GOLFERS RALLY TO TIE FOR FIFTH AT BIG 12'S

Monday, April 26

Hutchinson, Kan.

TBA

Colorado

All Rounds

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

April 27, 2004 | Men's Golf

By: David Plati, Associate AD/Sports Information

HUTCHINSON, Kan. ? The University of Colorado men's golf team was able to move up a couple of notches here Tuesday and post a first-division finish, as the Buffaloes tied for fifth as the 8th Annual Big 12 Conference Championships came to a close.

No. 9 Texas broke a second round tie with No. 7 Oklahoma State as the Longhorns claimed their third straight team title with an 864 score, six strokes ahead of No. 20 Oklahoma, as the Sooners snuck ahead of their in-state rivals with an 870 score while OSU had 873. No. 29 and host Kansas State snared fourth with an 881 score, and then followed Colorado, Kansas (No. 24) and Texas Tech (No. 36), all of whom tied for fifth at 893.

Colorado came in ranked No. 29 (GCAA), No. 31 (Golfweek) and No. 32 (GolfStat), as the Buffaloes were one of nine consensus top 50 teams participating here. Thus CU tied two ranked foes and beat three others in grabbing a share of fifth.

Colorado had the fifth best score in the final round (297), though Oklahoma State and Texas Tech were just one shot better than the Buffs, who were tied for sixth after one round and for seventh through two. This marked the sixth time in eight Big 12 title meets that the Buffs posted a first division finish; CU and Oklahoma are tied for the third most, behind Oklahoma State and Texas, both of whom have never finished outside the top six in eight tries.

Sophomore Kenny Coakley led the Buffaloes as he scored a third straight 74 for a 222 total, a figure that tied him for 16th individually. His final effort included two birdies, four bogeys and one double bogey as he shot 37 per side on the 6,598-yard, par-70 Prairie Dunes Country Club layout.

Three Buffs tied for 20th, as senior captains Jeff Hanson and Kane Webber and sophomore Edward McGlasson all finished with 14-over 224 scores, though all wound up with the same number from different paths.

McGlasson, who was tied for 14th after two rounds, shot his fourth highest round of his 33 total on the year, as his 77 snapped a string of 11 straight sub-75 rounds, all on tough golf courses. He never got anything going, tallying 11 pars and seven bogeys Tuesday, including bogeys on Nos. 8 and 9, his last two holes as CU started the day on the 10th tee. For the entire meet, McGlasson was one of just three players here not to record a double bogey or worse in 54 holes, as only by Baylor's Ryan Baca and John Antunes joined him in accomplishing the feat.

Webber was still suffering lingering effects from a cold he hasn't been able to shake for well over a week, parred every hole on the back nine and was thus even at the turn. But he recorded three bogeys and a double the final nine, and could counter with just one birdie to finish up with a 74. He was exhausted at the end of the round and will get some extended rest upon his return to Boulder.

Hanson recorded CU's s best round of day, which also matched the top score posted by a Buff in the meet, as he shot a 3-over 73. He had one birdie, 13 pars and four bogeys on his round, as he scored a three on the tough 438-yard, par-4 No. 5, one of only four players to birdie that hole in the final round.

Colorado was joined by the Oklahoma schools this year to have at least four players finish in the top 20, bringing the total to just nine in the history of the Big 12 meet. CU (2001) and Oklahoma (2003) are the only schools to have all five place in the top 20, while four players from the same school have now finished in the top 20 on seven other occasions, in 1998 (Oklahoma State), 2000 (Kansas), 2001 (Oklahoma), 2003 (Texas) and the three to do it this year.

Sophomore Blake Moore rounded out the CU effort here, as he closed with a 76 for a 230 total, tying him for 45th. After opening with four pars, he went on a bit of a rollercoaster ride, as he had four bogeys, two birdies and two doubles over his next nine holes, as he did recover to shoot even-par on his second nine.

The medalist, Texas' Jason Hartwick, was also the only player under par for the tournament, as he shot a 68 Tuesday for a 5?under 204 score; that included a blistering 31 on the back nine as he pulled away from the field. That easily topped Anthony Kim of Oklahoma, who finished nine strokes back as the runner-up, despite a final round 67 for a 213 total. Hartwick's winning score at Prairie Dunes was the third lowest in 13 Big 8 and Big 12 Championship meets held at the site, topped only by a 200 by Charles Howell in 2000 and a 203 by Anders Hultman in 2002; both played for Oklahoma State.

Those were also the only two subpar scores in the final round, as the average for the 60 players in the field was a tournament high 75.85; for the 180 rounds overall in the meet, the average was 75.29. There were just five subpar scores over the two days, with just nine of even par, while there were 82 rounds of 76 or worse and another 24 scores of 75.

“At best, a mediocre performance for the Buffaloes,” said CU head coach Mark Simpson. “It's a challenging golf course from a strategy standpoint, especially for first-timers. Finishing fifth in the Big 12 is nothing to be ashamed about it, but we're a little disappointed because we thought we could do better. While that wasn't the case this time around, there are still some things we can take away from this.

“The main thing is that the young guys need to know that they're still developing and they need to keep learning,” Simpson continued. “I hope the good thing that comes out of this the next three weeks is that we head into and come out of final exams with some real momentum. Then we can hit the links again and set out to finish in the top 10 at the NCAA Finals, which was our goal at the start of the year. It will be a test for us, as we could go either way; work hard and get our confidence going which will bring momentum, or get complacent. Leadership will play a big part, and I doubt that our seniors will let the latter happen. Kane's been here before, he knows what kind of shape your game needs to be in at this time of the year, and that things have to be taken up a notch. That's one of the challenges of inexperience.”

Colorado will find out its NCAA Championship plans on May 10, the date of the announcement of which 81 teams in Division I will be invited to one of three regionals. The top seven teams from CU's District (5) earn automatic bids.

“From that standpoint, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Kansas will all likely be ahead of us, and possibly Kansas State as well, so we'll be somewhere between fourth and sixth in those seedings. I'd rather be fourth than sixth, because that's important on several levels.”

While the odds are in favor of the top seven teams being placed in the NCAA Central Regional, the committee reserves the right to move any team anywhere. Purdue, will host the Central Regional on the same course where CU finished second earlier this month in the Boilermaker Invitational, with the East taking place in New Haven, Conn., and the West in Sunriver, Ore.

The Buffs go through final exams and the seniors have graduation on campus in the next 10 days, as the team will not resume competition for almost three weeks until The Maxwell Intercollegiate in Ardmore, Okla., May 15-16.

Buffalo Individuals

T16. Kenny Coakley....... 74-74-74---222

T20. Jeff Hanson......... 75-76-73---224

T20. Edward McGlasson.... 73-74-77---224

T20. Kane Webber......... 73-77-74---224

T45. Blake Moore......... 75-79-76---230

Team Scores

1. Texas.............. 287-290-287--864

2. Oklahoma........... 295-292-283--870

3. Oklahoma State..... 292-285-296--873

4. Kansas State....... 290-289-302--881

5. COLORADO........... 295-301-297--893