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Golfers Finish Sixth In Hawaii
February 06, 2009 | Men's Golf
KOHALA COAST, Hawai'i ? The University of Colorado men's golf team battled back from some early bogey trouble but those extra strokes proved costly as the Buffs slipped to a sixth place finish Friday in the Hawai'i-Hilo Invitational.
No. 2 Southern Cal cruised to an 11-stroke victory, as all five Trojans finished in the top 19 in leading USC to a 13-under-par 851 team score. No. 11 Washington was the only other team in the field to finish under par, with the Huskies grabbing runner up honors with a 2-under 862.
The Buffaloes, ranked No. 48 by Golfweek, had jumped from eighth into third after two rounds, finished sixth with an 874 team score. CU closed with a 290 score in the final round, just one shot over its second round score, but being in a tight pack filled with top 20 teams, there was little wiggle room. Just nine strokes separated third through ninth place.
The field was comprised of seven top 20 and 10 top 50 teams, with Colorado earning wins over five in the group, Arizona State (No.8), Georgia Tech (No. 10), Texas Tech (No. 16), Florida State (No. 31), Cal-Davis (No. 32). The Buffs also improved their season won-lost record to 68-37 against Division I competition in posting their best finish to open the spring season since 2002, when Colorado took third in the Matlock Collegiate Classic in Lakeland, Fla.
Senior Patrick Grady tied for third to pace the Buffaloes, the fifth top five finish in his career, three of which have come in his last six tournaments for the Colorado Golf Association's player of the year for both 2007 and 2008. He closed with a 2-under 70 on the 6,913-yard, par-72 North Course at the Mauna Lani Resort, which gave him a 54-hole score of 212. He was one of just 11 players in the 100-man field to record two subpar rounds in the tournament.
Grady was pleased with his third place effort. “It feels really good. I thought I played well all week, and it was good to play well in a legitimately tough field (in college),” Grady said. “I consistently hit it low to battle the wind, I kept the ball in play for the most part and only had six bogeys (two in the last 41 holes). I really took advantage of the par fives which is what you want to do on a course like this.” He was 7-under for the tournament on the four par-5 holes.
It was also the best individual finish by a Buffalo to open the spring season since 2002, when Kane Webber finished third in the Matlock Collegiate Classic. It tied for the sixth best spring opening result in school history, trailing wins by Hale Irwin (1967 New Mexico Intercollegiate), George Kelley (1973 Galveston Island Intercollegiate) and Scott Petersen (1993 John Burns Intercollegiate) and runner-up finishes by Irwin (1965 Houston All-American) and Larry McAtee (1966 NMSU meet).
Washington's Nick Taylor captured medalist honors with a 6-under 210 total, he too shooting a 70 to close out the meet. The only player between Grady and Taylor was USC's Jamie Lovemark, who recorded a 69 Friday for a 211 score.
Senior Derek Tolan, the team leader in stroke average, got off to a rough start here with a 78 in the first round, but then settled down and played the last 36 holes one over par, wrapping things with a 72 for a 7-over 223. Junior Luke Symons closed things out with a 74, also for a 54-hole total of 223, as both finished tied for 35th.
Junior Justin Bardgett finished up with a 2-over 74, and freshman Kevin Kring, who participated here as an individual (his score did not count toward CU's total) rallied back from an opening round 80 to shoot par Friday, both tied for 50th in the standings.
Freshman Johnny Widmer, who was tied for ninth after two rounds, struggled mightily in the final round. He had opened with a few bogeys before settling a bit, but then hit more trouble on his last five holes en route to an 85; that tied him for 56th overall with a 228 score (+12).
“We got off to a slow start again today, I really don't know why, but everybody made a few bogeys early on,” head coach Roy Edwards said. “It didn't appear to be nerves, but everybody did a good job of hanging on. If we could have played okay, we could have held third or had played well, moved into second. The scores actually weren't as low as I thought they'd be (by the rest of the field). I'm very proud of Pat and his effort here, and for the entire group, there were many more positives than negatives.
“But the guys know that we're right there with the best teams in the country,” he added. “So we just have to keep working hard so we can go out there and compete and beat these others on a regular basis. I'm definitely encouraged by what I've seen.”
The Buffs will be idle for about a month, resuming competition March 9-10 in Lafayette, La., in the annual Louisiana Classics.
“It's a little awkward being off for a month, but we'll get back into academics and have some light practices, work on fundamentals and short game details,” Edwards said. “We have four tournaments coming up in about a month's span, so we'll have to be ready for that stretch as it could very well define our season.”
TEAM SCORES
1. Southern California...................... 285-284-282?851
2. Washington................................. 281-292-289?862
3. TCU........................................... 291-297-282?870
4. Stanford..................................... 294-291-287?872
5. Oregon....................................... 287-299-287?873
6. COLORADO............................... 295-289-290?874
7. Arizona State.............................. 296-291-288?875
8. Texas Tech................................. 291-294-291?876
9. Georgia Tech............................... 301-295-283?879
10. Florida State............................... 311-293-286?890
10. Oklahoma................................... 294-303-293?890
12. Cal-Davis................................... 299-294-299?892
13. Hawaii-Hilo................................ 300-310-300?910
14. Fresno State............................... 308-315-300?923
15. Kansas....................................... 309-314-301?924
16. San Francisco............................. 312-316-300?928
17. Hawaii....................................... 314-328-305?947
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
T 3. Patrick Grady.................................. 73-69-70?212
T35. Luke Symons.................................. 75-74-74?223
T35. Derek Tolan.................................... 78-73-72?223
T50. Justin Bardgett................................ 77-76-74?227
T50. *Kevin Kring.................................. 80-75-72?227
T56. Johnny Widmer................................ 70-73-85?228
(*?played as an individual; scores did not count toward CU team total)
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
1. Nick Taylor, Washington....................... 69-71-70?210
2. Jamie Lovemark, USC........................... 69-73-69?211
3. Patrick Grady, Colorado..................... 73-69-70?212
3. Richard Lee, Washington....................... 68-70-74?212
3. Chris Killmer, Washington..................... 71-70-71?212
