Colorado
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Golfers Finish 15th In Hawaii's Amer Ari Invitational
February 04, 2011 | Men's Golf
WAIKOLOA, Hawai'i ? The University of Colorado men's golf team couldn't capitalize on a several opportunities Friday to move up in the standings, instead settling for a disappointing 15th place finish in the 21st annual Amer Ari Invitational.
No. 2 Oklahoma State held off late charges from No. 7 Texas and No. 1 UCLA to win with an 830 team score, which was 34-under par for the 54-hole event. The Cowboys had a 12-stroke lead at the midway point in the final round, but Texas (835) and UCLA (836) ran out of holes and couldn't catch what is likely the nation's new No. 1 team.
The Buffaloes, 10th after day one and 13th entering the final round, were within range of a top 10 finish. However, another mediocre start out of the gate put CU behind the 8-ball, and the Buffs went on to record its worst 18 hole team score here (7-over 295) and finished up with an 871 overall score (also 7-over).
The 20-team field was easily the toughest CU has faced this season (12 top 42 teams, four of the top seven); the Buffs did manage to beat two schools ahead of them in the rankings, No. 34 Florida State and No. 85 San Jose State, and will likely improve a bit on their own No. 122 ranking.
For the third straight day, the Buffs opened slowly, the five designated scorers collectively played the first six holes at 9-over par; for the tournament, the quintet had 25 bogeys and one double against just a single birdie (63 pars) combined over their first six holes, or 26-over par. Those six holes (spanning Nos. 8 to 17) did include eight of the toughest 12 holes on the course according to the tournament stats, and the Buffs did play the final dozen at 7-under.
Sophomore Derek Fribbs posted CU's best finish here, tying for 41st after carding the team's best score in the final round, a 2-under 70; that brought him back to even (216) for the meet on the 7,074-yard, par-72 Waikoloa King's Course. He closed strong, with three birdies, 14 pars and a single bogey, as he had a balanced tourney with eight birdies, 38 pars (tied for the team high) and eight bogeys. He lowered his final round stroke average to 72.2 in the process, now the team best. He also remained the only Buff to have all his rounds (15) count toward the team's scoring in 2010-11.
"With the exception of Derek, most of the day today was a struggle,” CU head coach Roy Edwards said. “We were in a position to beat some very good teams and came out of the blocks very flat and weren't really ever to get under par. We continue to see progress in spots but today was a step back. We were not able to adjust to the more difficult hole locations and unfortunately turned one mistake into two or three more."
Fellow sophomore Johnny Widmer wrapped up a fairly solid week with a 2-over 74, tying for 59th overall with a 218 score (+2). He opened strong with a 3-under 69 on Wednesday, and was under par most of the final round until a stretch where he played four of his final five holes at 4-over par, which included his only double bogey of the week.
Junior Kevin Kring uncharacteristically struggled in the final round, carding a 4-over 76 to finish with a 3-over 219, tying him for 65th. He had just one birdie Friday, with 13 pars, three bogeys and a double bogey?the latter just his fifth all season?after entering the day with the team's best final round average. That number jumped from 71.8 to 72.6, but still the national leader in fewer holes with triple bogey or worse (zero in 270 holes, matched by just a handful of other golfers out of 6,600 nationally).
Senior Luke Symons tied for 80th overall, firing a 5-over 77 Friday for a 222 total (+6). He joined Fribbs as CU's two players who did not score worse than a bogey all week, as he had eight birdies, 32 pars and 14 bogey; but he could muster just a single birdie to counter six bogeys Friday.
Junior Sebastian Heisele closed with a 3-over 75 for a 224 score (+8), tying him for 86th. He, too, matched the team best with three birdies in the final round, but four bogeys and a double against 10 pars accounted for his score swinging three strokes on the unhappy side of par.
Senior Michael Imperato rounded out the CU contingent here, though he played as an individual. He finished up with a 7-over 79 for a 217 (+17) total. He was just 3-over through 15 holes, two coming on a double bogey on No. 7 (a par-3), but down the stretch he suffered a triple bogey (on the par-3 No. 15) and a bogey to account for the extra strokes.
"I know each of the guys is motivated to do well,” Edwards said in summarizing his team's first spring effort. “We have to continue to focus and practice on what is important and that is worrying about what we have control over, our short games, and course management. It is encouraging we are able to have room for improvement as we will get much better the more we continue to work on those aspects."
The Buffaloes return to action in just over a week, as they will travel to Newport Beach, Calif., to take part in the “Battle at the Beach.”
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS (*?played individually)
T41. Derek Fribbs................................ 72-74-70?216
T59. Johnny Widmer.......................... 69-75-74?218
T65. Kevin Kring................................... 73-70-76?219
T80. Luke Symons.............................. 71-74-77?222
T86. Sebastian Heisele....................... 76-73-75?224
T107. *Michael Imperato...................... 77-77-79?233
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
T1. Patrick Cantlay, UCLA................ 74-64-65?203
T1. Bobby Hudson, Texas................. 69-67-67?203
4. Tyler Weworski, Texas Tech..... 70-65-69?204
5. Kevin Tway, Oklahoma State..... 67-66-72?205
TEAM SCORES
1. Oklahoma State...................... 278-273-279?830
2. Texas....................................... 282-278-275?835
3. UCLA....................................... 285-273-278?836
4. Georgia Tech........................... 278-282-284?844
5. Southern California................. 271-292-282?845
6. Texas Tech.............................. 284-275-289?848
7. TCU.......................................... 287-281-282?850
7. Arizona State........................... 279-282-289?850
9. Oregon..................................... 281-287-286?854
10. UC-Davis................................. 284-284-288?856
11. Stanford................................... 293-278-287?858
12. Washington............................. 288-285-286?859
13. Oregon State........................... 284-292-286?862
14. San Francisco......................... 290-290-289?869
15. COLORADO............................. 285-291-295?871
16. San Jose State........................ 287-293-298?878
17. Western Washington............. 294-290-301?885
18. Hawai'i..................................... 292-295-301?888
19. Florida State............................ 290-299-302?891
20. Hawai'i-Hilo............................. 290-298-304?892
Players Mentioned
