Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Amer Ari Intercollegiate
Golfers Open Spring Season In 16th In Hawai'i
February 06, 2015 | Men's Golf
WAIKOLOA, Hawai'i — The University of Colorado men's golf team opened its spring season here Thursday, but didn't have the kind of first round it was shooting for in the 24th Annual Hawai'i-Hilo Amer Ari Invitational.
The Buffaloes stand in 16th place in the 18-team field after the first of three days of competition in what is annually one of the premier college tournaments of the year. There are 13 top 50 schools competing here, including three in the top 10 and eight in the top 20.
No. 14 USC holds a slim one-shot lead after recording a 12-under 276, with No. 22 Washington and No. 29 Arizona State in at 277; No. 14 Stanford is in fourth with a 278, with four teams tied for fifth, four shots off the pace: No. 3 Oregon, No. 8 Auburn, No. 16 Texas Tech and No. 47 Oregon State.
Colorado came into the spring with a No. 39 ranking, but had its struggles in posting a 7-over 295.
"Overall, it was just not our best today,” CU head coach Roy Edwards said. “We didn't get off to a very good start and didn't take advantage of the par-5s like it is necessary to do here.
"We had some good practices coming in, and we expect a good two days tomorrow and Saturday."
Senior David Oraee was 3-over par after three holes, but rallied to finish his round even on the 7,074-yard, par-72 on the Waikoloa King's Course layout. He had bogey and a double in those opening holes, but finished his round with four birdies, 11 pars and just one more bogey. He is in a tie for 49th place in the individual standings.
Sophomore Yannik Paul, the younger of the two identical twins, put a 1-over 73 into the books. He opened with par-bogey and the scored par on 10 straight holes before nailing a birdie on No. 2 to pull back to even. He had the most consistent day of all the Buffaloes, finishing with that one birdie and 15 pars against two bogeys. The 15 pars tied for the third-most pars in a single round by a Buff this season, as tied for the third most Thursday in the 112-man field. He is tied for 62nd overall.
Sophomore Ethan Freeman and junior Philip Juel-Berg both turned in 3-over 75s to stand tied for 77th. Freeman got there with four birdies, eight pars, five bogeys and a double; Juel-Berg had two birdies and 11 pars against five bogeys.
Sophomore Jeremy Paul, the 60th-ranked individual in the nation through fall competition, turned in a 4-over 76 and is tied for 91st. He opened with a triple bogey on the par-3 No. 7, was 6-over and 10 holes but then played the rest of the way in two shots under par. He had four birdies and 10 pars to highlight his round after the miserable start.
Freshman Ben Bradley, who signed with the Buffs last November, is playing in his first collegiate tournament and turned in a 2-over 74; he is tied for 73rd overall, but is playing here as an individual, meaning his scores won't count toward CU's team total. He opened his college career with a round that featured two birdies, 12 pars and four bogeys.
Washington's Cheng-Tsung Pan, the nation's top-ranked golfer, picked up where he left off, carding a 7-under 65; he is tied for the lead Arizona State's John Rahm.
|
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
|
T49. |
37-35—72 |
|
|
T62. |
37-36—73 |
|
|
T73. |
34-40—74 |
|
|
T77. |
37-38—75 |
|
|
T77. |
39-36—75 |
|
|
T91. |
37-39—76 |
|
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
|
T1. |
Cheng-Tsung Pan |
32-33—65 |
|
T1. |
Jon Rahm, Arizona State |
32-33—65 |
|
3. |
Rico Hoey, USC |
34-32—66 |
|
T4. |
Maverick McNealy, Stanford |
32-35—67 |
|
T4. |
Manav Shah, UCLA |
35-32—67 |
|
T4. |
Brandon McIver, Oregon |
33-34—67 |
|
TEAM STANDINGS |
|
1. |
Southern California |
276 |
|
2. |
Arizona State |
277 |
|
2. |
Washington |
277 |
|
4. |
Stanford |
278 |
|
5. |
Auburn |
280 |
|
5. |
Oregon |
280 |
|
5. |
Oregon State |
280 |
|
5. |
Texas Tech |
280 |
|
9. |
UC Davis |
281 |
|
10. |
Oklahoma State |
282 |
|
10. |
TCU |
282 |
|
12. |
Texas |
283 |
|
12. |
UCLA |
283 |
|
14. |
San Jose State |
292 |
|
15. |
Hawai'i |
294 |
|
16. |
COLORADO |
295 |
|
17. |
Hawai'i-Hilo |
297 |
|
18. |
Osaka Gakuin Univ. |
298 |
Players Mentioned
