Colorado University Athletics
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Men's Golfers Earn NCAA Championship Berth
May 07, 2007 | Men's Golf
BOULDER - The University of Colorado men's golf team found out Monday afternoon that it was officially invited to the NCAA Championships for the 25th time in its history, as the Buffaloes will participate in the Central Regional competition next week (May 17-19) in Sugar Grove, Ill.
It will be the 14th time the Buffs have qualified for regional play since the format was instituted in 1989, including the second straight year, third in the last four and seventh in the last nine. Colorado will be looking to advance to the NCAA Finals for the first time since 2002, when the Buffs tied for 14th in the final standings.
The Buffs are seeded No. 21 in the region (fifth out of the Central District), and will be paired with conference rivals Baylor (No. 19) and Kansas (No. 20) in the first round and will be among the first teams next Thursday to tee off at 6 a.m. mountain time off the 10th hole. On Friday, CU starts on No. 1 at 11:12 p.m. MDT.
Colorado coach Roy Edwards became the first first-year head coach in program history to guide his team into the NCAA Championships. His two predecessors, Les Fowler and Mark Simpson, saw their teams earn bids in their sixth and fourth years, respectively, though there was no regional play the time and finals bids were harder to obtain. But it is still a nice plum at the end of Edwards' first season in Boulder.
"We're certainly very excited about it," Edwards said as he listened to the NCAA conference call with a couple of his players who were not in final exams. "It's always been one of this program's annual goals to make the NCAA's, and I feel like we've been preparing all year for it. So we're obviously excited to have this opportunity to compete with the best."
Northern Illinois is the host of the Central Regional, which will take place at Rich Harvest Farms Golf Course, site of a tournament last September in which the Buffs finished fourth. An unforgiving course layout of 7,345 yards (par-72) led to high scores for that meet, as Louisville, the No. 5 seed in the region, won with a team score of 31-over par. The individual medalists were 5-over par (one of the two being SMU's Colt Knost, who qualified and played in last month's Byron Nelson Classic on the PGA Tour), with CU junior Patrick Grady one of three players who tied for third at 8-over. Four regional participants played in the meet, as in addition to CU and Louisville, SMU and Kansas also played here last fall.
"I think there's a definite advantage for those of us (who have played the course) because there are so many different intricacies about the golf course that you gain benefit to the more times you play it," Edwards said. "It's an extremely difficult course, it's very tight, it has a lot of trees, a lot of bunkers, and there are some holes that are just straight up difficult, especially if there's any significant wind. It's challenging everywhere, from tee to green, and once you get on the greens as well. Plus, they can stretch this course all the way up to 77 or 7,800 yards. That could make for a long round, so I am glad we have an early time that first day."
Edwards will not know which five players he will take to Illinois until after this weekend's Maxwell Intercollegiate in Ardmore, Okla. Six will play this Saturday and Sunday in the 54-hole meet, Grady, seniors Ryan Anderson and Blake Moore, junior Michael Baird, sophomore Derek Tolan and freshman Luke Symons. The quintet Edwards selects for the NCAA's will likely come from this group.
Baird leads the team in stroke average for the season (73.63), followed by Moore (74.93), Grady (74.97) and Tolan (75.03); Baird also owns the spring best mark of 73.44.
The field for the 110th Annual Division I Men's Golf Championships (*?denotes automatic conference qualifier):
East (Alpharetta, Ga.) 1. Georgia; 2. Clemson; 3. Florida; 4. *Coastal Carolina; 5. *Georgia Tech; 6. Georgia State; 7. *Charlotte; 8. North Carolina; 9. Florida State; 10. Duke; 11. Auburn; 12. Mississippi; 13. *Tennessee-Chattanooga; 14. Alabama-Birmingham; 15. UCF; 16. Virginia Tech; 17. Penn State; 18. *Old Dominion; 19. *Jacksonville State; 20. *Louisiana-Lafayette; 21. St. John's; 22. *Eastern Michigan; 23. Maryland; 24. Longwood; 25. Rhode Island; 26. Hartford; 27. Boston College.
Central (Sugar Grove, Ill.) 1. Alabama; 2. *Oklahoma State; 3. *Lamar; 4. Texas A&M; 5. *Louisville; 6. *Tennessee; 7. *Tulsa; 8. Texas; 9. TCU; 10. *Michigan State; 11. Minnesota; 12. SE Louisiana; 13. Northwestern; 14. Texas Tech; 15. Wisconsin; 16. Purdue; 17. Wichita State; 18. SMU; 19. Baylor; 20. Kansas; 21. Colorado; 22. Nebraska; 23. Oklahoma; 24. *Illinois State; 25. *Western Illinois; 26. Sienna; 27. *Texas Southern.
West (Tempe, Ariz.) 1. Stanford; 2. UCLA; 3. UNLV; 4. *Southern California; 5. *East Tennessee State; 6. *Brigham Young; 7. Arizona State; 8. Wake Forest; 9. Arizona; 10. *UC-Irvine; 11. South Carolina; 12. Washington; 13. Vanderbilt; 14. Augusta State; 15. *Pepperdine; 16. San Diego State; 17. New Mexico; 18. Oregon State; 19. Colorado State; 20. Oregon; 21. California; 22. *Nevada; 23. Denver; 24. *Pennsylvania; 25. *Detroit; 26. *Bucknell; 27. *Monmouth.
