University of Colorado Athletics
Golfers In Eighth In Louisiana
March 09, 2009 | Men's Golf
LAFAYETTE, La. -- The University of Colorado men's golf returned to action here Monday after a month layoff, but no one used that as an excuse as the Buffaloes stand in eighth place after two rounds of the Louisiana Classics.
Colorado is the highest ranked team in the field, coming in at No. 43 in the latest Golfweek rankings, with the Buffaloes the lone top 50 team in the field. CU is also the tournament's defending champion.
New Orleans leads the 15-team field with a 7-under par score of 569 through 36 holes, good for a two stroke lead over host Louisiana-Lafayette (571). Rice and Southeastern Louisiana are tied for third with 575 scores. Colorado was in fifth after the morning round, but struggled to the third worst score in the field in the afternoon to finish the day with a 587 score.
This is the 19th consecutive year the Buffaloes have played in the Classics, with their first round score Monday of 3-under par 285 their second best to open the meet and fifth-best overall. CU opened last year with an 11-over 299, but closed strong with rounds of 4- and 9-under to win by 13 strokes. The opposite happened Monday afternoon.
"I think it was a combination of things, but I don't think the time off had much if anything to do with it," head coach Roy Edwards said of his team's surprisingly disappointing play. "We played okay in the morning, and even though we posted a decent score, the course wasn't playing that hard and we wasted a bunch of shots.
"In the afternoon, we just continually played worse," he continued. "We didn't do a great job of minimizing our mistakes, and that turned into the overall theme of the day. One bad shot led to another too many times, and we had to count a quadruple and triple bogey in our countable scores."
Senior Patrick Grady is pacing the Buffs, turning in a 70-75--145 performance on the 7,141-yard, par-72 Oakbourne Country Club course. That has him tied for 17th place. Senior Derek Tolan (75-72--147) is tied for 37th, as he was the only Buff to shoot lower in the afternoon than the morning. Grady is playing the par three holes at 2-under overall, tied for the tourney best, while Tolan is 5-under on the par fives, second best in the field.
In the first round, 25 players bettered par, including three who turned in 6-under 66 scores, with just 14 doing so in the second round. Symons was one of two players to record the best nine-hole score on the day, recording a 5-under 31 on the back side in his opening round. Scores were higher in the afternoon (75.4 per round compared to 73.9 the first time around).
Southeastern Louisiana's Cedric Scotto holds the individual lead after posting a 68-69--137 scorecard. That effort was good for a one stroke lead over a trio of golfers.
Rounding out the action for the Buffs were freshman Kevin Kring, who is 48th in the standings (72-78--150), and juniors Luke Symons (69-82--151) and Justin Bardgett (74-77--151), both of whom are tied for 49th.
"Right now we'll just chalk it up to a bad afternoon, forget about it and move on," he continued. "We know we've played well here in the past and with last year's success, I know they're excited to come out and play really well (Tuesday) and get things back on track. We can shoot well under par and who knows, at least shake --em up a little near the top of the stands."
CU has won the same tournament two or more years in a row just three times in its history, last doing so in the fall portion of the schedule in 2000 and 2001 when it won the Colorado State Invitational. The other occasions were back-to-back Big 7 Conference titles in 1954 and 1955, the only repeat performance in the spring, and the 1992 through 1994 Air Force Falcon Invitationals.
The final round is set for a 7 a.m. (MST) shotgun start.
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
T17. Patrick Grady.................................. 70-75--145
T37. Derek Tolan.................................... 75-72--147
48. Kevin Kring..................................... 72-78--150
T49. Luke Symons................................. 69-82--151
T49. Justin Bardgett................................ 74-77--151
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
1. Cedric Scotto, SE Louisiana............... 68-69--137
2. Walt Koelbel, Kansas........................ 70-68--138
3. Felipe Velazquez, UALR..................... 66-72--138
3. Devin Carrey, Louisiana-Lafayette...... 69-69--138
5. Jose Toledo, New Orleans................. 71-68--139
TEAM SCORES
1. New Orleans............................... 288-281--569
2. Louisiana-Lafayette...................... 279-292--571
3. Rice........................................... 282-293--575
3. SE Louisiana............................... 279-296--575
5. Texas State................................. 283-293--576
6. SMU.......................................... 286-292--578
7. Memphis.................................... 297-285--582
8. COLORADO............................... 285-302--587
8. Arkansas Little-Rock................... 290-297--587
10. Louisiana Tech............................ 294-298--592
10. Kansas....................................... 296-296--592
12. Missouri-Kansas City................... 298-301--599
13. North Texas................................ 299-304--603
14. Richmond................................... 301-303--604
15. Texas-San Antonio....................... 309-299--608
