Golfers Finish 16th In Hawaii Despite School Record

Thursday, February 10

Waikoloa, Hawai'i

TBA

Colorado

All Rounds

Photo by: GolfStat

February 11, 2005 | Men's Golf

By: David Plati, Associate AD/Sports Information

HILO, Hawaii ? The University of Colorado men's golf team finished a somewhat disappointing 16th here Friday in the 15th Annual Taylor Made/Waikoloa Intercollegiate, though still setting a school record for the most strokes under par as a team in a tournament.

Oklahoma State may very well have recorded the all-time best winning score in the history of college golf, as the second-ranked Cowboys won with an 801 score?63 strokes under par. No. 3 Georgia Tech finished a not-so-distant second at 808, or 56-under, with No. 10 Southern Cal in third with 810.

A short course, listed at 6,814 yards, played much shorter thanks to perfect conditions for all but nine holes of the tournament, as the usual trade winds didn't produce expected gusts. The end result was that all 21 teams in the field wound up shooting under par, also believed to be a college first.

Colorado took advantage to set a school record by finishing 24-under, its 840 score netting the Buffs a 16th place finish; the old record of 15-under was achieved twice, in the 1981 BYU Cougar Classic and the 2001 Prestige at Palm Desert. In fact, the Buffs had been under par in double digits for a tournament only one other time prior to this meet, when they were 10-under in the 2003 Stanford's Nelson; CU was 10-under par in the final round Friday but was unable to make up any ground on the field, as as good as that score was, it beat only three other schools.

“We played decent again, the conditions were perfect like on Wednesday, and a short course with no wind is a lamb, ready to be had,” CU head coach Mark Simpson said. “Virtually every hole with the exception of the par threes were birdie holes. You have to keep things in perspective, and we know this is the easiest golf course we'll play all year, with the irony that it's the toughest field until regionals. Finishing 16th here is not what we wanted to accomplish, as I truly believe we could have shot at least 20 strokes better than what we posted.”

CU was within 10 strokes of an eighth place finish, as the Buffs were at the tail-end of a logjam that saw nine teams separated by as many strokes. There were eight top 20 teams and 12 top 50 teams competing in the tournament, but when all was said and done, Colorado managed to defeat one, conference and district rival Oklahoma, ranked 47th. Six of the eight teams just ahead of CU were among those ranked, but the Buffs are still expected to improve on the rankings they had coming in, No. 62 by Golfweek and No. 63 by GolfStat.

Junior Edward McGlasson led the Buffs as he tied for 37th overall with a 7-under 209, which included a 69 in the final round. And included in that 3-under par effort was his first-ever hole-in-one, which he scored on the 214-yard, par-3 No. 16. He hit a 4-iron to about 10 feet in front of the hole and it “just scooted right on up an in” according to Simpson. McGlasson is the eighth Buffalo in history to record a hole-in-one in competition, the fifth since 1997; Jeff Hanson had the last one on November 3, 2003 in The Prestige At PGA West.

McGlasson's 209 also tied for the sixth best score for a 54-hole tournament on a par 72 course in Colorado history, as well tying the seventh for the most strokes under par on a course of any par (70, 71 or 72).

Freshman Shea Sena posted CU's next best finish, as he closed with a 71 for a 211 total to tie for 51st. Juniors Blake Moore (70?213, tied for 65th), Derek O'Neill (a team best 68 for 216, tied for 80th) and Kenny Coakley (77?217, tied for 90th) rounded out the scoring for the Buffaloes. All but Coakley recorded season best scores for 54-hole tournament play.

Oklahoma State's Tyler Leon led from wire-to-wire, as he shot a 7-under 65 Friday to finish at 21-under par (195), good for a three shot win over teammate Alex Noren and Washington's James Lepp on the 6,814-yard, par 72 Waikoloa Village Course,

There were 110 players competing here, and of the 329 rounds scored, 137 were in the 60s, only 75 were over par as 89 competitors finished even par or better for the meet?including 23 at 10-under or better.

In all his years of coaching, Simpson has never heard of a winning score so low. “Certainly no one has ever cracked 800, not that I can remember,” he said. “Sixty-three under par leaves almost leaves you speechless. As for the Buffaloes, we have some work to do, but we have reason for optimism and we'll pick up again in Louisiana.”

The Buffs return to action in a little over three weeks at the Louisiana Classics in Lafayette, La., March 7-8.

Buffalo Individuals

T37. Edward McGlasson.... 67-73-69--209

T51. Shea Sena........... 69-71-71--211

T65. Blake Moore......... 68-75-70--213

T80. Derek O'Neill....... 74-74-68--216

T90. Kenny Coakley....... 68-72-77--217

Team Scores

1. Oklahoma State.... 264-270-267--801

2. Georgia Tech...... 274-272-262--808

3. Southern Cal...... 265-278-267--810

4. Washington........ 272-270-274--816