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Golfers Wrap Fall With Ninth Place At NMSU; Grady Second
October 28, 2008 | Men's Golf
LAS CRUCES, N.M. ? The University of Colorado men's golf team posted the third best score in the final round, but it wasn't enough to rally from a poor start as the Buffaloes finished ninth in New Mexico State's Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate.
Host NMSU caught fire in the final round, turning a team score of 10-under par in rallying from a seventh place standing after 36 holes to win its own tournament. Kansas State was eight shots back in second at 869, with Cal-Poly Pomona snatching third with an 871 score. Second round leader Denver slipped into fifth place.
The Buffs moved up a notch from 10th place after two rounds, but finished one shot back of three teams who tied for sixth, were just four strokes out of third and six out of second.
Senior Patrick Grady wrapped up a solid fall campaign by tying for runner-up honors, one stroke behind medalist Travis Reid of the host school. Grady, who was tied for the individual lead after two rounds, put an even par score into the books in the third round on the 7,074-yard, par-71 New Mexico State University Golf Course layout. He had another steady day, with four birdies and four bogeys to go with 10 pars. He was trying to win his second tournament this fall to go with medalist honors last month at Denver's Ron Moore Invitational, which was also his first collegiate victory.
Reid used his course knowledge as a member of the NMSU team to log a final round 66, vaulting him from ninth to first.
Senior Derek Tolan enjoyed one of the finest fall seasons in school history, carding a final round 71 for a 1-over 214 score, which tied him for 12th. He had two wins and finished in the top 13 in all six fall tournaments, and his stroke average of 71.00 for the fall season set a CU record, eclipsing the old mark of 71.15 set by John Lindberg in the fall of 1987. He had three birdies and three bogeys to polish things off here.
“We're definitely disappointed with how we played here, but I was encouraged with how we played today. We were a lot more consistent, which is was we set out to do, and that was to play focused throughout,” head coach Roy Edwards said. “Pat played well throughout and just missed his second career win, and for everyone to shoot between a 70 and 73
“This was a great way to end the fall, all things considered,” Grady said. “It was a heckuva lot better than I've been doing. My fundamentals got out of whack there for a while, then my attitude was poor because I was hitting bad shots and I was getting down on myself. It's hard to fix things in the middle of the season, but we had a couple of weeks off and I went to the range, spent a lot of time there and worked on some things. I hit my driver fairly long and straight this week and that was the difference.”
Freshman Kevin Kring also bounced back strong, wrapping the fall with an even par 71 for a 228 total, placing him in a tie for 68th. He had a bogey and a birdie right off the bat on his second and third holes, then played par golf for most of what remained, sans a bogey on No. 17 which had him turn at 1-over. But after the turn (he started on 10), he had eight pars and a birdie in playing front side 1-under.
Junior Justin Bardgett closed with a 1-under 70, giving him a 228 total for 54 holes which also tied him with Kring for 68th in the 100-man field. Starting on No. 10, he bogeyed his second hole, but scored birdies on three of his next six holes to turn at 2-under; his lone non-par on the front side was a bogey on No. 7.
Junior Luke Symons, after posting scores of 85 and 76 Monday, rebounded with a 1-over 72 Tuesday to close with a 20-over 233 score, tying him for 88th. He bogeyed his first hole (No. 11) but played the next 17 holes even, scoring 15 pars with a birdie and a bogey to get back on track and exit fall play on a good note.
“It was a very up and down fall season for us,” Edwards said of the six tournaments CU played the last two months (in a seven-week span). “We started off well and then kind of muddled through the back end of it. Overall, I'm very encouraged, and I think we can turn a negative into a positive with how we finished in the fall and use it for motivation going into the spring. Every season has its ups and downs, so that's all this really was.”
The Buffs, which finished the fall with a 58-32 record against Division I opponents, now have winter break ahead of them and will return to action in the Hawai'i-Hilo Intercollegiate the first week of February.
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
T2. Patrick Grady.................................. 69-69-71?210
T12. Derek Tolan.................................... 74-69-71?214
T68. Kevin Kring..................................... 77-80-71?228
T68. Justin Bardgett................................ 78-80-70?228
T88. Luke Symons.................................. 85-76-72?233
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
1. Travis Reid, N.M. State.................... 72-70-66?208
2. Patrick Grady, Colorado.................... 69-69-71?209
2. Daniel Wax, Denver.......................... 70-69-70?209
4. Jarred Bossio, Idaho........................ 68-70-72?210
4. Espen Kofstad, Denver..................... 70-69-71?210
TEAM SCORES
1. New Mexico State....................... 296-291-274?861
2. Kansas State.............................. 296-288-285?869
3. Cal-Poly..................................... 299-293-279?871
4. Idaho......................................... 294-292-286?872
5. Denver....................................... 295-282-296?873
6. Miami-Ohio................................ 287-292-295?874
6. Nevada...................................... 297-288-289?874
6. Washington State........................ 293-291-290?874
9. COLORADO............................... 298-294-283?875
10. Iowa State.................................. 300-295-282?877
10. Nebraska.................................... 297-292-288?877
12. Air Force.................................... 295-301-283?879
12. Akron......................................... 298-293-288?879
14. Texas-El Paso............................. 307-296-283?886
14. Utah........................................... 304-290-292?886
16. Weber State................................ 296-296-298?890
17. Ball State................................... 304-297-292?893
18. Northern Colorado........................ 302-304-299?905
