar Rounds (27)? Webber 12, Coakley 8, Hanson 3, McGlasson 3, O'Neill 1. Even-Par Rounds (11)? Webber 4, McGlasson 3, O'Neill 2, Hanson 1, Moore 1. Rounds Counting Toward Team Scoring (96/117 82.1%)? Webber 1.000 (24/24); Coakley .857 (18/21); Hanson .810 (17/21), McGlasson .792 (19/24); O'Neill .667 (13/18); Moore .667 (6/9). Differential/Average Strokes-Per-Round Behind Tournament Medalist (4.86; 569/117)? Webber 2.54 (61/24); Coakley 4.90 (103/21); McGlasson 4.92 (118/24); Moore 5.78 (52/9); O'Neill 5.89 (106/18); Hanson 6.14 (129/21).
RANKINGS: There are three ranking systems in Division I college golf. Here's a look at the field for the CU-Stevinson Ranch Invitational in the latest rankings in all (as of March 22, prior to CU's win in the Western Intercollegiate, unless noted):
GCAA Precept Poll (voted by Division I coaches): Kansas, Kansas State and Wichita State, in that order, all received votes (after the Top 25).
GolfStat: Kansas (23), Kansas State (31), COLORADO (43), Wichita State (54), UC-Irvine (70), Missouri (89), San Jose State (91), Washington State (94), Iowa State (103),
Long Beach State (105), Pacific (112), Illinois State (131), Drake (145). CSU-Stanislaus is No. 2 in the Division II poll.
Golfweek: Kansas (23), Kansas State (33), COLORADO (41), Wichita State (56), Missouri (72), UC-Irvine (73), Washington State (91), San Jose State (94), Long Beach State
(99), Pacific (107), Iowa State (110), Drake (127), Illinois State (131). Golfweek ranks 289 Division I schools, but does not rank the other divisions.
Golfweek District 5 Rankings (as of March 7): 1. Oklahoma State; 2. Oklahoma; 3. Kansas; 4. Kansas State; 5. Tulsa; 6. Colorado; 7. Wichita State; 8. Missouri;
9. Iowa State; 10. Southern Illinois; 11. Drake; 12. Nebraska; 13. Oral Roberts; 14. Illinois State; 15. SW Missouri State; 16. Arkansas State.
Individual Rankings (players from schools in meet): Kane Webber (Colorado, Sr.), ranked No. 34 by GolfStat and No. 54 by Golfweek; Andrew Price (Kansas, Jr., 61 GW/70
GS); Kevin Ward (Kansas, Jr., 82 GW/96 GS); Vinnie Poncino (UC-Irvine, Sr., 87 GS/116 GW); Judd Easterling (Wichita State, Jr., 93 GS/134 GW) and Ben Kern (Kansas
State, 98 GW). CSU-Stanislaus's Ryan Thornberry (Soph.) and Billy Moon (Fr.) are ranked No. 23 and No. 64 by GolfStat, which merges all divisions individually. Other
Buffaloes (Golfweek): 186. Kenny Coakley; 274. Edward McGlasson; 439. Jeff Hanson; 460. Derek O'Neill (Moore does not have enough rounds).
In the Golfweek rankings, and adding in last week's Western Intercollegiate, Colorado is 10-25 against top 25 teams, 21-45-1 versus top 50 teams, 47-47-2 against the top 100 and 62-47-2 overall. In the GolfStat computations, Colorado owns a 241-42 record in a round robin, head-to-head comparison.
SEASON AT-A-GLANCE: Colorado has played in eight tournaments this year; the first seven all ranked between the 15th and the 31st toughest out of 167 meets to date according to Golfweek (the Western Intercollegiate won't be rated until this week, but it should fall in that group as well?six of the meets are in the top 26). CU has seven top 10 finishes, three top five and a victory to date, topped by last week's win in the Western Intercollegiate, the Buffs first major tournament win against a field with several ranked teams for the first time since the fall of 1991 (Stanford Invitational?now The Nelson). The Buffs won the Western with four sophomores in their five-man lineup. Colorado has a team stroke average of 73.5, including 73.1 for the spring, both on pace to set school records, while senior Kane Webber's stroke average of 71.17 is well ahead of the CU season mark of 72.04 set by Hale Irwin his junior year back in 1965-66.
MONDAY's PAIRINGS (First & Second Rounds)
1A Josh Persons Kansas State U. So.
Edward McGlasson Colorado, U. of So.
Matt Kern Pacific, U. of Jr.
1B A.J. Elgert Kansas State U. Sr.
Kane Webber Colorado, U. of Sr.
Troy McKinley Pacific, U. of Sr.
2A Aaron Watkins Kansas State U. Sr.
Blake Moore Colorado, U. of So.
Andrew Bostrom Pacific, U. of Jr.
2B Ben Kern Kansas State U. So.
Derek O'Neill Colorado, U. of So.
Chris Wells Pacific, U. of Fr.
3 Matt VanCleave Kansas State U. Jr.
Kenny Coakley Colorado, U. of So.
Miles Kirkpatrick Pacific, U. of Sr.
4 Judd Easterling Wichita State U. Jr.
Vinnie Poncino UC-Irvine Sr.
Ryan Thornberry CSU-Stanislaus So.
5 John May Wichita State U. Sr.
Jay Choe UC-Irvine So.
Billy Moon CSU-Stanislaus Fr.
6A Ty Cline Wichita State U. Jr.
Ryne Rindfleisch UC-Irvine So.
A.J. Shiffert CSU-Stanislaus Fr.
6B Jesse Schulte Wichita State U. Fr.
Neno Boonyaplanun UC-Irvine Fr.
Jeff King CSU-Stanislaus Sr.
7 Cameron Bishop Wichita State U. Fr.
Derek Uyesaka UC-Irvine Fr.
Keith Ornales CSU-Stanislaus Sr.
8 Justin Bliss Missouri, U. of Jr.
Tyler Swanson Iowa State U. So.
Brett Lederer Long Beach State Fr.
9 Michael Radek Missouri, U. of Sr.
Jeremy Lyons Iowa State U. Sr.
Torey Edwards Long Beach State Sr.
10 Ben Scott Missouri, U. of So.
Paul Huddle Iowa State U. Fr.
Jeremy Keller Long Beach State Fr.
11A John Kelly Missouri, U. of Fr.
Curtis Foster Iowa State U. Fr.
Ryan Wood Long Beach State Fr.
11B David Jenkins Missouri, U. of Sr.
Drew Dalziel Iowa State U. So.
Todd Saukkola Long Beach State So.
12A Jeff Berkshire Drake U. So.
Denny Bull Illinois State U. Jr.
Kevin Ward Kansas, U. of Jr.
12B Kane Hanson Drake U. Jr.
Brian Anderson Illinois State U. Sr.
Tyler Hall Kansas, U. of Sr.
13 Matt Brooks Drake U. Jr.
Kyle Vasel Illinois State U. Jr.
Andrew Price Kansas, U. of Jr.
14 Wes Pantling Drake U. Fr.
Matt Maskel Illinois State U. So.
Tyler Docking Kansas, U. of Fr.
15A Bobby Powers San Jose State U. Sr.
Ryan Camp Washington State U. Sr.
Pete Krsnich Kansas, U. of So.
15B Sam Huff Drake U. So.
Kris Wildenradt Illinois State U. So.
Gary Woodland Kansas, U. of Fr.
16 Bryant Reyes San Jose State U. Sr.
Jordan Madison Washington State U. Fr.
Keth Malone Drake U. Fr.
17 Justin Madison San Jose State U. Jr.
Kevin Chen Washington State U. Fr.
Tim Moody Kansas State U. So.
18A Neal Valera San Jose State U. Sr.
Logan Toskey Washington State U.
Jeff Hanson Colorado, U. of Sr.
18B Alejandro Prieto San Jose State U. So.
Chad Carlson Washington State U. So.
Cory Cooper Wichita State U. Sr.
Players will continue right into second round
following completion of the first 18 holes.
