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Golfers, Tolan Finish 11th At The Prestige
October 14, 2008 | Men's Golf
LA QUINTA, Calif. ? The University of Colorado men's golf team improved in the final round here Tuesday but didn't make the move it wanted in the standings in finishing 11th in the 9th Annual Prestige At PGA West.
No. 61 TCU led from wire-to-wire, closing with a 10-under par final round to post an 861 team score to finish as the only school in the field under par for 54 holes at minus-3. The Horned Frogs no doubt will shoot up the rankings after defeating 10 teams in the field who came in ranked in the nation's top 50. Host and No. 40 UC-Davis grabbed runner-up honors with an 871 total, with No. 12 Stanford a distant third (879).
Colorado, ranked as high as No. 30 in the nation (Golfweek), went backwards after each round, slipping from sixth to 10th and finally 11th, closing with a 905 score, or 41-over par. It marked the first time in five fall tournaments CU did not easily break the 900 mark.
Senior Derek Tolan continued his excellent play, tying for 11th after closing with a par round on the 7,152-yard, par-72 Greg Norman Course at PGA West. He has five top 20 finishes this fall, actually all in the top 13, with two wins and a runner-up finish. His final round 72 gave him a 4-over 220 total for the tournament, with his 70.93 stroke average for 15 rounds on the fall remaining the CU team best and should not hurt his individual national ranking, which was 29th coming in. Tuesday marked his 20th top 20 career finish, making Tolan just the eighth Buffalo to record that many for a career; he's tied for fourth with 15 top 10 efforts.
Tolan started with a bogey on No. 10, but wiped it off with one of the most satisfying scores on the very next hole, an eagle on the 335-yard, par-4 11th. He hit a monster drive and then chipped in for the rare eagle on a par-4.
Junior Luke Symons tied for 30th for CU's next best effort here this week, firing a 2-over 74 to close out with an 11-over 227 total. A double bogey on the par-3 13th hole kept Symons from matching Tolan's par effort, as he tied for a team-best three birdies Tuesday.
“The course was playing a little easier today, just a light wind and the hole locations on the whole seemed to be a little easier,” head coach Roy Edwards said. “No one got off to a particularly good start, and we didn't play the par 5s out here that well, which usually amount to missed scoring opportunities, but we played better overall.
“Good things happen when you practice hard and keep things in front of you, and that's been Derek all fall,” Edwards noted of his squad's top player.
Freshman Kevin Kring also shot a 74 to wrap things up at 14-over 230, which tied him for 49th overall. He finished up with a very steady round that included 14 pars and a birdie. His 36 pars were the fourth most in the entire 83-man field.
Senior Patrick Grady struggled here, never able to get things going in shooting a final round 76 for a 231 total, tying for 54th. He matched Symons with three birdies, but also had five bogeys and a double, the latter coming on his last hole of the tournament.
Rounding out the CU performances here was sophomore Michael Imperato, as he too closed with a 76 for a 232, tying for 63rd. He opened with a double on No. 13 and then bogeyed four of his next five holes to stand six over after six, but he settled down at the turn and came right back with a pair of birdies before wrapping his effort with 10 consecutive pars.
UC-Davis' Nate Pistacchio and TCU's Johan deBeer shared medalist honors as both finished with 6-under par 210 scorecards. de Beer trailed Pistacchio by three shots entering the final round and caught him with a 4-under 68; there was no time for a playoff.
“We just have to get back to basics and learn from what happened,” Edwards added. “We did not play our best here, but we just have to get a little better at all aspects of our game. We had a lot of mental errors our there, so we have got to fix those. We had good start to the fall and have slipped a bit, so we'll aim to finish up on a high note.”
The Buffaloes now own a won-loss record of 49-24 for the fall, and have one tournament remaining, New Mexico State's Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate on Oct. 27-28 in Las Cruces, N.M.
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
T11. Derek Tolan.................................... 74-74-72?220
T30. Luke Symons.................................. 78-75-74?227
T49. Kevin Kring..................................... 80-76-74?230
T54. Patrick Grady.................................. 77-78-76?231
T63. Michael Imperato............................ 77-79-76?232
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
1. Nate Pistacchio, UC-Davis............... 68-71-71?210
2. Johan de Beer, TCU.......................... 72-70-68?210
3. David Johnson, UCF......................... 76-67-69?211
4. Andrew Putnam, Pepperdine............. 68-77-70?215
5. Austin Graham, UC-Davis................. 86-63-68?217
TEAM SCORES
1. TCU........................................... 294-289-278?861
2. UC-Davis.................................... 306-280-285?871
3. Stanford..................................... 297-292-290?879
4. Central Florida............................ 303-295-284?882
5. Washington................................. 310-303-276?889
6. Pepperdine................................. 300-298-298?896
7. California................................... 312-293-292?897
8. Northwestern.............................. 308-298-294?900
9. Michigan State............................ 327-290-283?900
10. Notre Dame................................ 307-301-293?901
11. COLORADO............................... 306-303-296?905
12. Michigan.................................... 310-292-306?908
13. Kentucky.................................... 309-310-291?910
14. Florida Southern.......................... 302-315-295?912
15. Pacific....................................... 317-305-299?921
16. Rice........................................... 322-302-302?926
