Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
The Gifford Collegiate Championship
Golfers End Fall Season Eighth At UCLA's Gifford
November 05, 2014 | Men's Golf
SAN MARTIN, Calif. — The University of Colorado men's golf team closed out the fall portion of its schedule here Wednesday with an eighth place finish in UCLA's Gifford Intercollegiate.
No. 8 UCLA, on the heels of No. 18 Southern California after each of the first two rounds, overtook its crosstown rival in the final round, as the Bruins bested the Trojans by six shots Wednesday to finish with a 15-under par 1,050 team score. That was three better than USC (1,053), with No. 13 Stanford (1,066), No. 4 Texas (1,069) and No. 66 Northwestern (1,071) rounding out the top five.
The Buffaloes, ranked No. 35, had hoped for a good final round to wrap up the fall season, but had a rough beginning, starting out at 8-over par as a team through three holes. CU ended the day at 9-over 364 for a 29-over 1,094 team total, ending the day where it started, in eighth place.
Sophomore Jeremy Paul paced the Buffaloes for the third time this fall, fashioning a 3-over 74 in the final round for a 215 score (2-over), tying for 17th on the 7,360-yard, par-71 CordeValle Country Club course layout. He was fourth entering the day but got off to a very uncharacteristic start, scoring two bogeys and a double to stand 4-over after three holes; to his credit, he played the remainder of his round at 1-under par (scoring three birdies, 10 pars and just two more bogeys). His 14 birdies were the fourth-most in the entire field, and he was 5-under on the par-5s, tied for second-best.
Paul came in as the No. 45 ranked individual in the nation, and was beaten by three ranked ahead of him but also bested three with higher rankings.
Senior David Oraee finished with a 1-over 72, his 5-over 218 tying him for 28th individually He had two birdies, 13 pars and three bogeys in the final round, with his 37 pars tying for the sixth-most in the 72-man field. Oraee had seven bogeys in the first round but just four over the last 36 holes.
Sophomore Yannik Paul, the younger of the two identical twins, wrapped things up with a 3-over 74 to tie for 51st with a 10-over 223 total. He was cruising along at 1-over through eight holes after scoring a birdie on No. 1 (he started on No. 12), but had some trouble on his next two holes, scoring a triple (his first of the season) and a bogey that obviously disturbed his round.
Sophomore Ethan Freeman turned in Colorado's best score Wednesday, as he carded an even-par 71. He also finished with a 10-over 223, rallying from two straight 76s as he recorded an eagle (CU's lone one in the tournament), two birdies, 12 pars, two bogeys and a double. He matched Oraee with a team-best 37 pars.
Junior Philip Juel-Berg came into Wednesday at just 1-over, but couldn't get much going and then a string of bogeys basically derailed his efforts for a top 20 finish. In closing with a 10-over 81, he slipped to an 11-over 224 for the meet, tying him for 56th. He had a birdie and seven pars against nine bogeys and a double.
Junior Drew Trujillo rebounded well from an opening round 80, as he finished up with a 75 in the second round and a 2-over 73 in the final round; his 15-over placed him 67th. He has one bad patch in the first round where he had four double bogeys in a seven-hole span, but didn't score another the remainder of the tournament. He had two birdies, 12 pars and four bogeys Wednesday.
"The guys did a good job today of grinding,” CU head coach Roy Edwards said. “Overall we didn't get off to a good start but everyone hung in there until the end.
“We played in six tournaments which is asking a lot and the guys handled it really well. We would have liked to have closed off the fall with a better event but all-in-all we are pleased with how we are positioned for the spring.”
Northwestern's Dylan Wu turned in a final round 4-under 67 to finish at 9-under 204 to claim medalist honors, as he overtook UCLA's Jake Knapp, the leader after each of the first two rounds, to win by one stroke. The duo battled all day for the lead, with Knapp scoring two eagles on the front nine. It was decided on the last hole, where Wu, trailing by one, birdied and Knapp bogeyed.
Colorado won't resume play until an alumni match in Scottsdale in mid-January. “It is time for everyone to take a little time off and focus on school and being a regular student,” Edwards said.
NOTES: Colorado is looking to end the fall since its highest national ranking since the 2008-09 season, when the Buffaloes entered the spring season as the No. 42 team in the country … Jeremy Paul finished in the top 20 in all six fall tournaments (four top 10), and led the team in stroke average with a 71.47 mark … That was the fourth-best for any fall season in school history, bested only by Derek Tolan (71.00 in 2008-09), John Lindberg (71.15 in 1987-88) and Kevin Kring (71.42 in 2011-12) … Paul already has 11 career top 20 finishes in just three semesters (Kane Webber, who competed from 1999-2004, holds the school record of 27) … This was CU's first “six-for-five” tournament this fall; it's the same format utilized in the Pac-12 Championships, where the best five scores of the six are used to calculate the team score, instead of the more commonly used “five-for-four” format. The Buffs have just the six players who competed here on their roster (five played in all six tournaments with the sixth, Trujillo, playing in four) … Colorado finished the fall season with a 55-27 record against Division I competitors.
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BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
|
T17. |
68-73-74—215 |
|
|
T28. |
76-70-72—218 |
|
|
T51. |
75-74-74—223 |
|
|
T51. |
76-76-71—223 |
|
|
T56. |
72-71-81—224 |
|
|
67. |
80-75-73—228 |
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INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
|
1. |
Dylan Wu, Northwestern |
69-68-67—204 |
|
2. |
Jake Knapp, UCLA |
66-70-69—205 |
|
T3. |
Lorens Chan, UCLA |
71-67-68—206 |
|
T3. |
Doug Ghim, Texas |
66-74-66—206 |
|
T3. |
Paul Smith, USC |
67-73-66—206 |
|
TEAM STANDINGS |
|
1. |
UCLA |
355-346-349—1050 |
|
2. |
Southern California |
353-345-355—1053 |
|
3. |
Stanford |
362-357-347—1066 |
|
4. |
Texas |
359-362-348—1069 |
|
5. |
Northwestern |
360-353-358—1071 |
|
6. |
South Florida |
363-360-363—1086 |
|
7. |
SMU |
371-355-361—1087 |
|
8. |
COLORADO |
367-363-364—1094 |
|
9. |
Wisconsin |
368-374-361—1103 |
|
10. |
Lamar |
385-361-370—1116 |
Players Mentioned
