Brooks: Oraee, White Hope To Go Out In Sub-Par Style

BOULDER - The best-case scenario for David Oraee would have been traveling this week to the NCAA Golf Championships with his University of Colorado teammates. Instead, Oraee has settled for a trip to the Deep South with a CU assistant coach.

Check that. "Settled" is not the right choice of words. The trip for Oraee and Brandon White is far too special to be classified in any way as settling.

Their time together in Bradenton, Fla., will mark the final weekend for Oraee as a CU golfer and for White as a CU assistant. Oraee is a senior, White is leaving coaching after nine years - the past two with the Buffs - to enter private business with his father.

But the roots of Oraee's and White's friendship run deeper than player/coach and their consensus on the best choice of clubs, and that adds exhilaration and undoubtedly a dash of nostalgia to their journey.

"It's my last tournament as a college coach," White said. "I couldn't think of a better way to go out. I've coached in the NCAA Regionals three times, but I've never been able to write GÇÿNCAA Championship' on a resume. But beyond that, David is a good buddy and that adds a lot of special value."

They are hometown buds, having grown up in Greeley and sharing close family ties. They are 13 years apart in age, which offered White the opportunity to watch Oraee grow both as a young man and a golfer.

Oraee took up golf when he was five and won his age group championship at Greeley Country Club that same year. As he grew and his game progressed, Oraee began playing with his older brother, Daniel, and White at courses in the Greeley area. Their pairing was interrupted when White left for college in California (Pepperdine) and then spent two years playing professionally.

But in 2006 he returned to Greeley to coach the University of Northern Colorado women's team, staying in that job for seven years before CU men's coach Roy Edwards hired him two years ago. When Oraee heard his friend was in the mix for a Buffs assistant job, well, you know his reaction.

"Once I heard that he'd applied for the job here - it was the end of my sophomore year - I texted my coach and said, 'This guy's awesome,'" Oraee recalled. "We'd be lucky to have him, and luckily we got him. We have a really good relationship on and off the course. It'll be awesome to have him there (in Florida). I'm lucky to have him come with me on this last tournament. It'll be fun."

That White will be accompanying Oraee to the NCAA Championships is somewhat of a departure in college golf. Many times, it's the head coach rather than an assistant who makes the trip. This time, Edwards recognized the bond between White and Oraee, knew that White was leaving, and did the appropriate thing for his assistant and top player.

"When he found out he made it (as an individual golfer to the NCAAs), he asked me if I would be able to go with him," White said. "I talked about it with coach Edwards and he was willing to let me do that. I'm really appreciative; it meant a lot to have him give that nod of confidence."

Brandon White will finish off his CU coaching career with David Oraee at the NCAA Finals

COACHES CAN WALK THE COURSE with their players, doing almost everything except carry their clubs. White accompanied Oraee on his final two rounds at the NCAA Central Regional in Noblesville, Ind., where Oraee finished with a three-day total of 209 (seven under par, second place) and became one of six individuals to qualify for a trip to the nationals. Joining those six will be 30 teams, bringing the field to 156 for the tournament. It will be adjusted for Sunday's third round, and if Oraee is to advance to the final round he must be among the top nine individuals not on one of the first 15 teams.

Oraee called having White with him on his first NCAA Championship trip "huge. He basically walks with me, if not every hole then a good amount of them. He's basically my caddy without carrying the clubs. He reinforces what I'm thinking and really helps me on the greens and getting yardages, visualizing shots and making sure what I'm thinking is actually correct.

"He gives me that extra confidence I need to go out and hit the shots.

"We're really close. He definitely knows my yardages and the kind of shots I like to play - high ones, low ones, draws, cuts. He's really into that. It's another set of eyes and another brain out there to help me out."

Added White: "We've just had a real good relationship the last couple of years. We've had that connection that goes a little farther than your average coach-player. Chemistry is different with each guy and how you coach them is different. David and I have a good chemistry on the course. There's a real good comfort level there. He's trusted me in the decisions I helped him make."

Oraee exited Indiana excited about becoming an individual qualifier but also was bummed about the Buffs' overall stumble. An 11-under-par 277 - the regional's best round - put them in first place after day one, but successive rounds of 300 and 302 dropped them into sixth place. The top five teams qualify for the nationals.

"It was weird . . . the most bittersweet moment I could have had in golf," Oraee said. "I wasn't thinking about individual (qualifying) at all. We were in such good position basically at the start of every day. Really great position. I didn't even think about going myself. I really didn't know until I teed off on the last hole of the tournament. It was weird because everyone was down and I was obviously down to not have them go (to the NCAAs). But after realizing what I did and that I have more golf to play, it's pretty awesome."

He and White left for Florida on Wednesday morning. Their first priority before stroke play begins on the tournament's first day will be acclimating to a course that features Bermuda rather than bentgrass. A friend and former teammate who lives in Florida has played The Concession Golf Club, and has offered Oraee advice.

But he wants to experience the difference in surfaces in Thursday's practice round and adapt his short game to it. "Chipping is one of the best parts of my game," he said. "If I miss a green I really have a good chance of getting up and down and moving on. I want to get used to the grass and make sure I have confidence in my chipping.

"Usually on the well-kept courses you don't have to worry about the greens too much. But I'll have to learn how to read them. As long as I do that I should be all right."

HIS FRIEND'S SCOUTING REPORT advised Oraee that the greens are "super undulating and really fast . . . it's just a brute of a course in general. If you make good shots it'll reward you and if you don't it'll eat you alive."

Not many courses devoured Oraee during his CU career. Entering play this weekend, his career stroke average is 73.48, which could place him as high as the second-best in school history and no lower than fourth. He has been below par in 38 rounds - a school record - with 48 rounds of par or better - third all-time at CU.

But this is the number that wows White: Oraee has competed in every major tournament (49) during his four-year CU career. "For any kid in any D-I program to play in every tournament he could speaks for itself," White said, noting so many external factors can come into play and scratch a golfer for any number of reasons. "To me, that shows a lot of consistency and how he's developed."

Oraee's short term goals are clear cut: Finish as high as possible this weekend then launch a professional career. He realizes the difficulty of that - "The tour is crazy hard" - and has a backup plan in mind. His degree is in integrated physiology and he plans to apply for medical school, which will allow a year to gauge his golfing success on the tour.

"There are so many good players out there," he said. "I'll see how the summer goes and see what I do . . . if it goes well, medical school is out for now."

But whatever comes next won't cloud what came last. Oraee is comfortable if not completely satisfied with his college golf career, saying he played well but not as well as wanted.

"Going into college you always feel like you're going to play awesome golf and be an All-American," he said. "But there's a lot of different things that play into that. I've been busy with school and don't get to practice as much as I thought I would. But I played every tournament I could . . .

"You just need opportunities out here and I've definitely had that. To be on the teams I have and be part of the wins we've had is awesome. It's been an awesome career, everything has been memorable. It's been a good four years and I don't know if a lot of other college players could say they've enjoyed every aspect of it. But I have."

And the best part, it's not over - for him or his longtime friend and coach. They hope to make their last CU weekend one to cherish.

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU