Golfers Take Lead At NCAA Central Regional

Thursday, May 14

The Sagamore Club: Noblesville, Ind.

All Day

Colorado

NCAA Central Regional

Photo by: Pac-12 Conference

May 14, 2015 | Men's Golf

By: David Plati, Associate AD/Sports Information

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. — The University of Colorado men's golf team came here seeking some redemption after a poor showing in last month's Pac-12 Championships. After Thursday's first round of the NCAA Central/Noblesville Regional, that 11th place finish is a distant memory as the Buffaloes ended the day leading the 14-team field.

The Buffs recorded their best round ever in NCAA competition, an 11-under par 277, to end day one with an eight-stroke lead over Illinois, ranked No. 1 by Golfweek, No. 3 by the coaches and No. 4 by GolfStat, and No. 28 SMU. The Illini and Mustangs were the only other schools under par Thursday with 3-under 285s, otherwise No. 15 UCLA is in fourth at 293 and No. 33 UNLV rounding out the top five at 295.

Colorado, ranked No. 48 (Golfweek; No. 52 GolfStat), was 4-under par just two holes into the round, thanks to an eagle and two birdies, and proceeded to remain in the lead from that point on. This marks the first time in 19 regional appearances in school history that the Buffs have led after any of the three rounds; the Buffs did finish second in 1994 and third in the inaugural season of regional play in 1989.

The Buffaloes have often struggled either out of the gate or in closing rounds, and sometimes both, but that wasn't the case Thursday. The four players who contributed to CU's team score played nine holes collectively under par and another five even, with just four played over par.

I think the guys did a really nice job of managing their games,” CU head coach Roy Edwards said. “We talked about it in advance – this is a pretty tough golf course, but if you play smart and keep your emotions in control, you can score well here. The guys were motivated to play well (after pac-12). Certainly when you shoot that many under par, a lot of things go your way. We executed our course management plan as well we as we could.”

While the temperature was comfortable the 60s, the winds averaged 10 to 15 miles per hour most of the day and made things a bit more challenging, but those conditions didn't adversely affect the Buffs.

“I'm not surprised that we played this well, there are obviously some very good teams here and it's a really good start for the tournament. We're really just pleased with those two things more than anything,” Edwards said.

He noted that the Buffs played the toughest holes well on Thursday, and the numbers backed up his assertion. The four holes played the most over par – Nos. 4, 15, 16 and 17 – CU's scorers played a combined 1-over par. The teams directly behind CU in the standings played those four a combined 20-over (Illinois was plus-5, UCLA plus-6 and SMU plus-9).

Senior David Oraee and sophomore Jeremy Paul, along with SMU's Benjamin Baxter are tied for the individual lead as all fashioned 4-under par 68s in the opening round on the 7,173-yard, par-72 Sagamore Club course layout. Oraee and Paul shot 34s on each nine, and led the field in par-5 scoring, playing the four a combined 4-under (they also tied for seventh in par-3 scoring in shooting even par, and tied for 10th in par-4 scoring, playing those 10 holes even as well).

Oraee also came here hoping to redeem himself after finishing 61st in the Pac-12 meet. His eagle on the 538-yard, par-5 second hole got things rolling for the Buffs; it was the only eagle scored on that hole in the round and one of just four total overall. He added four birdies and 11 pars against just two bogeys to his scorecard.

Paul, CU's stroke average leader (71.8), scored the most birdies in the 75-man field – seven – en route to his 68, with eight pars and three bogeys. He ended the day with a birdie to move into a tie for the lead.

The 68s by Oraee and Paul tied for the fifth-best individual rounds in CU's NCAA postseason history, and tied for the lowest in the last 13 years.

Sophomore Yannik Paul, CU's top performer in the Pac-12s, carded a 2-under par 70 (nines of 34-36), which has him tied for seventh. He had five birdies and eight pars against three bogeys to open things up here, and he played the par-3 holes at 1-under, second-best in the field.