In addition, six individuals from teams that did not qualify were selected for competition in each region. The NCAA Finals will be played May 30-June 2 in Williamsburg, Va., with Virginia Commonwealth serving as the host.
It will be the 14th time the Buffs have qualified for regional play since the format was instituted in 1989, including the second straight year, third in the last four and seventh in the last nine. Colorado will be looking to advance to the NCAA Finals for the first time since 2002, when the Buffs tied for 14th in the final standings.
The Buffs are seeded No. 21 in the region (fifth out of the Central District), and will be paired with conference rivals Baylor (No. 19) and Kansas (No. 20) in the first round and will be among the first teams next Thursday to tee off at 6 a.m. mountain time off the 10th hole. On Friday, CU starts on No. 1 at 11:12 p.m. MDT.
Colorado coach Roy Edwards became the first first-year head coach in program history to guide his team into the NCAA Championships. His two predecessors, Les Fowler and Mark Simpson, saw their teams earn bids in their sixth and fourth years, respectively, though there was no regional play the time and finals bids were harder to obtain. But it is still a nice plum at the end of Edwards' first season in Boulder.
"We're certainly very excited about it," Edwards said as he listened to the NCAA conference call with a couple of his players who were not in final exams. "It's always been one of this program's annual goals to make the NCAA's, and I feel like we've been preparing all year for it. So we're obviously excited to have this opportunity to compete with the best."
Northern Illinois is the host of the Central Regional, which will take place at Rich Harvest Farms Golf Course, site of a tournament last September in which the Buffs finished fourth. An unforgiving course layout of 7,345 yards (par-72) led to high scores for that meet, as Louisville, the No. 5 seed in the region, won with a team score of 31-over par. The individual medalists were 5-over par (one of the two being SMU's Colt Knost, who qualified and played in last month's Byron Nelson Classic on the PGA Tour), with CU junior Patrick Grady one of three players who tied for third at 8-over. Four regional participants played in the meet, as in addition to CU and Louisville, SMU and Kansas also played here last fall.
"I think there's a definite advantage for those of us (who have played the course) because there are so many different intricacies about the golf course that you gain benefit to the more times you play it," Edwards said. "It's an extremely difficult course, it's very tight, it has a lot of trees, a lot of bunkers, and there are some holes that are just straight up difficult, especially if there's any significant wind. It's challenging everywhere, from tee to green, and once you get on the greens as well. Plus, they can stretch this course all the way up to 77 or 7,800 yards. That could make for a long round, so I am glad we have an early time that first day."
Edwards will not know which five players he will take to Illinois until after this weekend's Maxwell Intercollegiate in Ardmore, Okla. Six will play this Saturday and Sunday in the 54-hole meet, Grady, seniors Ryan Anderson and Blake Moore, junior Michael Baird, sophomore Derek Tolan and freshman Luke Symons. The quintet Edwards selects for the NCAA's will likely come from this group.
Baird leads the team in stroke average for the season (73.63), followed by Moore (74.93), Grady (74.97) and Tolan (75.03); Baird also owns the spring best mark of 73.44.
The field for the 110th Annual Division I Men's Golf Championships (*?denotes automatic conference qualifier):
East (Alpharetta, Ga.) 1. Georgia; 2. Clemson; 3. Florida; 4. *Coastal Carolina; 5. *Georgia Tech; 6. Georgia State; 7. *Charlotte; 8. North Carolina; 9. Florida State; 10. Duke; 11. Auburn; 12. Mississippi; 13. *Tennessee-Chattanooga; 14. Alabama-Birmingham; 15. UCF; 16. Virginia Tech; 17. Penn State; 18. *Old Dominion; 19. *Jacksonville State; 20. *Louisiana-Lafayette; 21. St. John's; 22. *Eastern Michigan; 23. Maryland; 24. Longwood; 25. Rhode Island; 26. Hartford; 27. Boston College.
Central (Sugar Grove, Ill.) 1. Alabama; 2. *Oklahoma State; 3. *Lamar; 4. Texas A&M; 5. *Louisville; 6. *Tennessee; 7. *Tulsa; 8. Texas; 9. TCU; 10. *Michigan State; 11. Minnesota; 12. SE Louisiana; 13. Northwestern; 14. Texas Tech; 15. Wisconsin; 16. Purdue; 17. Wichita State; 18. SMU; 19. Baylor; 20. Kansas; 21. Colorado; 22. Nebraska; 23. Oklahoma; 24. *Illinois State; 25. *Western Illinois; 26. Sienna; 27. *Texas Southern.
West (Tempe, Ariz.) 1. Stanford; 2. UCLA; 3. UNLV; 4. *Southern California; 5. *East Tennessee State; 6. *Brigham Young; 7. Arizona State; 8. Wake Forest; 9. Arizona; 10. *UC-Irvine; 11. South Carolina; 12. Washington; 13. Vanderbilt; 14. Augusta State; 15. *Pepperdine; 16. San Diego State; 17. New Mexico; 18. Oregon State; 19. Colorado State; 20. Oregon; 21. California; 22. *Nevada; 23. Denver; 24. *Pennsylvania; 25. *Detroit; 26. *Bucknell; 27. *Monmouth.
In addition, six individuals from teams that did not qualify were selected for competition in each region. The NCAA Finals will be played May 30-June 2 in Williamsburg, Va., with Virginia Commonwealth serving as the host.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
Thursday, March 26
Tuesday, August 12
Tuesday, February 06
Tuesday, February 06