Colorado University Athletics
Golfers in 12th At U.S. Intercollegiate
March 31, 2012 | Men's Golf
PALO ALTO, Calif. - The University of Colorado men's golf team was sitting pretty with two holes remaining in the first round of the 44th Annual U.S. Intercollegiate here Friday, but as too often has been the case this spring, the Buffaloes couldn't close and dropped from sixth to 12th at end of the day.
No. 12 Oregon sits atop the 16-team field after 18 holes, the Ducks turning in an 8-under 272 team score, thanks to all four of its scorers shooting under par, something only two other teams even just had two players do Friday. No. 4 UCLA is in second at 3-under 277, with No. 5 Southern California third at 1-under 279. No. 7 Washington (280, even) and Nevada (2-over 282) round out the top five; host and No. 11 Stanford is sixth at 284.
As for the Buffaloes, they were hanging in, with their four scorers just 5-over par heading into the last two holes (Nos. 17 and 18), and after three of the players had birdied the par-5 16th. But the quartet collectively closed with three pars, four bogeys and a triple, or 7-over par, and CU thus finished with a 12-over 292 score to stand alone in 12th place.
The tournament is not only a precursor to next month's Pac-12 Championships with nine league schools competing, but is likely the second toughest Colorado, ranked No. 71, is participating in thus far this season with six teams ranked in the nation's top 13.
Senior Kevin Kring and junior Beau Schoolcraft led the way for CU on Friday with 2-over 72 score, tying them for 37th individually. Both shot 35 on the front nine, 37 on the back side, and had two birdies, including one on No. 1 to start the day, 12 pars and four bogeys on the 6,727-yard, par-70 Stanford Golf Course layout. Schoolcraft played the par-5s best for CU in the first round (2-under).
Junior Derek Fribbs was sailing along, hovering around even par, within one shot of it, for the first 17 holes. But he closed his round with a disastrous triple to close with a 3-over 73, which has him tied for 47th. He had three birdies, 11 pars and three bogeys prior to his misstep on No. 18 (a par-4).
Junior Jason Burstyn shot a 5-over 75, but did have a team-best 1-over (36) on the back nine. Tied for 69th place overall, he had a birdie, 12 pars, four bogeys and a double; he played the last seven holes even. He played the three par-5s at 1-under, but had troubles on the five par-3s (3-over).
Freshman David Oraee actually played for the first time like a freshman, carding an 85 as he never could get untracked. After opening with a par on No. 1 (a par-5), he played the next five holes at 7-over. He scored his only birdie of the round next on No. 7, and it settled him down for a bit, but he closed with five bogeys and one triple on his last seven holes to finish with a 15-over 85, which has him in last place (90th). Four other players shot in the 80s with three more scoring 79s, so a good round will easily move him up.
"We hung in pretty well after having one guy out of it from the start," head coach Roy Edwards said. "We were in a good position but played our final two holes horribly at seven over.
"We are still in a position where some strong play tomorrow and Sunday will allow us to move up," he added. "As we have said a ton lately the team is playing well but we haven't been finishing off rounds. Unfortunately it doesn't do much good when you don't finish it off. We have to be tougher."
Fresno State's Rufie Fessler is the individual leader with a 5-under 66, good for a one shot lead over three players. Fessler turned in a 31 on the back nine, which included a stretch of four birdies in six holes. Of the 90 players in the field, 16 broke par and eight equaled it.
The second round will be played Saturday and the final round on Sunday, as teams will tee off both Nos. 1 and 10 beginning at 9:00 a.m. MDT. Colorado is paired with San Jose State and Oregon State in the second round and will tee off on No. 1 from 9:45 to 10:21 a.m.
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BUFFALOES INDIVIDUALS |
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T37. |
35-37--72 |
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|
T37. |
35-37--72 |
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T47. |
34-39--73 |
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T69. |
39-36--75 |
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|
90. |
42-43--85 |
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TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS |
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1. |
Rufie Fessler, Fresno State |
34-31--65 |
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T2. |
Nick Chianello, Oregon State |
33-33--66 |
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T2. |
Matt Hansen, UC-Davis |
32-34--66 |
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T2. |
Daniel Miernicki, Oregon |
32-34--66 |
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5. |
Pedro Figueredo, UCLA |
35-32--67 |
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TEAM STANDINGS |
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1 |
Oregon |
272 |
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2 |
UCLA |
277 |
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3 |
Southern California |
279 |
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4 |
Washington |
280 |
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5 |
Nevada |
282 |
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6 |
Stanford |
284 |
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7 |
San Francisco |
285 |
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7 |
San Diego State |
285 |
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7 |
Fresno State |
285 |
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10 |
UC-Davis |
287 |
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10 |
Oregon State |
287 |
|
12 |
COLORADO |
292 |
|
13 |
San Jose State |
294 |
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13 |
Washington State |
294 |
|
15 |
Pepperdine |
295 |
|
16 |
Utah |
304 |
