Golfers Finish Ninth At The Prestige

Monday, October 15

LaQuinta, Calif.

TBA

Colorado

All Rounds

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

October 16, 2007 | Men's Golf

By: David Plati, Associate AD/Sports Information

LA QUINTA, Calif. ? The University of Colorado men's golf team stood stayed put where it began the day, as the Buffaloes finished in a ninth-place tie in the 8th Annual Prestige At PGA West here Tuesday.

No. 1-ranked UNC-Charlotte led from wire-to-wire, proving worthy of the top spot in turning in a 10-under 854 team score for three rounds, which was good for an eight-shot win over No. 20 and co-host Stanford. The Cardinal started the day in third, 12 shots back, and despite recording the best round of the day, could only make up four strokes in finishing with a 2-under 862 tally.

Colorado, listed No. 63 in the GolfStat rankings, tied for ninth with No. 38 Minnesota; both finished with 17-over par 881 scores. The tournament, created in 2000 for those schools that excel in golf as well as academics, featured nine top 50 teams in the field; all eight ahead of CU were among those ranked.

Senior Michael Baird and sophomore Luke Symons led the way for the Buffaloes in the meet, as both turned in 1-over par 217 scorecards for 54 holes on the 7,156-yard, par-72 Greg Norman Course at PGA West. Symons shot par in Tuesday's final round while Baird struggled a bit to a 4-over 76, with the pair among a four-way tie for 15th.

“We got off to a really rocky start, something like 10-over through four holes,” CU head coach Roy Edwards said. “A bunch of big numbers early did us in, three doubles and a quad (quadruple bogey) to be exact. It was a continuation of the end of yesterday's second round, where we lost several strokes closing the day out. But there was quite a bit of good golf out there, too.

“Luke played solid throughout, minus a couple of holes at the end of his second round, and Michael got off to a tough start but did a nice job coming back, playing his last back nine two-under,” Edward added. “But we're getting better, I can see the progress in many phases. We just need to button up on those big mistakes.”

Junior Derek Tolan matched Symons par effort as CU's best in the final round, finishing up with a 224 total (8-over), which tied him for 41st place. He opened the day with an eagle on the par-5 No. 12 hole, his starting position, but came back with a double bogey on the par-3 No. 13; he played the par-3s in the tournament at 9-over, otherwise the remaining 42 holes at 1-under.

Freshman Michael Imperato (75?227) tied for 61st and senior Jim Grady (77?228) placed 63rd to round out the CU action. Imperato was 3-over after just three, but played even the rest of way, closing with two birdies in his last three holes. Grady was the player who endured the quadruple bogey (a 9 on the par-5 16th), but other wise played the remaining holes at just 1-over.

Minnesota's Clayton Rask, the leader by three shots entering the final round, scored an even par 72 for the day, but in doing so, enabled Wisconsin's Dan Woltman to catch him. Woltman put a 69 into the books and the two shared medalist honors a 8-under 208 as there was no individual playoff.

The Buffs return to action next Monday in the Pepperdine Club Glove Intercollegiate in Saticoy, Calif.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS

T15. Michael Baird............................ 69-72-76?217

T15. Luke Symons............................ 70-75-72?217

T41. Derek Tolan.............................. 79-73-72?224

T61. Michael Imperato...................... 77-75-75?227

T63. Jim Grady................................. 75-76-77?228

TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS

1. Clayton Rask, Minnesota............. 68-68-72?208

1. Dan Woltman, Wisconsin........... 70-69-69?208

3. Corey Nagy, UNCC...................... 73-70-68?211

4. Jonas Hedin, UNCC..................... 69-74-69?212