Junior Philip Juel-Berg turned in a 1-under par 71 (38-33), and is tied for ninth. He recorded six birdies, the tied for the second-most in the field and included four on the back nine, along with eight pars, three bogeys and a double for his round. He played the par-5s at 3-under, third-best in the field, and tied for seventh-best on the par-3s (even).

The top 12 spots were dominated by three schools, led by CU four players in the top nine, followed by Illinois and SMU with three each (there is a four-way tie for ninth). The Buffs led all teams in birdies (22) and par-5 scoring (minus-12), along with being second in par-3 scoring (plus-4) and fourth in par-4 scoring (plus-10).

“Those were really good rounds out of Jeremy and David, they were very consistent,” Edwards said. “Yannik and Philip were solid, too.”

Junior Drew Trujillo was the only Buff to struggle in the first round, as he turned in a 13-over par 85 (43-42) and is tied for 70th; he had 10 pars, five bogeys, a double and two triples. He has a history of when he opens a tournament with a high score, he has tended to rebound strong in the second round, most recently at the Pac-12 Championship, where he also opened with an 85 but rallied with a 72, tying for the third largest stroke improvement from on round to the next in school championship or postseason history. He wasn't alone in his struggles; five of the top seven teams had their fifth scorer in the 80s, and a sixth had a 78.

“Drew was a little off, he said he didn't play that bad, he just had some holes where he was in bad spots,” Edwards said. “But he's a competitor, I wouldn't be surprised if we count at least one of his last two rounds (toward the team score).”

Colorado will be paired with Illinois and SMU in Friday's second round and will start from the No. 1 tees between 7:15-7:59 a.m. (MDT).

“We'll communicate and appreciate that this was a really good round today, but we have to continue to take it one shot at a time,” Edwards said. “That's what we did today, and we have to come back and out and do the same tomorrow and Saturday. Otherwise, all this will be is just a good start. With so many of the nation's best teams here, we need to just continue to concentrate on what we can control, and that's all we can really worry about.”

NOTES: The Buffs' best previous NCAA team round was the last time they posted an under-par score in a regional, a 9-under 279 for the final 18 holes in the 2009 West Regional at Daly City, Calif. … Thursday's 277 was the fourth-best round of the season by CU ... Only UNC-Charlotte (13-under) in the Southeast Regional turned in a better first round score than Colorado ... Jeremy Paul's 68 was the 32nd subpar round of his career, as he is closing on the all-time school mark of 35 set by Kane Webber ('03) … This is one of six regionals taking place around the nation … The average score in the field Thursday was exactly four strokes over par – 76.00 … Colorado played the par-5s better than any other school in the field at 12-under; that's been typical of the Buffs this season but what hurt them in the Pac-12, when it played them a combined 6-over … The third and final round is set for Saturday, with tee times beginning at 5:30 a.m. MDT … CU is bidding to return to the NCAA Championship Finals for the first time since 2002; the event this year is May 29-June 3 in Bradenton, Fla. (which is just south of Tampa-St. Petersburg).

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS

T1.	David Oraee	34-34—68
T1.	Jeremy Paul	34-34—68
T7.	Yannik Paul	34-36—70
T9.	Philip Juel-Berg	38-33—71
T70.	Drew Trujillo	43-42—85

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

T1.	David Oraee, Colorado	34-34—68
T1.	Jeremy Paul, Colorado	34-34—68
T1.	Benjamin Baxter, SMU	31-37—68
T3.	Bryson Dechambeau, SMU	33-36—69
T3.	Jonathan Garrick, UCLA	33-36—69
T3.	Brian Campbell, Illinois	36-33—69

TEAM STANDINGS

1.	COLORADO	277
2.	SMU	285
3.	Illinois	285
4.	UCLA	293
5.	UNLV	295
6.	Oregon	297
7.	Alabama	298
8.	Georgia Southern	301
9.	Alabama State	302
10.	East Carolina	306
10.	Marquette	306
12.	New Mexico State	309
12.	Virginia Tech	309
14.	Penn	322