Buffs Second, Grady Wins CU-Stevinson Ranch Invitational

Monday, April 6

STEVINSON, Calif.

All Day

Colorado

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Golfers In Second At Western Intercollegiate

Buffs Second, Grady Wins CU-Stevinson Ranch Invitational

April 07, 2009 | Men's Golf

By: David Plati, Associate AD/Sports Information

STEVINSON, Calif. ? The University of Colorado men's golf team couldn't hang on to a slim 1-stroke lead after two rounds and finish second here Tuesday, but senior Patrick Grady reached the top of the podium in claiming medalist honors in the 11th Annual CU-Stevinson Ranch Invitational.

Colorado, ranked No. 43 by Golfweek, finished as the runner-up for the fourth time here, though this year marked the first time the Buffs held the lead going into the final day. No. 78 Nevada used key contributions from it's third through fifth men all tournament and closed with a 1-over 289 to finish with an 869 team score (5-over). The Buffaloes shot a 299 (11-over) in the final round to finish nine off the pace with am 878; No. 77 Washington State finished third (879) and Loyola Marymount fourth (880) in a tight pack.

The weather conditions were primo on Monday and good for most of Tuesday's round, until rain started falling the final four holes with the winds picking up a bit, though not dramatically.

Grady posted a 1-under 71 in the final round after rounds of 69 and 68 to open the tournament, finishing with an 8-under par 208 on the 7,142-yard, par-72 Stevinson Ranch Golf Club course layout. That was a good for a one stroke victory.

“We're extremely excited for Pat,” head coach Roy Edwards said. “The way he carried himself, not so much that he won, but how he did it. He was composed in the moment, things that every great player does when they play their best. He keeps improving and he's as hard a worker as I've ever been around. We can't say enough good things about him.”

Grady entered the day with a three-stroke lead over Nevada's Ryan Hallisey, and appeared to be on cruise control the first 14 holes. He turned at 33 after three birdies and six pars on the front nine, and after bogeying No. 10, came back with birdies on Nos. 11, 14 and 15 to stand 5-under. However, he made it interesting by bogeying each of his last four holes. Hallisey never really closed on Grady until the end, as he had four birdies and a bogey is shooting a 69, the only score in the 60s in the final round.

“The weather switched on 14, right when I made a great birdie into the crosswind,” Grady said. “It was a great up and down after I almost drove the green. I knew I was five up with four to go, but I had a couple of bad swings and a couple of bad breaks. It wasn't so much the weather as it really never getting used to the replacement driver I was using.”

Grady's regular driver cracked during Sunday's College-Am event, thus he went out and won a tournament using a strange club with little time to get used to it on the range, making the win even that much more special.

“It feels good. I played really good golf the whole week,” he said. “I probably had my best putting week of the year, I don't think I missed inside of six feet all tournament until the very last hole.”

Grady is the 11th player in school history to win at least two career tournaments. He added the Stevinson Ranch meet to his title last September in the DU-Ron Moore Invitational. “Coming in as a freshman and a walk-on at that, this really means a lot to me. It's a testament to a lot of hard work and great coaching from both Mark Simpson and Coach Edwards.”

Senior Derek Tolan finished things off with a 2-under 70, tying two others for the second best score of the day. Combined with two even-par 72s Monday, he shot a 2-under 214 for the tournament to finish third overall. He had 10 birdies to counter 10 bogeys for the meet, with 33 pars and an eagle, which he scored Tuesday on the 514-yard, par-5 No. 6 hole.

“I didn't have a whole lot of craft this week, not a whole lot of game,” Tolan said. “When that happens, that's when your course management and mental game kicks in. I think that is one of my strengths, knowing when and where I can pull something off. The only time I seem to make bogeys is missing short putts or making just a plain dumb mistake. You just have to forget about the bad mistakes and move on.”

Tolan played his 144th round for Colorado on Tuesday, tying him for the third-most all-time at Colorado with four others: Bobby Kalinowski (1990-94), Matt Zions (1998-2002), Kane Webber (1999-2004) and Edward McGlasson (2002-06). Rick Cramer holds the record of 159 he set between 1978 and 1982, when the NCAA allowed more competition days, with Terry Kahl second with 152 from 1976-81. If CU advances to the NCAA Finals and plays all four rounds, or Tolan does individually, the most rounds he can play the rest of the year is 11.

With Grady first and Tolan third, it marked the first time in the 11-year history of the event that host Colorado had two players in the top five. Grady is the second Buff to win the event, joining Ben Portie who won in 2002 and also with an 8-under 208 score. It is tied for the second best winning score in tournament history, the only one better coming in 2004, when Iowa State's Tyler Swanson won with a 10-under 206.

“Derek once again was very solid, another good round from him today,” Edwards said. “We're getting leadership from our seniors. But overall, we're disappointed with the team's performance. We expect better out of all of us. We've got three weeks to prepare for the Big 12 Championships, and we just need to get back to working hard in practice and taking care of business.”

Grady and Tolan continued their assault on the CU record book. Grady is now eighth in all-time top five finishes (8), tied for eighth in top 10 efforts (11) and tied for ninth in top 20 finishes (16), while Tolan is 11th in the top five (5), third in top 10 (17) and fourth in top 20 (24) efforts. Grady also set the school record for the most rounds in the 60s in a single season here, as his two Monday gave him 10, matching and then breaking Kane Webber's record that he set in 2003-04.

Unfortunately, no other Buffalo scored better than a 5-over 77 in the final round, including any of the four who competed individually as an informal “B” team. Junior Luke Symons did manage to tie for 25th overall with a 225 total, or 9-over par, despite a final round 79.

Redshirt freshman Sebastian Heisele and senior Tom Gempel tied for 57th with 231 totals, with junior Justin Bardgett, sophomore Michael Imperato and freshman Johnny Widmer tying for 63rd (232 scores). Freshman Kevin Kring rounded out the CU action, as he tied for 80th with a 237 final tally.

Sans a Division II tournament for some of the players not heading to the Big 12 Championships, the Buffs are idle until the the conference meet rolls around from April 27-29 in Hutchinson, Kan. The tournament will be played at Prairie Dunes, a par-70 configuration under 7,000 yards that is a little similar to Stevinson Ranch.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS

1. Patrick Grady.................................. 69-68-71?208

3. Derek Tolan.................................... 72-72-70?214

T25. Luke Symons.................................. 75-71-79?225

T57. *Sebastian Heisele......................... 77-75-79?231

T57. *Tom Gempel................................. 79-75-77?231

T63. Justin Bardgett................................ 76-77-79?232

T63. *Michael Imperato.......................... 74-78-80?232

T63. *Johnny Widmer............................. 77-78-77?232

T80. Kevin Kring..................................... 77-76-84?237

TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS

1. Pat Grady, Colorado..................... 69-68-71-?208