Golfers Tie For Fifth In CU-Stevinson Ranch Invitational

Monday, March 21

STEVINSON, Calif.

TBA

Colorado

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Photo by: GolfStat

Golfers Tie For Fifth In CU-Stevinson Ranch Invitational

March 22, 2005 | Men's Golf

By: David Plati, Associate AD/Sports Information

STEVINSON, Calif. ? The University of Colorado golf team tied for fifth place here Tuesday, as the golf course reared its ugly head with changing weather as the seventh annual University of Colorado-Stevinson Ranch Invitational came to a close.

Kansas captured the team title for the second straight year and for the sixth time in the seven-year history of the meet, as the Jayhawks posted an 872 team score to win by 20 strokes. That margin easily was the most in the event's history, topping the 8-stroke margin KU defeated CU by in 2000.

A light rain fell the first hour on Tuesday, and the ceased until near the end of the round; however, the winds stayed steady, at times gusting to 20 miles per hour.

Kansas State shot the best round of the day, a 9-over 297 to jump from eighth into a tie for second with Nebraska in the final standings, as only two strokes separated the six teams behind the Jayhawks. K-State and the Huskers posted 892 scores, followed by

CU was paced by junior Edward McGlasson, who finished third after recording a 4-over par 76 in the final round on the 7,206-yard, par-72 Stevinson Ranch Golf Club course layout. That have him a 1-under 215 score for 54 holes, with his third place finish his career best. It topped a tie for fifth in last November's Prestige At PGA West.

Kansas' Kevin Ward claimed medalist honors; he entered the final round with a seven shot edge, and despite also putting up a 4-over 76, he finished with an 8-under 208 score and cruised to a six stroke victory over Kansas State's Ben Kern, who had a 75 to close with a 214. Kern and McGlasson had entered the last 18 holes tied for second.

Juniors Blake Moore, Kenny Coakley and Derek O'Neill all posted top 25 finishes for the Buffs, the only three other golfers in addition to McGlasson out of eight Colorado players in the field to shoot in the 70s. Moore and Coakley both had 76s to finish with 222 and 223 totals to tie for 15th and 17th respectively; O'Neill had CU's low round of the day, a 3-over 75, to finish with a 227 tally and in a tie for 23rd place. Moore was playing as an individual, as Simpson took his entire 8-man active team to California for the meet, meaning three Buffs would not have their score count toward the team total.

“Overall, it was a disappointing finish for the Buffaloes, in the sense that we had a golden opportunity to beat some (district) teams and put us into better shape for the NCAA championships,” CU head coach Mark Simpson said. “It ended up being sort of a neutral result for us. We tied a team that would have been beneficial for us to beat, and lost to three conference and district rivals by a total four strokes. What it comes down to is that this has placed more pressure on us next time out in North Carolina and then in the Big 12 Championships.”

Colorado came in with a 4-12-1 mark against district teams this year, including just a 1-7 record in the spring. While those improved to 8-16-2 and 5-11-1, respectively, it fell to 1-11-1 against Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska, Missouri and Wichita State, combined.

“The big numbers today were not relative to some of our struggles in the recent past, since everyone's scores were substantially higher, so we did play considerably better than the last couple of times out,” Simpson added. “Overall, we had solid performances by a couple of individuals which is a good sign for us.”

The Buffs return to action in two weeks in the Courtyard By Marriott Intercollegiate in Holly Springs, N.C. The April 8-9 even will be CU's final competitive tune-up prior to the Big 12 Conference championships.

Final Round Notes: How tough did the course play Tuesday? Of the 81 golfers in the field, only two broke par (Kansas' Tyler Docking shot a 2-under 70 and Wichita State's Ryan Spears a 1-under 71), and no others equaled it; in fact, there were just three 73s and three 74s as the average for the field was 79.8 (compared to 75.7 for both of Monday's rounds)... Simpson, who is fighting lung cancer, has had four chemotherapy treatments and is expected to have surgery the first week in April; if he misses CU's next meet in North Carolina, it will be the first major tournament he will not preside over since the early days in his career, when he missed one or two because it conflicted with his other job at CU, that of facilities manager. The Stevinson tournament was the 416th CU golf event he has coached... CU hosts the tournament here as former CU golfer George Kelley is the owner/general manager of the facility, and he is a former teammate of Simpson's (both were on the 1972 team); CU and Stevinson Ranch set the dates for the eighth annual event for March 27-28, 2006.

Buffalo Individuals

T 3. Edward McGlasson..... 70-69-76?215

T15. *Blake Moore......... 76-70-76?222

T17. Kenny Coakley........ 73-74-76?223

T23. Derek O'Neill........ 77-75-75?227

T58. *Ryan Anderson....... 77-73-87?237

T58. *Jim Grady........... 72-82-83?237

T61. Shea Sena............ 73-83-82?238

T67. Patrick Grady........ 79-74-87?240

(*?playing as an individual; score did not count toward CU team total.)

Team Scores

1. Kansas............. 286-287-299?872