Colorado
All Rounds
Golfers Finish Seventh In Inaugural CU-Simpson Invitational
September 28, 2010 | Men's Golf
No. 16 New Mexico, the highest ranked school in the 14-team field, held on for a one-stroke victory over
Host Colorado, the first round leader by one stroke, shot its best round of the meet, a 2-under 286, but remained in seventh in the final standings though pulling to within two shots of fifth place and one of sixth. The Buffs finished up with a 10-over 874 score, nudged by
“Overall, from a team standpoint we were disappointed with our performance,” CU head coach Roy Edwards said. “We obviously wanted to win this inaugural event. However, there was definitely marked improvement today, a few more good things for us than yesterday afternoon. So that's part of the deal, to keep working and make those strides.
San Jose State's Mark Hubbard claimed medalist honors, closing with a final round 70 for a 7-under par 209, defeating New Mexico's Travis Ross by two strokes on the 7,741-yard, par-72 Colorado National Golf Club course.
“It was awesome,” Hubbard said of his first collegiate win, which happened in his home state as he prepped at
“I drove the ball okay, hit my irons great and putted the ball well,” he said. “I've been hitting my irons good for a while, and it all came together today.” It was just the third time that he had played CNGC, once this past summer and about three years ago, so he wasn't all that familiar with the course.
CU was led by senior Luke Symons, who tied for seventh with a 70-72-72?216 scorecard, his first tournament competition in 13 months since undergoing hip surgery in August 2009. He underwent a second on his other hip this May. He was obviously pleased with his first time back on the course in collegiate action, as it was his sixth career top 10 finish, but his first in two years. He led the entire field in par-4 scoring here (5-under), and made the second most pars overall with 39.
“It was nice (to finish seventh), I'm showing improvement every round which is good,” Symons said. “I can only move forward from here and hopefully get better. I'm a little sore, but nothing too unbearable. For the most part, I putted well again (29 putts Tuesday, 83 in the tournament), but I need to drive the ball better which will obviously come once I play more and regain more flexibility in my hip.”
Junior Kevin Kring tied for the low final round with a 4-under 68 in which he also matched his career low for putts in a tournament round with 24. In recording 12 one-putt efforts with six two-putts, he posted his second career top 10 effort to go with a ninth place finish in the 2008 DU-Ron Moore Invitational at Green Valley Ranch. Kring closed with an even par 216 for the week's 54 holes; his final round 68 equaled his best in the final round of a college tournament as well. He had 37 pars and 10 birdies in the event.
“I was putting absolutely lights out,” Kring said. “I told coach yesterday afternoon that I felt I could make every putt out there. I was very confident all day and very aggressive and I am pretty sure I didn't miss a putt inside 18 feet; it was a big circle for me today. I didn't hit as many greens as I could have, but I didn't miss a fairway. I have a hard time getting it on the greens at times because I hit the ball so low.”
And redshirt freshman Brennan Dolan, playing in his first collegiate tournament, registered one of the highest finishes by a Buff frosh his first time in competition, closing with a 1-under 71 Tuesday for a 1-over 217 total to tie for 15th place. He was steady, with 37 pars on the week, and played the tough CNGC par-3s the best by any Buff at 2-over, which tied for 16th best in the field.
“We had some good individual efforts out there, the top two being Kevin's going four-under and Luke continuing to battle back into game shape,” Edwards said. “Ultimately, we have a ton of work to do. We have a team that has plenty of talent and potential and we get right back out there at the end of this week and have another opportunity to improve. We expect to see a motivated bunch the last three weeks of the fall season and into the winter.”
All nine Buffaloes who are eligible to play the 2010-11 season teed it up here this week, with five in the top 27 and all but one shooting 74 or better in the final round after being challenged by their coaches to take things up a notch Tuesday.
The tournament was named in memory of the late Mark Simpson,
“There were a lot of positive remarks on the course, especially the set-up and that has more to do with the staff at Colorado National than anything,” Edwards said. “They did a great job. The course was long numbers-wise (7700 yards), but the altitude and the firmness of the course made it play much shorter, so everyone enjoyed it.”
The Buffaloes turn right around and travel to
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS (*?playing as an individual)
T7. Luke Symons................................ 70-72-72?212
T10. Kevin Kring................................... 75-73-68?216
T15. *Brennan Dolan............................ 72-74-71?217
T27. Derek Fribbs................................ 73-76-72?221
T27. *Jason Burstyn............................. 76-72-73?221
T42. *Johnny Widmer........................... 77-74-74?225
T51. *Michael Imperato........................ 77-76-74?227
T55. Sebastian Heisele......................... 76-77-75?228
T55. Pat Wilson.................................... 81-73-74?228
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS
2.
T3.
T3. Matt Hovan,
T5. Ryan Peterson,
T5. Sam Chavez, New Mexico........... 76-66-71?213
T7. Luke Symons,
T7. Zachary Blair, Brigham Young..... 71-73-70?214
9.
T10. Kevin Kring,
(four others tied for 10th at even par 216)
TEAM SCORES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. Brigham Young........................ 295-289-289?873
7.
8.
9.
10. Texas-El Paso.......................... 302-292-304?900
11.
12. Northern
13. Air Force.................................. 306-293-312?911
14. Southern
Players Mentioned
