Golfers Rally Late To Win Share Of Mark Simpson Invitational

Tuesday, September 29

Boulder, Colo.

All Day

Colorado

Round Three

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

Golfers Rally Late To Win Share Of Mark Simpson Invitational

September 29, 2015 | Men's Golf

By: David Plati, Associate AD/Sports Information

BOULDER — The University of Colorado men's golf team turned in the best team score in the final round here Tuesday, as the Buffaloes rallied from a five-shot deficit to share the title in their own 6th annual Mark Simpson-CU Invitational.

It's the third straight year and fourth time overall that the Buffs have won or shared the tournament crown, winning outright in 2011 and 2014 and sharing the honor in 2013 prior to this season.

Colorado and Missouri-Kansas City played leap frog much of the day, with the last lead change happening with three holes remaining when the Kangaroos came back from two shots down to take a one-stroke lead. Still down by one with the last two players on the course, CU junior Jeremy Paul chipped in for a birdie on No. 18 to pull the Buffs even, with fellow junior Ethan Freeman following by making a tough sand save for a par to keep the teams tied.

This chip-in on 18 for Jeremy Paul essentially gave the Buffs a title. @Efreezy13 iced it shortly after. #GoBuffs pic.twitter.com/Q3G2cDJlaj
— Colorado Men's Golf (@CUBuffsMGolf) September 29, 2015

Both finished at 7-over par 847, with Wyoming third (858) followed by Wichita State (867) and Houston Baptist (871) to round out the top five.

Paul made the chip from about 10 yards in front of the green with a 58 degree wedge. “I knew that we were one shot behind and needed something to happen for us to have a chance,” he said. “I was pretty disappointed with my shot toward the green, but coach told me it was a pretty makeable shot. I had a good lie and a perfect angle (toward the cup); I just hit it with normal speed and it turned out great … rolled right into the hole.”

Paul finished third individually with an even-par 210 score, closing with a 2-under 68 on the 7,110-yard, par-70 Boulder Country Club course. He opened with a 67 but a second round 75 likely cost him medalist honors. He still led the field here with 14 birdies along with

“I've been struggling with putting a lot recently,” he said. “I missed a couple of short putts in the second round and I got a little frustrated. Then I hit a couple of bad shots, and things can get away from you pretty quick. Today I didn't feel I played that good, but I managed to hang in there and tried to stay patient and give myself good opportunities.”

With his third place finish, he tied CU assistant coach Patrick Grady for eighth on the school's list for all-time top 10 finishes with 12.

Junior Ethan Freeman and freshman Ross Macdonald tied for fifth with 2-over 212 scores; Macdonald finished with an even-par 70 and Freeman a 1-over 71. Freeman had two birdies and a team-high 13 pars, none more important than the 5-footer he had on No. 18 that secured a share of the title for CU. Macdonald had three birdies and 12 pars, and both had three bogeys. Freeman's 39 pars overall tied for the third-most in the 74-man field.

And exhale. Here's how @efreezy13 iced the title for @cubuffsmgolf. #GoBuffs https://t.co/Vno8NgJfpf
— Colorado Buffaloes (@cubuffs) September 29, 2015

“I was on the 18th tee and I heard every one yelling when Jeremy chipped in,” Freeman said. “I was “live scoring” (entering his threesome's scores) so I knew he made us tied (with UMKC). I had a nice uphill putt and I just tried to be confident with it. I knew the whole team was on my back at that moment, and I tried to do all I could to make it and thankfully it went it.”

Senior Philip Juel-Berg had a solid performance here, fashioning a final round 70 to finish at 3-over 213, which tied him for 11th. Sophomore Kade Crossland tied for 47th after closing with a 4-over 74 for a final score of 14-over 224. Both played the par-5 holes at 3-under, tied for 10th-best in the field.

"The guys knew we had to play a good round today,” CU head coach Roy Edwards. “UMKC has a very good team with one of the top amateur players in the world, and we responded with the low round of the day on a golf course that was playing pretty tough. Everyone just kept battling and grinding. We all knew we were a shot or two down as the tournament was heading down the stretch, and they kept their focus and didn't get discouraged. We had a couple of really good things happen at the end for us. The guys had to go out and earn it today, and they did.”

“Today was big,” Edwards added. “The team has really come together. The new guys have really been welcomed and embraced by the veterans. I knew that we had good guys and the chemistry would be fine, the key was getting the new guys as many reps as we could. All of them with the exception of John Souza (back injury) have already played three tournaments and are getting quite acclimated.”

Three other Buffs competed as individuals, with freshman Wilson Belk nearly earning his first top 10 collegiate finish after firing a 1-over 71 Tuesday for a 3-over 213 total, which tied him for 11th. He had two birdies and 13 pars in his final round, giving him 10 and 31, respectively, for the tournament as he played consistent all three rounds with no big numbers.

Senior Drew Trujillo tied for 53rd after closing with a 77 for a 16-over 226 total; he had three birdies and six pars on the day. Freshman Pierce Aichinger shot a third straight 76 for an 18-over 228 score, tying him for 57th. He had a birdie and 11 pars to wrap things up here.

UMKC senior Antoine Rozner, the player CU's Edwards was referring to, carded a final round 69, which included a 32 on the back nine, to claim medalist honors with a 2-under 208 score. He was 3-over par through 10 holes, but caught fire and birdied five of the next six holes to take over the top spot. Wyoming's Kamrin Allen was second, one stroke back at 209 after closing with an even-par 70.

The tournament, named for CU's late golf coach who passed away in 2005 after coaching the Buffaloes for 29 years, was played for the first time at BCC instead of its usual home, Colorado National Golf Club.

Colorado will return to action in two weeks at the Alister Mackenzie Invitational in Fairfax, Calif., on Oct. 12-13.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS

3.	Jeremy Paul	67-75-68—210
T5.	Ross Macdonald	67-75-70—212
T5.	Ethan Freeman	69-72-71—212
T11.	*Wilson Belk	73-69-71—213
T11.	Philip Juel-Berg	72-71-70—213
T47.	Kade Crossland	74-76-74—224
T53.	*Drew Trujillo	77-72-77—226
T57.	*Pierce Aichinger	76-76-76—228

*—played as an individual.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

1.	Antoine Rozner, UMKC	68-71-69—208
2.	Kamrin Allen, Wyoming	70-69-70—209
3.	Jeremy Paul, Colorado	67-75-68—210
4.	Jacob Garstecki, UMKC	68-74-69—211
5.	Zander Lozano, UTSA	74-67-71—212
5.	Val Almendarez, Houston Baptist	71-68-73—212
5.	Ross Macdonald, Colorado	67-75-70—212
5.	Francois Lagraulet, UMKC	74-67-71—212
5.	Ryan Wallen, Wyoming	72-68-72—212
5.	Ethan Freeman, Colorado	69-72-71—212

TEAM STANDINGS

1.	COLORADO	275-293-279—847
1.	Missouri-Kansas City	280-283-284—847
3.	Wyoming	293-278-287—858
4.	Wichita State	292-281-294—867
4.	Houston Baptist	290-283-298—871
6.	Texas San-Antonio	290-289-293—872
7.	Loyola-Marymount	294-303-281—878
7.	Utah State	291-288-299—878
7.	Air Force	289-293-296—878
10.	Northern Colorado	293-288-304—885
11.	Sam Houston State	294-295-300—889
12.	George Washington	291-304-297—892