Colorado University Athletics
Golfers Slip Into 15th On The Big Island
February 10, 2005 | Men's Golf
HILO, Hawaii - The University of Colorado men's golf team cooled off considerably after a record setting opening round as the Buffaloes slipped from fourth to 15th place here Thursday through two rounds in the 15th Annual Taylor Made/Waikoloa Intercollegiate.
Oklahoma State stayed hot, as the No. 2-ranked Cowboys own a 534 team score after 36 holes, a whopping 42-under par. No. 30 Washington is eight strokes back at 542, followed by No. 10 Southern California in third (543) and No. 3 Georgia Tech in fourth (546).
Colorado, after recording a school record 16-under par 272 score Wednesday, came back with a 2-over par 290 score and a 562 total to fall 11 spots into a 15th place tie with Oregon. The good news for the Buffaloes is that they are just seven strokes out of eighth place and 12 back of the top five heading into Friday's final round.
With eight top 20 teams and 12 top 50 teams competing here, the Buffaloes have a golden opportunity to move up in the rankings with a top 10 finish; Colorado entered the meet ranked No. 62 by Golfweek and No. 63 by GolfStat.
Freshman Shea Sena posted CU's top score Thursday with a 1-under 71; he is joined by juniors Kenny Coakley (72) and Edward McGlasson (73) as the three are all tied for 35th individually with 4-under 140 totals. Juniors Blake Moore (75?143, tied for 64th) and Derek O'Neill (74?148, tied for 99th) round out the CU players here.
"The conditions changed today, the first nine holes were pretty breezy," CU head coach Mark Simpson said. "It calmed down a bit the last nine holes, windy just in a few spots, but it was blowing20, 30 miles per hour consistently there for awhile. But in essence, we just didn't play as well as we did yesterday, but any time you have golf to play, you still have hope.
"We really hung in there during the wind, but we lost some momentum on our ninth hole (No. 18), a par-5 where we put a couple of balls in the water," Simpson added. "I think we were within four or five shots of the lead at the turn, and with the wind settling down, I was looking forward to us maybe making a move. But only our freshman (Sena) was able to get it under par on the back while all the others all came in at 36 or 37. We didn't play bad, we just didn't take advantage of things like we could have."
Oklahoma State golfers are dominating here, as the top three individuals are all Cowboys. Tyler Leon, one of the co-leaders after the first round, stands at 14-under par (a 130 total), followed by Ryan Posey at 13-under and Alex Noren at 12-under; the trio combined was 19-under par Thursday on the 6,687-yard, par 72 Waikoloa Village Course.
"We still have hopes of finishing in the top 10 here," Simpson said. "That gets us invited back here next year, but to finish in the top 10 in this field is a good mini-goal for us and then we can move on. If we need to get it under par to do that, then that is the challenge, and a good one at that, for us. This is probably the toughest field we'll see until we get to the NCAA's; it's a prestigious meet, a good venue and a good time of year to play here. We want to come back."
The tournament concludes with the final 18 holes on Friday.
Buffalo Individuals
T35. Edward McGlasson.... 67-73--140
T35. Kenny Coakley....... 68-72--140
T35. Shea Sena........... 69-71--140
T64. Blake Moore......... 68-75--143
T99. Derek O'Neill....... 74-74--148
Team Scores
1. Oklahoma State....... 264-270--534
2. Washington........... 272-270--542
3. Southern Cal......... 265-278--543
4. Georgia Tech......... 274-272--546
5. Arkansas............. 274-276--550
6. TCU.................. 273-279--552
7. Augusta State........ 270-283--553
8. Pepperdine........... 276-279--555
9. Stanford............. 279-278--557
10. UCLA................. 277-281--558
11. Kansas............... 272-287--559
12. UC-Davis............. 282-278--560
12. Texas................ 287-273--560
14. Arizona State........ 277-284--561
15. COLORADO............. 272-290--562
15. Oregon............... 280-282--562
17. Oklahoma............. 283-285--568
18. Hawaii-Hilo.......... 280-291--571
19. Fresno State......... 283-289--572
20. Rhode Island......... 293-283--576
21. Hawaii............... 290-287--577
#articleFooter {
padding: 0px 10px;
}
