Golfers Finish Third At Wyoming Cowboy Classic

Tuesday, April 7

Talking Stick North Golf Club: Scottsdale, Ariz.

All Day

Colorado

Wyoming Cowboy Classic

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

April 07, 2015 | Men's Golf

By: David Plati, Associate AD/Sports Information

CHANDLER, Ariz. — The University of Colorado men's golf team rally from a poor start fell just short here Tuesday, as the Buffaloes finished third in the 13th annual Wyoming Cowboy Classic.

McNeese State, ranked 80th nationally, won its first tournament of the year after posting several top five finishes, using an 8-under par final round effort to close with a 838 team score, or 26-under par. Idaho used the day's best round, a 10-under 78, to leapfrog into second (840), with No. 47 Colorado third (842), Gonzaga fourth (847) and UC Davis, the leader after each of the first two rounds, completing the top five (849).

The Buffaloes had a substandard start all three rounds here, but was as the case in Monday's two rounds, came back to turn in a team score under par. In the final round, the four players who contributed to the CU team score were six-over par about a third of the way into the day, dropping the Buffs into sixth place at one point; but the quartet came back to finish with 13 birdies with just three bogeys to rally the team into third.

The Buffaloes were under par in all three rounds of a tournament for the first time this season (and since the 2014 Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate), with the 22-under par team effort tying for the sixth-best in school history.

“I was proud of the way the guys battled after a pretty poor start,” CU head coach Roy Edwards said. “Everyone did a really gob fighting through it, we had the biggest score on the course there for a while. It was a combination of things, but it wasn't for a lack of effort. No one lost their focus, everybody stayed the course and we were competitive at the end and almost stole it back. We're pretty disappointed we didn't win.”

Senior David Oraee led the Buffaloes with a fourth-place finish, as he carded an even-par score in the final round for an 8-under 208 total on the 7,334-yard, par-72 Whirlwind Golf Club course layout; he was one shot out of the lead. He still had an outstanding tournament overall, scoring an eagle, 11 birdies and 37 pars with just five bogeys in recording his season-best score for 54 holes; it marked the sixth time he wrapped a meet with a 72. He played the par-3s here better than everyone else in the field (minus-3), and tied for 10th-best on the par-5's (7-under).

“David just didn't hit the ball very well today,” Edwards said. “That can happen, but he still worked to get himself back into contention with two late birdies. He had a seven-foot putt on 18 to tie and get into a playoff and just missed it on the right.” Oraee still enjoyed his team-best fifth tournament of the year without scoring worse than a bogey throughout, with it his third career top five finish and his 10th in the top 10 tying him for 10th on CU's all-time list.

Sophomore Ethan Freeman closed with a 2-under 70 for a 4-under 212, which tied him for 17th. He enjoyed one of his finest performances to date in his young career, as he had 10 birdies and 39 pars – the latter tying for the sixth-most in the 100-player field – against only four bogeys and a double. Those five holes worse than par matched Oraee's effort here and tied him for the third-fewest this season by a Buffalo.

It was Freeman's sixth career tournament under par, but the 4-under par was a collegiate best as the other five were all either 1- or 2-under.

“Ethan had a good week, and typically when he plays well, the team has a really good performance,” Edwards said.

Sophomore Jeremy Paul, CU's stroke average leader (71.7), also fashioned a 2-under 70 finish with a 3-under 213, which tied him for 22nd; it was his 11th career tourney out of 22 played where he finished under par. Though he never caught on fire and scored low like he has shown that he is capable of, it was his fourth meet this year without a hole worse than bogey as he recorded 10 birdies and 27 pars with just seven bogeys for the three rounds. He has developed a reputation for playing par-5 holes extremely well, and it was no different here, as he was 8-under on the long ones, seventh-best in the field.

Junior Philip Juel-Berg ended with an even-par 72 which kept him even for the tournament, his 216 score tying him for 38th. In recording his second best effort of the year in relation to par, he tied for the team-high with 12 birdies along with 31 pars overall (with 10 bogeys and a double). He played the par-4 holes here at even par over the three rounds.

Sophomore Yannik Paul turned in a 4-over 76 that jumped him to a 1-over 217 overall and a 44th-place tie; he started the day with four straight pars, but a double bogey-bogey back-to-back on Nos. 5 and 6 sidetracked him. His lone birdie of the round came late on No. 17 to aide CU's rally, with his 39 pars overall equaling Freeman's number. He played the par-4 holes the best of all the Buffs, playing the 30 of those at 1-under par, which was also ninth-best in the field.

Junior Drew Trujillo played as an individual (his score did not count toward the CU team total), wrapping things up with a 3-over 75 for a 219 total, also 3-over, tying him for 61st. His one hole where he scored worse than bogey all week – a triple on the par-3 No. 15 cost him an under par finish, as it was his next to last hole of the round which featured a shotgun start; after an early bogey on No. 18, he came back with two straight birdies and spent the bulk of his round under par until the triple and a bogey on No. 16, his last hole of the day. He had 11 birdies, 31 pars and 11 bogeys otherwise for the tourney.

“It was important to see Drew have some good moments, and more of those will come for him,” Edwards noted.

Weber State's Devon Purser won medalist honors after claiming the first playoff hole; he was tied with two others at 9-under 207 after 54 holes, forcing a playoff.

The Buffaloes now have three weeks to prepare for the 4th Annual Pac-12 Championships, which will be in Pullman, Wash., April 27-29; it is a 72-hole, six-to-score-five tournament, so it was vital for CU to get an extra man to play well here in Chandler ahead of the most important meet of the season.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS

T4.	David Oraee	68-68-72—208
T17.	Ethan Freeman	73-69-70—212
T22.	Jeremy Paul	73-70-70—213
T38.	Philip Juel-Berg	69-75-72—216
T44.	Yannik Paul	70-71-76—217
T61.	*Drew Trujillo	73-71-75—219

*—played as an individual.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

T1.	*Devon Purser, Weber State	70-69-68—207
T1.	Jared du Toit, Idaho	70-70-67—207
T1.	Robert MacIntyre, McNeese St.	70-68-69—207
T4.	David Oraee, Colorado	68-68-72—208
T4.	James Fahy, Gonzaga	69-70-69—208

*—won in a playoff.

TEAM STANDINGS

1.	McNeese State	283-275-280—838
2.	Idaho	281-281-278—840
3.	COLORADO	280-278-284—842
4.	Gonzaga	282-277-288—847
5.	UC Davis	278-278-293—849
6.	San Francisco	282-282-287—851
7.	Weber State	282-287-285—854
8.	James Madison	283-288-284—855
9.	UC Irvine	284-284-290—858
10.	Southern Utah	289-285-286—860
11.	Santa Clara	291-284-286—861
12.	Long Beach State	283-291-292—866
13.	Utah State	293-286-289—868
14.	Wyoming	291-291-288—870
15.	UC Santa Barbara	287-296-292—875
16.	CSU-Northridge	294-285-299—878
17.	Air Force	295-293-302—890
18.	Western Kentucky	299-294-302—895