Colorado University Athletics
Players Mentioned
GOLFERS HEAD TO NCAA REGIONAL
May 18, 2004 | Men's Golf
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The University of Colorado men's golf team arrived here Tuesday afternoon to begin preparations for the 107th NCAA Championships, as regional play commences Thursday with 27 teams vying for 10 spots in the national finals next month.
The Buffaloes are seeded No. 10 in the NCAA Central Regional, which will feature 18 holes Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex on the Purdue University campus. Colorado played the course in mid-April, with the Buffaloes finishing second to host Purdue. The 7,035-yard, par-72 layout was very much to the Buffs' liking, as CU finished 7-under par as a team for the meet with its senior captain, Kane Webber, claiming medalist honors with a 10-under-par 71-69-66?206 scorecard.
That was the second of three wins by Webber in the last eight weeks, who has turned things up a notch as he winds down his collegiate career. The leader in 23 of 24 statistical categories on the team (he's tied for first in the other), Webber is one of just five golfers in 2003-04 to win as many as three tournaments. He also won the Western Intercollegiate in March and the Perry Maxwell Intercollegiate (in a one-hole playoff) last Sunday.
Colorado is ranked No. 29 by GolfStat, and No. 32 by both the GCAA Coaches and Golfweek, as the Buffaloes have been in the top 40 all spring. This is the 23rd time the Buffaloes have been invited to the NCAA Championships, the 12th time in 16 years since the creation of regional play.
Filling out the quintet of Buff golfers competing in the NCAA's, in addition to Webber, are senior Jeff Hanson and three sophomores, Edward McGlasson, Kenny Coakley and Blake Moore. McGlasson is the No. 2 man, followed by Coakley, Moore and Hanson.
"Overall, I think we're playing pretty well. If you take a look at what we've done in the last five tournaments, with top five finishes each time out in some tough fields, is certainly an indicator that we're got a solid team," said CU head coach Mark Simpson. "The biggest challenge is to get all five guys to fire on all cylinders at the same time. As I look back, the last two tournaments we haven't played like we wanted to. We've had some guys play well, and some have struggled, but we hung in there. Our focus all season has been to get to and do well in the national championships, and I see no reason that things won't fall into place this week."
Simpson says that his team's play at last month's Purdue meet could be a positive as well as a negative, as the Buffs beat nine of 10 teams then who have made the return trip for the regional. "First, we have to guard against overconfidence since we did play so well there last time," he noted. "We're going in with the attitude of what we did there last time means nothing. Believing that, the advantage thus is that we've seen the golf course and we know what it's like. It'll help us reach the greens, and it'll help us figure out strategy on certain holes. That kind of knowledge is invaluable."
Simpson's only real concern is the fact that four of the five men on the trip have not played in the NCAA's before.
"Kane's the only one who's been to an NCAA Championship, so the fact that this is the first time for four guys will likely be an obstacle we need to overcome," he said. "That's the bad news; the good news is that we've been under pressure to win three or four times, and this certainly won't be much different than that as they've had a taste of what is needed to win. But the chemistry of the team is excellent, they all support each other and that will carry a team a long way."
Beginning with its first tournament win in nearly four years, a victory in the Western Intercollegiate in Santa Cruz on March 23, Colorado has placed in the top five in five straight tournaments, the first time the Buffs have accomplished that in their history. But there was some disappointment in there, as a tie for fifth at last month's Big 12 Championships was below the team's expectations. They view the regional as a shot at redemption.
"We didn't play the way we're capable of at the Big 12 meet, so we're hungry to show what we can do," Simpson said. "We certainly expect to advance to Virginia for the finals (June 1-4 in Hot Springs, Va.). We'd be surprised at anything less. We feel like we've played well enough. Seeds don't mean much, but we feel like we're better than the No. 10 seed we got. But the good thing is we have a chance to go out and prove the contrary."
Colorado will tee off at 11:10 a.m. (MDT) on No. 10 Thursday, and then at 8:10 a.m. off No. 1 on Friday.
CENTRAL REGIONAL SEEDS: 1. Oklahoma State; 2. Texas; 3. TCU; 4. Minnesota; 5. Oklahoma; 6. Kentucky; 7. Arkansas; 8. Kansas; 9. Tulsa; 10. Colorado; 11. SMU; 12. Texas Tech; 13. Kansas State; 14. Baylor; 15. Texas A&M; 16. Xavier; 17. Illinois; 18. Ohio State; 19. Purdue; 20. Kent State; 21. Wichita State; 22. Indiana; 23. Lamar; 24. Notre Dame; 25. Princeton; 26. Western Illinois; 27. Jackson State.