Colorado University Athletics
Golfers In Ninth At Barona Collegiate Cup
March 25, 2010 | Men's Golf
LAKESIDE, Calif. -- The University of Colorado men's golf team continued its spring break on the west coast here Thursday, as after a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde kind of day, the Buffaloes are in ninth place after two rounds of the Barona Collegiate Cup.
Host and No. 35 San Diego State, on the strength of three golfers in the top five, are the only school under par with its 8-under team score of 712 good for a comfortable 18-stroke advantage over second place Nevada (730). UC-Irvine (733), Northwestern (735) and top-ranked Oregon (737) round out the top five.
Colorado led for some of the first round and completed it in fourth place, recording a 1-over par 361 team score, eight shots back of Nevada. The five players scoring for the Buffaloes in the morning round collectively shot two eagles, 15 birdies, 53 pars and 20 bogeys--and not a single double bogey or worse.
But unfortunately for the Buffaloes, they left that round too quick in their rearview mirror; CU ballooned to a 27-over 387 the second time around the 7,324-yard, par-72 Barona Creek Golf Club course layout to finish the day with a 748 total, or in eighth place. CU had no eagles and nine birdies against 27 bogeys and five double bogeys the second time around the BCGC track.
Colorado is on the tail-end of a logjam and is within 11 shots of the top five, and are as far back of runner-up Nevada as the Wolfpack is of the lead--18 shots. It--s the second tournament this week for CU, which finished sixth in the Oregon Duck Invitational in Eugene on Tuesday.
Sophomore Sebastian Heisele turned in the best performance for CU for the first two rounds, as his 70-75--145 scorecard (1-over) has him tied for 15th. His 10 birdies over the course of 36 holes are the third most in the field, behind two players with 11. He played the eight par-3 holes at 1-under and the 20 par-4 holes even on the day, also among the leaders.
Sophomore Kevin Kring was CU's next best player, his 73-76--149 effort tying him for 35th. He played fairly steady, with his 25 pars tied for fifth in the field, and did not score worse than a bogey (just eight of those) in 36 holes Thursday.
Senior Justin Bardgett opened well with a 1-under 71, but followed with an 80 for a 151 total, tying him for 48th. He had an eagle and three birdies in the morning, but struggled with three double bogeys in the afternoon.
Freshmen Derek Fribbs (72-80--152, tie-53rd), junior Michael Imperato (75-79--154, tie-65th) and redshirt frosh Jason Burstyn (78-77--155, tie-69th) rounded out the Buff contingent. Imperato also did not score anything higher than a bogey Thursday, but did have a team-high 13 bogeys. Fribbs had CU--s other eagle.
"A tale of two different rounds," head coach Roy Edwards said. "We played one of our top three or four rounds of the year this morning, and for whatever reason, followed that up with one of the three or four worst. It--s really discouraging. Until we figure out how to manage our game when we--re not playing our best, we're going to continue to play well below what we--re capable of. We beat the No. 1 team in the country (Oregon) by seven shots in the first round, but made that a distant memory early in the second round.
"The main problem is a lack of what I call golf IQ; we need to recognize when things aren't going are way," he continued. "We have the physical tools, but we just lack the mental capacity right now to manage things when our game isn--t it all around good shape. It--s why we--re inconsistent. It--s a relief to a degree in the sense that we know what is wrong, but until the guys buy into what myself and (assistant) coach (Jim) Grady are telling them, it--s never going to happen. They have to be good with their wedges and they have to be able to manage their games when they--re not playing their best or things don--t go as expected early. We diagnosed the problem a long time ago, but we haven--t been able to follow through in correcting it. We--ll keep working on it and drilling it home. It--s on Jim and I, and we have to figure out a way to get it done."
Small consolation to the Buff coaches is the fact that the 104 players in the field averaged 75.03 strokes for the first round and 77.20 for the second.
Cal-Irvine's John Chin is the individual leader, buoyed by an opening round 65 which he followed up with a 71 for an 8-under 136 total. That led San Diego State's Johan Carlsson by one shot, and three others by four shots, two of whom also play for the leading Aztecs.
The final round will commence at 8:30 a.m. MDT Friday with a shotgun start.
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
T15. Sebastian Heisele....................... 70-75--145
T35. Kevin Kring................................... 73-76--149
T48. Justin Bardgett........................... 71-80--151
T53. Derek Fribbs................................ 72-80--152
T65. Michael Imperato........................ 75-79--154
T69. Jason Burstyn............................. 78-77--155
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
1. John Chin, UC-Irvine................... 65-71--136
2. Johan Carlsson, San Diego St. .. 68-69--137
T3. Ryan Hallisey, Nevada................ 71-69--140
T3. J.J. Spaun, San Diego State....... 70-70--140
T3. Alex Kang, San Diego State........ 71-69--140
TEAM SCORES
1. San Diego State...................... 357-355--712
2. Nevada.................................... 353-377--730
3. UC-Irvine................................. 367-366--733
4. Northwestern.......................... 362-373--735
5. Oregon..................................... 368-369--737
6. UC-Santa Barbara................... 359-380--739
7. Wyoming................................. 363-381--744
8. Alabama-Birmingham............ 368-377--745
9. COLORADO............................. 361-387--748
10. UC-Davis................................. 369-385--754
11. New Mexico State.................. 381-378--759
12. Texas El-Paso......................... 381-382--763
13. Loyola-Marymount................. 380-390--770
13. Utah......................................... 374-396--770
15. Air Force.................................. 388-390--778
16. Hawai'i..................................... 378-405--783
