Colorado University Athletics
Golfers Second In OSU's Kepler Intercollegiate
April 12, 2008 | Men's Golf
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The weather was nothing short of miserable but the University of Colorado men's golf team dealt with the conditions better than most and stand second in Ohio State's Robert Kepler Intercollegiate through two rounds, both of which were completed Saturday.
No. 31 Michigan State is leading with a 605 team score, which is 37-over par, with the Buffaloes right on the Spartans' heels with a 638 total. Host Ohio State (608), No. 36 Kent State (609) and No. 33 Penn State (613) round out the top five.
Ohio State led Colorado by one stroke after the first round, with Wisconsin three off the lead.
Light rain fell off and on throughout the afternoon, with the temperatures in the upper 40s and winds gusting to 20 miles per hour, making it one nasty day for 75 collegians, all of whom carried their own clubs for 36 grueling holes.
Colorado, the No. 68 team nationally in the most recent GolfStat rankings (No. 70 by Golfweek), is looking to make some headway nationally here and through two rounds are in good position to do just that.
A good performance in this meet will go a long way for the Buffaloes in their attempt to qualify for the NCAA Championships, as there are five top 50 and nine other top 100 (all in the top 85) teams competing here. CU is 74-48-1 on the year against Division I competition, but entered this meet just 22-46-1 against the current top 100 and 1-27 versus the top 50.
The Buffaloes are the only team through two rounds with four players in the top 25 and joined by only Kent State with all five in the top 40. CU and Kent State are tied for the most holes under par through two rounds with 17; the Buffs had 16 birdies and an eagle Saturday, while the Golden Flashes had theirs on all birdies.
Sophomore Luke Symons is looking for a fourth straight top 20 finish and is atop the CU leaderboard here after posting scores of 72 and 78 for a total of 150, or 8-over par; that has him seventh in the standings heading into Sunday's final round. His first round 1-over effort tied for the third best score of the 150 logged in the first two round, as he played steady with four birdies and 21 pars to counter 10 bogeys and a double.
Senior Michael Baird is tied for eighth after a 73-78--151 performance. He was 5-over par after five holes in the second round, but settled down to play the next 13 only 2-over, and closed with a birdie on his final hole (No. 7). He also closed strong in the morning, with three birdies in his final five holes to bring things back to a 2-over score. He had four birdies and 21 pars just as Symons did, with nine bogeys and two doubles on the day.
Junior Derek Tolan put rounds of 77 and 76 into the books for a 153 (11-over) total, tying him for 15th. He had an interesting if not adventuresome two rounds, as he scored 15 bogeys, 11 pars, six birdies (four in the afternoon), two double bogeys and an eagle.
Tolan started the shotgun format on the 401-yard, par-4 No. 7, double-bogeying it in round one with a single boge the second time; he was a combined 7-over par on Nos. 7 through 11, before his efforts on the 562-yard, par-5 No. 12 turned both his rounds around. He scored his sixth eagle of the season in the morning on the hole, matching Baird's team leading total (the pair are tied for eighth nationally), and birdied it in the afternoon.
Tolan (minus-3) and Baird (minus-2) rank 1-2 in par-5 scoring, while Symons is tied for first in par-3 scoring (minus-1).
Seniors Jim Grady is tied for 24th with a 79-75--154 effort, as he was fairly consistent with a team-high 24 pars Saturday. Though managing just a single birdie, had matched the team low with nine bogeys along with two doubles; his 75 was CU's as well as the ninth best in the entire field for the second round.
Rounding out the action for CU was freshman Michael Imperato, who is tied for 39th after a 77-80--157 performance. Likely playing in the worst conditions he has ever had to endure, he had 20 pars and 14 bogeys in the first two round, with a single birdie and solitary bogey.
"This is tight where we want to be, in the lead group," head coach Roy Edwards said. "After Stevinson Ranch (where CU had a disappointing third place finish in its own meet earlier in the week), we had a bad taste in our mouths. We knew the conditions and the golf course would be really difficult today, but if we could remain in control of ourselves and not worry about anything else, we would do all right. And the guys did just that.
"All day long, we emphasized to stay positive, if you make a mistake, minimize it and keep doing all the things we've talked about," he continued. "We only had eight double bogeys, and that's not many here. We did a good job of hitting fairways and just played smart." Colorado came into this tournament as the eighth best team in the nation in fairways hit, at just under 80 percent.
The 7,455-yard, par-71 Ohio State University Scarlet Course is playing as tough as ever. In the first round, only two players matched par, with two others playing it to 1-over; in the second 18, no one shot par or better with just two more recording 72s. The average score Saturday was a 78.5.
"When the weather gets crummy and the course gets really hard, it's easy to throw in the towel," Edwards said. "But we've always concentrated well in these circumstances, they know every shot is important, and it's evident in a tournament like this. We've played well many times in the last round, and the guys know how to do it."
Ohio State's Zach Sebert and Michigan State's Ryan Brehm are the individual leaders through 36 holes, as both posted 3-over par 145 scorecards. The irony, though, is that Sebert is one of five additional Buckeyes playing individually in the event, and his scores aren't counting toward OSU's team total; instead, Ohio State counted a 77 in the morning and a 79 in the afternoon instead of Sebert's 71 and 74, a difference of 11 strokes which would have the Buckeyes ahead by eight rather than trailing by three.
The final round is scheduled for a 7 a.m. MDT shotgun start Sunday, but could be delayed or even cancelled due to the weather. A possible rain-snow mix is in store for the Columbus area.
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
7. Luke Symons............................... 72-78--150
T 8. Michael Baird.............................. 73-78--151
T15. Derek Tolan................................. 77-76--153
T24. Jim Grady.................................... 79-75--154
T39. Michael Imperato........................ 77-80--157
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
1. Zach Sebert, Ohio State................. 71-74--145
1. Ryan Brehm, Michigan State......... 73-72--145
3. Tyler Obermueller, Wisconsin...... 71-77--148
3. T.J. Howe, Penn State................... 73-75--148
5. David Markle, Kent State............... 73-76--149
5. Tom Oliver, Purdue....................... 77-72--149
TEAM SCORES
1. Michigan State......................... 303-302--605
2. COLORADO............................ 299-307--606
3. Ohio State................................ 298-310--608
4. Kent State................................. 305-304--609
5. Penn State................................ 303-310--613
6. Wisconsin................................ 301-313--614
6. Northwestern........................... 317-297--614
8. Louisville.................................. 313-307--620
9. Purdue..................................... 311-312--623
10. Furman.................................... 311-318--629
11. Michigan.................................. 314-316--630
12. Iowa......................................... 319-312--631
13. UNC-Wilmington..................... 314-319--633
14. Marshall................................... 322-321--643
