Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Intercollegiate
Golfers Finish Seventh At Olympia Fields Invite
September 14, 2014 | Men's Golf
OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. — The University of Colorado men's golf team slipped a couple of spots here Sunday but overall stayed even this weekend with many of the top programs in the nation in finishing seventh in the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational.
Host and No. 6 Illinois recorded the best round of the tournament, a 3-under 277 Sunday, and rode that to the team title with an 861 score (21-over par). No.17 Florida State was a distant second, 11 shots back with an 872, despite posting Sunday's second best effort (283). Baylor, the second round leader, slipped to third (876), with No. 7 Stanford (882) and co-No. 1 Oklahoma State (885) rounding out the top five.
Colorado, tied for 11th after the first round and for fifth entering Sunday, finished seventh with an 893 score after recording a 12-over 300 in the final round. The Buffaloes defeated five teams ranked in the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) preseason poll: co-No. 1 Alabama, #11 Oklahoma, #19 Texas A&M, #21 Arkansas and #23 Virginia Tech.
Sophomore Jeremy Paul led the Buffaloes with a tie for eighth place, closing with a 4-over 74 which gave him a 7-over total of 217 on the 7,260-yard, par-70 Olympia Fields Country Club layout. He wrapped things up with a birdie, 12 pars and five bogeys, with his 37 pars for the weekend tied for sixth in the 75-man field. Paul also tied for fourth in par-4 scoring, as he played the 36 of that variety at just 6-over par.
Sophomore Ethan Freeman also closed with a 74, as he tied for 30th with an 14-over 224 total; he had a team-high three birdies Sunday along with nine pars. He matched Paul's birdie count for the weekend (six), and tied for fourth in par-5 scoring, as he was 2-under par on the six longest holes for the tournament.
Senior David Oraee wrapped things up with a second consecutive 5-over 75, tying for 42nd overall with an 18-over 228 score. The middle of his round was thrown off a bit after becoming ill Friday night, though he battled through the next two rounds. He has four birdies and 30 pars over the three rounds, including one and a dozen, respectively to close things out.
Sophomore Yannik Paul fashioned a 7-over 77 to give him a 20-over 230 score, which tied him for 54th. He uncharacteristically had seven double bogeys over the three days, accounting for the bulk of his strokes over par.
Junior Philip Juel-Berg struggled Sunday, recording a 12-over 82 on nine pars, six bogeys and three doubles; he tied for 59th with a 23-over 233 total. In 83 career rounds for the Buffs, it marked only the fourth time he failed to record at least one birdie in a round.
“It was really hard out there today, every hole location was difficult,” CU head coach Roy Edwards said. “The weather was really good, but the golf course was set up so hard that it made it a challenging day. They used the same exact hole locations they did for the last three rounds of the '03 U.S. Open. You have to be disciplined and hit to the correct side of the hole as much as possible, and then also you have to control your emotions.
“You have to pay extra attention to those things. I think we did a pretty gob of that for the most, though we lost a little down the stretch on the back nine.”
Stanford's Maverick McNealy and Illinois Dylan Meyer shared co-medalist honors; in a three-way tie for the lead entering the day, both turned in a 1-over 71 score to finish up at 3-over 213. Illinois' Charlie Danielson was third, with his final round 67 the second best score Sunday – behind teammate Brian Campbell, who shot a 66. Those two were the main reason for the Illini Sunday rally.
“Playing in this tournament will be a good experience for us, Edwards added. “We beat some really good teams, but more than that, we generally played well on a really challenging golf course and that will help us in the future.”
The Buffs return to action in two weeks, traveling south on Interstate 25 to Albuquerque for New Mexico's William H. Tucker Invitational on Sept. 26-27.
|
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
|
T8. |
72-71-74—217 |
|
|
T30. |
79-71-74—224 |
|
|
T42. |
78-75-75—228 |
|
|
T54. |
81-72-77—230 |
|
|
T59. |
75-76-82—233 |
|
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
|
T1. |
Maverick McNealy, Stanford |
71-71-71—213 |
|
T1. |
Dylan Meyer, Illinois |
72-70-71—213 |
|
3. |
Charlie Danielson, Illinois |
72-75-67—214 |
|
T4. |
Kyle Jones, Baylor |
72-70-73—215 |
|
T4. |
Rowin Caron, Florida State |
73-71-71—215 |
|
TEAM STANDINGS |
|
1. |
Illinois |
294-290-277—861 |
|
2. |
Florida State |
293-296-283—872 |
|
3. |
Baylor |
297-279-300—876 |
|
4. |
Stanford |
294-299-289—882 |
|
5. |
Oklahoma State |
295-296-294—885 |
|
6. |
Texas |
308-288-296—892 |
|
7. |
COLORADO |
304-289-300—893 |
|
8. |
Virginia Tech |
291-302-302—895 |
|
9. |
Alabama |
300-296-301—896 |
|
10. |
Oklahoma |
299-296-303—898 |
|
11. |
Texas A&M |
304-290-306—900 |
|
12. |
Michigan |
304-294-305—903 |
|
13. |
Arkansas |
301-303-301—905 |
|
14. |
Connecticut |
309-297-302—908 |
|
15. |
Indiana |
303-312-307—922 |
Players Mentioned
