GOLFERS IN 12TH AFTER DAY ONE OF NCAA REGIONAL

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The University of Colorado men's golf team matched its high score of the year but that wasn't necessarily bad news as the Buffaloes are in 12th place after the completion of the first round of the NCAA Central Regional on a warm, humid and windy Indiana day here Thursday.

No. 8 Oklahoma State was the lone school to break par, posting an attention-grabbing 1-under 287 to lead No. 46 Texas A&M by five strokes. Host and No. 47 Purdue is eight strokes back at 295. No. 12 Texas and No. 21 Kentucky, tied for fourth at 298, were the only other schools to break 300 among the 27 teams here vying for 10 available spots in NCAA Championship Finals next month.

Colorado stands alone in 12th with a 304 total, just two strokes off the cut-line after one round. The Buffs were 2-over par as a team after six holes (6-over including the non-scorer), but the winds started picking up around that point. The CU quintet played the next seven holes at 15-over before settling down to eventually play even the last three holes, including four birdies.

"That 287 by the Cowboys might have been the best round I've ever seen in college golf, certainly in the top five," CU head coach Mark Simpson said. "To get it under par as a team in these conditions was tremendous. A lot of quality teams, and I mean close to half the field, posted their high single round score of the season, I guarantee it."

CU's 304 matched its highest single round of the year, was its first round season high and marked just the sixth time in 37 rounds the Buffs didn't break 300. Only 16 of the 141 players in the field managed to shoot par or better on the 7,035-yard, par-72 Kampen Course at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex, located on the Purdue University campus.

Simpson said three things factored in to the course playing much tougher, and different, from a month ago when the Buffs finished second in Purdue's regular season invitational.

"The main reason was the rough, which was eight inches high just three feet off the greens; the pin placements were tougher, and the wind was blowing in the afternoon up to 20 miles per hour," he noted. "You'd miss a fairway by three feet, the rough was so severe, you'd only advance it two feet. That didn't happen to us, but I saw it happen several times to other teams. For a college golfer to advance it that short of a distance, you know the rough is high. It's the same for everybody, but the reality is there aren't many college players that have that shot in their bag.

"But we're fine. We kept our composure, kept our patience," Simpson added. "Every one of the guys could have lost it more than they did, so they really hung in there and as a result we're all right. We have the preferred team time in the morning, so we'll have a better indication where we really stand after the second round, which is always the case at the NCAA's."

The Buffs were paced by their senior captain Kane Webber, one of those 16 players to solve the Kampen course layout with nines of 37 and 35 for an even-par 72 to tie for 10th place (nine players broke par, seven matched it). He played fairly steady, posting four birdies and four bogeys, though he was 2-under through six before playing the next 10 holes at 3-over before getting it back to par with a bird on the 370-yard, par-4 No. 8, his next to last hole (CU started on No. 10).

"I'm a little disappointed, actually," Webber said. "I left three or four shots out there that I felt I should have picked up. I had it going at 2-under early (after a run of three straight birdies), but missed a couple of putts because I just wasn't as aggressive as I should have been. But I hit the ball well of the tee and with this rough, you need to do that here to give yourself a shot."

Sophomore Blake Moore recorded CU's next best effort with a 3-over 75 (36-39), as he had an eventful first round with four birdies, five bogeys and a double and is tied for 34th after one round. Another CU soph, Edward McGlasson, is tied for 45th after a 4-over 76 (37-39). Combined with Webber's effort, the Buffs were one of just eight teams to have three players in the top 50 (actually the top 57, including ties).

Rounding out CU's scores were sophomore Kenny Coakley, who shot an 81, and senior Jeff Hanson, who recorded an 83; each were season highs for both. Coakley had seven bogeys and a double before scoring his first birdie (on No. 7), while Hanson suffered a triple bogey on his fourth hole, the par-3 No. 13, eventually turning at 44 before settling down a bit on his back nine.

"I'm not worried about those two guys," Simpson said of Coakley and Hanson. "They know what they need to do, and I was proud of the way they battled. I wouldn't be surprised if both came back with rounds 10 or 12 strokes lower Friday."

The second round will be played Friday, with the Buffaloes set to tee off at 7:15 a.m. mountain time.

Buffalo Individuals

T 10. Kane Webber........ 37-35--72

T 34. Blake Moore........ 36-39--75

T 45. Edward McGlasson... 37-39--76

T 99. Kenny Coakley...... 41-40--81

T122. Jeff Hanson........ 39-44--83

Team Scores

1. Oklahoma State....... 287

2. Texas A & M.......... 292

3. Purdue............... 295

4. Kentucky............. 298

4. Texas................ 298

6. Kansas State......... 300

7. Kent State........... 301

8. Minnesota............ 302

8. Ohio State........... 302

8. SMU.................. 302

8. Wichita State........ 302

12. COLORADO............. 304

13. Oklahoma............. 305

13. TCU.................. 305

15. Indiana.............. 306

16. Illinois............. 309

16. Lamar................ 309

18. Notre Dame........... 310

19. Xavier............... 312

20. Arkansas............. 314

20. Tulsa................ 314

22. Kansas............... 315

23. Texas Tech........... 317

24. Baylor............... 321

25. Princeton............ 323

25. Western Illinois..... 323

27. Jackson State........ 333

2004 NCAA Central Regional Notes

? Simpson said the rough was "U.S. Open-esque," some five-to-six inches higher than when the Buffaloes appeared here in April. Colorado was second in that meet, two shots behind host Purdue, with Webber claiming medalist honors at 10-under 206.

? Webber's 72 is his second lowest score in 10 rounds played in NCAA regionals; it's second to a 5-under 67 he had in the final round of the 2000 event at Victoria, Texas.

? Friday's forecast calls for a chance of morning thunderstorms, but it's not expected to be as windy though it will likely we warm and humid again, with both the temperatures and humidity in the 80s for the second straight day.

Buff Individual Cards (Round 1)

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Total