Golfers Finish 11th In North Carolina

Friday, April 8

Cary, N.C.

TBA

Colorado

All Rounds

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

April 09, 2005 | Men's Golf

By: David Plati, Associate AD/Sports Information

HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. ? The University of Colorado men's golf team didn't have much room to maneuver here Saturday, as the Buffs finished 11th in the Courtyard By Marriott Intercollegiate.

The 15 participating teams all needed to complete three holes to finish the second, and what turned out to be the final, round. After rain fell most of Friday with lightning causing one delay as well as an abrupt early end of the play, tournament officials were forced to shorten the meet to 36 holes considering the weather forecast and as well as a course scheduling conflict. While the rainfall relented Saturday, giving way to sunny skies, the winds blew from 15 to 25 miles per hour the short time the golfers were on the course.

No. 14 Duke rallied to defend its title in the meet, as the Blue Devils scored consecutive 280s for a 560 total, with that 16-under par score good for a one stroke win over No. 8 Wake Forest and No. 12 Georgia Southern. Wake Forest held a three shot lead heading into the last three holes, but closed at 5-over while Duke finished up the final three at just 1-over.

Colorado finished in 11th place, its same starting spot heading into Saturday's abbreviated action, as the five Buffalo players played their last 15 holes at a combined 5-over par (3-over of which applied to the team score). The Buffs would have needed to play at least 1-under to tie for a top 10 finish in the tournament, which featured eight top 50 teams, including four in the top 25. CU, ranked No. 77 coming in by GolfStat out of 300-plus schools (No. 79 by Golfweek), did defeat three teams ahead of it in the rankings, including No. 28 East Tennessee State.

For the fifth time in as many meets this spring, and the eighth time in 10 on the year, junior Edward McGlasson paced the Buffaloes individually. He recorded back-to-back 1-over 73s for a 146 total, tying him for 33rd in the standings. Junior Blake Moore and freshman Shea Sena were right behind McGlasson at 147, as Moore finished up with an even par 72 on the 7,002-yard Devils Ridge Golf Course layout?one of only 29 out of 80 players to match or better par in the second round.

Juniors Derek O'Neill and Kenny Coakley rounded out the action for CU, as O'Neill had a pair of 74s for a 148 and Coakley a 71-83?153 effort, with his opening round the best by a Buff in this meet. O'Neill had a Colorado best nine birdies over the two rounds (Moore and Sena both had eight), but six bogeys, two doubles and a triple helped to keep him from a top 10, or even top 5, finish.

“The real good news was that Blake and Derek made great comebacks from their opening nines (in the second round),” CU head coach Mark Simpson said. “Both had triple bogeys right off the bat (Moore on his first hole and O'Neill on his third), and they showed gutsy comebacks and never threw in the towel. Derek came back with a 32 on the back nine and Blake played it 2-under, so that bodes well and says something about their focus. Overall, we're getting closer to playing well, something we need to do as the conference championship approaches. We'll get some good practice in the next couple of weeks and see what we can do at the Big 12's.”

Georgia Southern's Aron Price cruised to a six-stroke win with a 64-66?130 effort, or 14-under par. North Carolina State's Taylor Crosby and Duke's Michael Schachner tied for second with 8-under 136 scores.

This was CU's final intercollegiate tune-up prior to the Big 12 Championships later this month (April 29 to May 1 in suburban Houston), though CU will have a Ryder Cup style match against the Alumni in Denver on April 25 in the inaugural Fowler Cup.

But more importantly for the CU program is Monday's schedule: Simpson is undergoing surgery for lung cancer in Denver. It appears that four rounds of chemotherapy have completely shrunk a growth in his lung, and the hope is that the surgery will confirm that growth and the spread of the cancer cells have ceased.

Buffalo Individuals

T33. Edward McGlasson.......... 73-73?146

T40. Shea Sena................. 74-73?147

T40. Blake Moore............... 75-72?147

T48. Derek O'Neill............. 74-74?148

T67. Kenny Coakley............. 71-82?153

Team Scores

1. Duke..................... 280-280?560

2. Wake Forest.............. 279-282?561

2. Georgia Southern......... 273-288?561

4. North Carolina State..... 286-281?567

5. Virginia................. 281-288?569