GOLFERS EDGED BY TWO; WEBBER WINS BOILERMAKER INVITATIONAL

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GOLFERS EDGED BY TWO; WEBBER WINS BOILERMAKER INVITATIONAL

April 11, 2004 | Men's Golf

By: David Plati, Associate AD/Sports Information

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. ? The University of Colorado men's golf team sent a message on “Masters Sunday” that its recent success is not a fluke, as senior Kane Webber's second win in three weeks led the No. 31 Buffaloes to a second place finish here in the Purdue Boilermaker Invitational.

Host Purdue had to hold off a charge from the Buffs to win the meet, as the Boilermakers took a nine-stroke advantage into the final round over No. 24 Kentucky, with CU in third, 10 strokes out of the lead. While the Wildcats faded in the chilly and windy conditions, the Buffaloes thrived, closing the gap to two strokes before running out of holes. Purdue, ranked outside the top 50 at No. 63, won with an 855 score (9-under), with Colorado taking the runner-up spot at 857. Kentucky was third (867) and No. 9 TCU fourth (872).

Going back to the last two weeks in March, CU has now posted a win (Western Intercollegiate), a fourth place (at its owns Stevinson Ranch Invitational) and now a second place finish, the best stretch of golf by the Buffaloes since the fall of 1979, when a junior by the name of Steve Jones led the Buffs to four straight top five finishes, including a win at the Air Force Falcon Invitational.

Webber, one of two senior captains on the squad, recorded the best round of his collegiate career in posting a final round 66, coming from two strokes back to win by three shots over Indiana's Jeff Overton. Webber, who had seven birdies and one bogey in his round, finished with a 10-under par 206 score, the same total he won the Western Intercollegiate in Santa Cruz with on March 23. He was inspired as Sunday was also the final round of The Masters, one of the most high profile days in the sport.

“Well, I didn't get a green jacket, but it feels pretty good, pretty special,” Webber said. “This is always a special day in golf. Waking up this morning and getting out there when it was so cold, we knew it was going to be tough. I had to get into the mindset to hit a lot of fairways and centers of the green, because par was going to be a pretty good score out there early on (he made the turn at 4-under 32). I think I did everything well today. I was able to hit the right shots into the greens, putted well, and made some solid pars. I birdied four and five and that seemed to get me going, and then birdied seven and eight before the turn and then 11 and 12 right after the turn.

How good was Webber's 66? It was the only round in the 60s and one of just four subpar rounds on the day and was the force behind the Buffs' 3-under team score of 285, easily the best in the final round as Indiana and Purdue were next best with 5-over 293 scores. Webber is the ninth player in CU history to win two tournaments; Hale Irwin and John Lindberg are tied for the most with four, with seven others having won two apiece.

But Webber wasn't the only Buff who answered the challenge Sunday, as when all was said and done, four CU players finished in the top 21, topped only by Purdue, which placed four in the top 14. But sophomore Edward McGlasson scored an even-par 72, one of only five matching par scores posted the final day; thus with only four subpar rounds, 71 of the 80 scores in the final round were over par on the 7,035-yard, par-72 Kampen Course at Purdue's Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex.

CU sophomore Blake Moore tied for eighth, as he battled to a 1-over 73 for a 214 total, with the other senior captain, Jeff Hanson, posting a 74 for a 218 score to tie for 18th place; they fared well as they were two of just 29 players to break 75 Sunday. McGlasson finished with a 219 total to tie for 21st.

“We were closing the gap late, and we knew Purdue wasn't playing all that well, but we just ran out of holes,” said CU head coach Mark Simpson. “This was the kind of day where if you made par, you accomplished something, and for Kane to pick today to put up his career best round in college really tells you something about the way he played, and has been playing.”

“This does two real good things for us,” Simpson continued. “One, it gives us a lot of confidence heading into the league championship and the most important part of the season. We beat several good teams here (10 were ranked in the top 50), and we handily beat three league rivals, two of whom (Oklahoma State, Oklahoma) are ranked 1-2 in our district at this point. And two, it helps us from the seeding standpoint, and that's important once you get to the NCAA Championships. We were ranked sixth by the coaches for our district, but that was before our win at the Western and the last three meets overall.

“If we can win the league championship, we'd have a good chance to be ranked No. 1 in the district,” he added. “If we do what we're capable of, there's no reason that this team couldn't accomplish that.”

Webber is in position to rewrite the CU record book. Currently the leader in 16 team statistical categories, his season stroke average is now 71.03, a full stroke ahead of Irwin's record of 72.04 in 1965-66, with his career average dipping to 72.90, bettering the all-time CU mark of 73.47, set by Scott Petersen in the early 1990s. Webber also owns a 70.5 average this spring, almost a gaudy two strokes better than the school mark of 72.44 set by Ben Portie just two years ago.

Colorado came in ranked No. 31 (GCAA), No. 35 (Golfweek) and No. 39 (GolfStat), and should move up after defeating four top 25 teams and six ranked ahead of it overall. With the convincing wins over OSU, OU and K-State (by a combined 89 strokes), the Buffs improved to 13-7-1 against NCAA District 5 teams and to 13-10 against all Big 12 schools. The win over Oklahoma State was a rare one by the Buffaloes, and the 27-shot margin was impressive despite OSU missing Casey Wittenberg, its top freshman who tied for 13th overall and was the low amateur Sunday at The Masters.

This was the last competition for the Buffaloes before the Big 12 Conference Championships, which are set for later this month (April 26-27) at Prairie Dunes Golf Club in Hutchinson, Kan.

Between the second place finish and Webber's win, it goes without saying that Colorado first-ever competition in the state of Indiana was a success, something that could bode well for the Buffaloes next month, as Purdue will host the NCAA Central Regional on the same course.

Buffalo Individuals

1. Kane Webber........ 71-69-66--206

T 8. Blake Moore........ 70-71-73--214

T18. Jeff Hanson........ 73-71-74--218

T21. Edward McGlasson... 74-73-72--219

T60. Kenny Coakley...... 74-76-79--229

Team Scores

1. Purdue........... 285-277-293--855

2. COLORADO......... 288-284-285--857

3. Kentucky......... 291-280-296--867

4. TCU.............. 293-285-294--872

5. Indiana.......... 297-288-293--878