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Golfers Win OSU Kepler Intercollegiate
April 13, 2008 | Men's Golf
The Buffaloes cruised to a 13-stroke win in last month's Louisiana Classics, and coupled with Sunday's triumph, marks just the second time the program has won two major tournaments in the same year. The other occasion was in 1991-92, when CU won the Air Force Falcon and Stanford invitationals.
Light snow flurries were present at the start of the 9 a.m. (EDT) shotgun round, but those gave way to light rain and cloudy skies. However, the temperature never rose above 42 degrees and the 8-10 mile per hour winds made it feel like it was in the mid-30s most of the day.
“I thought we were kind of tired coming into the tournament, so all we really did to prepare for here was to get some sleep, tweak a few things in practice and try to come out refreshed,” head coach Roy Edwards said.
“The guys were ready to go all three rounds and were excited to compete after what we felt was a disappointing performance in our own meet earlier in the week,” Edwards said of his team's third place finish in CU's Stevinson Ranch Invitational, three time zones to the west of here. “But the guys also embraced the difficulty of the course and the poor weather conditions, and quite frankly, I believe that gave us an edge.”
Luke Symons tied for second to pace the CU attack, as the lanky 6-foot-5 sophomore from
In carding a final round 72 for a 222 total (9-over par), it marked Symons' fourth straight top 20 finish. He led the meet in par-3 scoring (3.00) and was fourth in both total pars (36) and par-4 scoring (4.15). He played a very steady if not conservative final round that paid off, as he had 15 pars, including on his first 12 holes, a birdie and two bogeys. He hit 12 of 14 fairways and all but four greens.
“With all the rain and everything else, I knew it could come down to whoever could keep the most bogeys off the scorecard,” Symons said. “I definitely played a little more conservative, shooting toward the middle of the green and trying not to take a lot of risks. I didn't make as many putts as I did in the first two rounds, but this was a different approach of how to play a round and it paid off.”
“Luke was solid overall, we gave him a little advice here and there, but just tried to stay out of his way,” Edwards said of his budding sophomore star performer. “He's a guy who is very good at staying in the present and making good decisions. He's a consistent personality and has a consistent game. If he's not clicking on all cylinders, he smart enough to adjust his game to hang in there and still come out pretty good.”
Three of Symons' four consecutive top 20 finishes have been in the top 10 efforts, including two in the top five. They have come on four different styles of golf courses with different grasses, all challenging, and in three time zones; he is just 26-over par for the 12 rounds combined.
“Being just my sophomore year, it's definitely great to build this kind of confidence early in my career,” Symons said. “I just need to keep working and build from it my junior and senior years.”
The Buffaloes, the No. 68 team nationally in the most recent GolfStat rankings (No. 70 by Golfweek), no doubt made some significant gains in their attempt to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Colorado defeated five top 50 and nine top 100 (all in the top 85) teams that competed here in improving to 87-48-1 on the year against Division I competition, 31-46-1 against the current top 100 and 6-27 versus the top 50.
CU fared well in its only other appearance in the Kepler, finishing second back in 2002. The players on the current Buff roster were all in junior golf at the time, but this performance could have some extra benefits, as the same 7,455-yard, par-71 Ohio State University Scarlet Course will host next month's NCAA Central Regional.
“I think we took a huge step today in getting into the NCAA's, and we knew we had to play well this week to do it, and we did,” Edwards said. “That made this extra exciting because of the teams we beat, and if we get to come back here for the regional, that'll be a great bonus.”
The Buffaloes were the only team to have four players in the top 25 and all five in the top 35 or top 40. CU,
Senior Michael Baird tied for 10th, bouncing back from triple bogey on his second hole of the day to play even the remainder of the way in shooting a 74. That gave him a 12-over total of 225 for the tournament and his team-best seventh top 20 finish for on the season. He had four birdies in his final 10 holes, with his eight birds tying for the second most in the meet.
Junior Derek Tolan also played consistent Sunday, with his round of 73 including 14 pars, a birdie and three bogeys. He tied for 13th overall with a 13-over 226 score, his fifth top 20 effort this season, and as with Symons, also his fourth in a row.
The four consecutive top 20 efforts by both Symons and Tolan are the most by a Buff since McGlasson had six in a row during the 2005-06 season, all of which were top 10 efforts to set a school record.
Baird and Tolan played the par-5s here this week 3-under par, tying for the tournament lead in par-5 scoring at 4.67. Only 13 other players in the 75-man field played them under par.
Senior Jim Grady shot a second straight 4-over 75 to finish with a 229 total, tying for 21st overall. He was 3-over after seven holes but played the last 11 at just 1-over.
“I was proud of the seniors here,” Edwards said. “Michael had that early triple and four over after four holes, but he gutted it out to shoot a 74. Jim didn't have a big number but was three over a third of the way into the round and then settled down. It'd be so easy in this kind of weather to just tank it, but both guys hung in there and it was the difference in us winning or losing.”
Freshman Michael Imperato rounded out the CU performers here with a final round 76, his best effort in the tourney which enabled him to tie for 34th with a 233 total. He had 33 pars and 19 bogeys in 54 holes here, 13 and five respectively Sunday, to go with one birdie and one double. If CU in fact returns here for the regional, the experience will likely prove the most valuable to him.
The Buffs are now idle until the Big 12 Conference championships, which will be held at Whispering Pines Golf Course in Trinity,
T 2. Luke Symons............................... 72-78-72?222
T10.
T13. Derek Tolan................................. 77-76-73?226
T21. Jim Grady.................................... 79-75-75?229
T34. Michael Imperato........................ 77-80-76?233
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
1.
T2. Luke Symons,
T2. T.J. Howe,
T2. Cole Peevler,
T5. Adam Rainaud,
T5.
TEAM SCORES
1.
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3.
4.
5. Northwestern........................... 317-297-298?912
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. Purdue..................................... 311-312-307?930
11.
12. Furman.................................... 311-318-311?940
13. UNC-Wilmington..................... 314-319-314?947
14.
