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Golfers Open With Fourth Place Finish In RHF Intercollegiate
September 10, 2006 | Men's Golf
SUGAR GROVE, Ill. ? The University of Colorado men's golf team finished fourth here Sunday in its first tournament of the 2006-07 season as well as under head coach Roy Edwards, as the Buffaloes had three individuals in the top 13 in the Rich Harvest Farms Intercollegiate.
Louisville led from wire-to-wire in winning with an 895 team score (31-over par), as the Cardinals cruised to the victory by 18 strokes over Kansas State and SMU, as the Wildcats and Mustangs shared runner-up honors with 913 scores. Colorado, which entered the final round in third place and spent much of the day in second, slipped a bit at the very end and finished fourth with a 914 total. Kansas, where Edwards was an assistant the last four years, rounded out the top five with a 920.
The finish tied for CU's best opening effort in the last 17 seasons, matching fourths in the 1991 CU-Fox Acres Invitational and the 2004 Notre Dame Invitational.
Junior Patrick Grady paved the way for the Buffaloes, posting his best collegiate finish, as he turned in a final round 73 for a 224 total (8-over), tying for third. That bested a fourth place tie he had last May in the Maxwell Intercollegiate. His 1-over scorecard Sunday was the fifth best round posted on the day, the third best among the top 20 finishers. He had five birdies on the day, and played his back nine (the front side as he started on No. 10) in 1-under par, one of the few players to do so Sunday as he closed strong.
Sophomore Derek Tolan finished sixth (76?225), as he was threatening to win his first collegiate tournament was derailed after playing his last four holes four over par (two bogeys and a double). Tolan battled Sunday, as he had just five pars, but also scored five birdies in hanging around the top of the leaderboard most the day.
Freshman Luke Symons (77?228) tied for 13th, the sixth best finish by any CU golfer in his first collegiate meet. He showed solid composure for a true frosh, as he overcame a triple bogey on seventh hole of the day and after making double on his next to last hole, he finished his first tournament with a birdie on the par-5 No. 9, hole that played as one of the meet's toughest all three rounds.
Senior Ryan Anderson (80?243) and junior Jim Grady (85?248) rounded out the CU scoring, as the Buffs competed here with five Colorado high school products with two from Broomfield and one each from Greeley, Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree representing CU. The last time CU took all players with Colorado prep roots to a meet was in February 1998, when two from Littleton and one each from Durango, Fort Collins and Westminster made up the roster for the John Burns Intercollegiate in Hawaii.
Louisville's Derek Fathauer and SMU's Colt Knost shared medalist honors, as there was no playoff; both recorded 5-over par 221 scores for 54 holes.
“We were hanging in there for second most of the day, and we lost a couple down the stretch at that certainly hurt us,” Edwards said. “But I'm extremely pleased with Patrick, Derek and Luke, especially for his first collegiate tournament, as they hung in there the entire time after an extremely difficult and sometimes grueling test of golf.
“The course is set up so difficult, as it was piecemealed together, but in a good way,” Edwards explained. “It's a really good test of golf, as the course gradually came together and offers a lot of odd shots; every shot literally out there is different. The rough was heavy and the greens were fast. One miscue and you easily could make a double bogey. I was impressed with the way those three managed their games.”
The 7,345-yard, par-72 Rich Harvest Farms Golf Course that played host this weekend is also the site of next May's NCAA Central Regional, and while there are no rankings for 2006-07 yet, most schools that competed in the 12-team field have aspirations of making it to regional play. It showed during this tournament that it will definitely a regional-caliber course, as there were just three subpar rounds, all 1-under 71s, and five even par scores recorded out of 129 posted over the weekend.
Edwards enjoyed his first tournament as CU head coach, and he liked what he saw.
“This was extremely valuable for us,” he noted. “To have the opportunity to play this course and to have first hand knowledge of what it will take to play here next spring in the regional is something that we could not have gained at any other tournament at any other time during the year. I think this will pay off for us down the road and I'm really looking forward to watching this group of guys as the season progresses.”
The Buffaloes resume action in two weekends in the New Mexico Tucker Invitational in Albuquerque, Sept. 23-24.
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
T3. Patrick Grady............... 74-77-73?224
T6. Derek Tolan................. 73-76-76?225
T13. Luke Symons................. 78-73-77?228
T54. Ryan Anderson............... 80-83-80?243
T60. Jim Grady................... 86-77-85?248
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS
T1. Derek Fathauer, Louisville.. 74-76-71?221
T1. Colt Knost, SMU............. 73-73-75?221
T3. Patrick Grady, Colorado..... 74-77-73?224
T3. Jorge Campillo, Indiana..... 74-76-74?224
T3. Adam Hadwin, Louisville..... 73-75-76?224
TEAM SCORES
1. Louisville................ 297-299-299?895
2. Kansas State.............. 298-315-300?913
3. SMU....................... 308-306-299?913
4. COLORADO.................. 305-303-306?914
5. Kansas.................... 312-309-299?920
6. Marquette................. 310-302-310?922
7. Ball State................ 311-311-301?923
8. Indiana................... 305-318-306?929
9. Akron..................... 309-306-318?933
10. Michigan.................. 313-314-314?941
11. Missouri.................. 310-318-314?942
12. Northern Illinois......... 311-320-322?953
