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Men's Golf: Buffs Finish 9th At Big 12 Championships
April 25, 2010 | Men's Golf
TRINITY, Texas — The University of Colorado men's golf team never enjoyed that one stellar round it thought it was capable of having, and instead went in the other direction in slipping two spots into a ninth place finish as the 14th Annual Big 12 Conference Golf Championships came to a close here Sunday.
No. 1 Oklahoma State, in usual fashion, pulled away from the field in the final round to win its fourth straight league title and eighth overall, logging in the top score for the final 18 holes (6-under 282) in posting a 19-under final total of 1,133 strokes. No. 5 Texas A&M jumped from fourth to second, finishing 13 shots off the pace with an 1,146 score.
No. 7 Texas slipped a notch into third (1,148), with No. 12 Texas Tech doing the same in captured fourth (1,152); Kansas State (1,163) and No. 50 Baylor (1,171) holding their positions since the second round to fill out the top six, or first division. K-State became just the second northern school to finish in the top five in the six years the south has hosted the championships.
Colorado, ranked No. 90, had been in seventh after the second and third rounds, but couldn't get much going before really cooling off down the stretch. The Buffs slipped into ninth place largely due to its quintet of golfers posting 11 bogeys and one double – with no birdies – over the final seven holes, with the four scorers combining for 10-over par. That disappointing finish ballooned CU's team score to 12-over 300 on the day and to 1,188 (36-over) for the 72-hole tournament on the 7,480-yard, par-72 Whispering Pines Golf Club course layout.
Sophomore Sebastian Heisele led the Buffaloes, tying for 19th after closing with a 2-over 74 Sunday; that followed three consecutive 73s he put in the books for a 293, or 5-over, total for the weekend. He was 3-over after three holes to start his final round, but brought it back down to even after he scored an eagle on the 576-yard, par-5 No. 2 hole, one of just 16 eagles recorded the entire tournament. He had two bogeys down the stretch to account for his overage on the day, and he tied for the fewest bogeys by a Buff with 13.
Heisele played the par-3s the sixth-best this weekend (even overall for those 16 holes) and the par-5s the eighth-best (a collective 7-under) in the 60-man field. His 46 pars ranked 14th individually.
Redshirt freshman Jason Burstyn closed with a 3-over 75 which gave him a 297 total (9-over), tying him for 30th, a solid finish for CU's No. 5 man who played well in recent weeks to earn his way into the conference meet. He tied for a team-best 11 birdies to go with 45 pars, while shooting double bogey or worse just three times in 72 holes, one of which unfortunately came on his last hole of the tournament. He was sixth among the 15 freshmen in the field this weekend.
Freshman Derek Fribbs recorded a 4-over 76 to finish at 12-over 300, tying him for 36th place. He had 49 pars for the weekend, a team-best and tied for the fifth-most in the field, and did a great job of managing his game, with just two holes worse than bogey (one double, one triple) while scoring seven birdies against 14 bogeys. As far as where all the freshmen finished, he tied for eighth among the rookies.
Senior Justin Bardgett had a great start here this week, sitting in second place at 6-under par late in the first round, but could never match that early consistency as he closed with an 8-over 80; that have him a 303 total (15-over) and tied him for 43rd overall in the standings. He tied Burstyn for the most birdies by a Buff with 11 here, but he had none on Sunday while enduring six bogeys and one double. CU's season leader in stroke average now has to wait it out to see if he will be invited as an individual to the NCAA Championships or if in fact his college career ended here Sunday.
Sophomore Kevin Kring finished things off with his best round of the weekend, a 3-over 75, tying for 57th overall with a 313 total. He had as many birdies Sunday – four – as he had in the first three rounds combined, all coming on his first nine holes when he turned at 3-under. He slipped back a bit in playing the front nine at 6-over.
“It was a tough day, we really just struggled throughout.” head coach Roy Edwards said. “We had greater aspirations coming in, but never could catch fire for any great length of time to build some momentum.
“It was a really solid tournament for Sebastian, and the two freshmen not only gained invaluable experience, but played very solid for the most part and managed their games very well in the first big tournament of their collegiate careers,” he continued. “And Kevin got off to a good start, but he was dealing with a wrist injury and was on the edge of forcing him to withdraw all weekend. So all things considered, we probably did a pretty good job to finish where we did.
“Overall, we're certainly not happy with how we played today,” Edwards said. “We really thought we could make a run at sixth place, but didn't come close to doing that all.
Texas Tech's Chris Ward led from wire-to-wire in becoming the first Red Raider to win a Big 12 men's golf title; he rode out a final round 74 for a 9-under 279 score, good for a two shot win over Oklahoma State's Peter Uihlein.
“We're looking forward to having a good summer (on the amateur circuits),” Edwards concluded. “We have a good, young team for next year and also get a couple of guys back (Luke Symons, Johnny Widmer), a lot of things we're excited about.”
While the season is complete for Colorado – with an under .500 record against Division I teams for the season, the Buffs needed to win the conference title to qualify for the postseason, Bardgett will find out in early May if he has done enough to qualify as an individual for the NCAA Championships.
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
T19. Sebastian Heisele....................... 73-73-73-74—293
T30. Jason Burstyn............................. 73-70-79-75—297
T36. Derek Fribbs................................ 73-74-77-76—300
T43. Justin Bardgett........................... 70-78-75-80—303
57. Kevin Kring................................... 81-78-79-75—313
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
2. Peter Uihlein, Oklahoma State...... 67-72-72-70—281
T3. Bobby Hudson, Texas.................... 64-71-72-75—282
T3. Andrea Pavan, Texas A&M........... 71-66-71-74—282
5. Sean Einhaus, Oklahoma State..... 73-68-73-69—283
1. Chris Ward, Texas Tech................ 69-65-71-74—279
TEAM SCORES
1. Oklahoma State...................... 281-284-286-282—1133
2. Texas A&M............................. 280-285-292-289—1146
3. Texas....................................... 282-284-287-295—1148
4. Texas Tech.............................. 286-285-284-297—1152
5. Kansas State........................... 290-283-296-294—1163
6. Baylor...................................... 288-287-301-295—1171
7. Nebraska................................. 290-295-304-295—1184
7. Oklahoma................................ 299-290-308-287—1184
9. COLORADO............................. 289-295-304-300—1188
10. Iowa State............................... 300-294-311-298—1203
11. Missouri.................................. 301-297-309-298—1205
12. Kansas..................................... 295-298-315-302—1210
