Colorado University Athletics
Juel-Berg Aims To Finish CU Career On Strong Note
April 14, 2016 | Men's Golf, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — When Philip Juel-Berg picks up his ball from his last hole as a Colorado Buffalo, he will take with him the reputation as one of the most consistent golfers in CU history.
That's no brag, just fact. The native of Denmark already owns the school record for most rounds of par or better (62), with at least two — and possibly four — more tournaments to go. He is also almost certain to leave as one of the top three golfers in CU history in stroke average for a season (he's currently third at 71.52); he'll finish in the top 10 in the record books in career rounds (currently at 139); and he owns 10 career top-10 finishes.
“I feel like I'm fairly consistent, especially with my longer game, which is why I shoot a lot of rounds at even and 1- or 2- or 3-under,” said Juel-Berg, who will test that game this weekend when the Buffs play in The Maxwell at Dornick Hills Country Club in Ardmore, Okla. “I was talking to one of my teammates, Jeremy Paul, and we were talking about how easy or simple it is to shoot between even and 3-under — but to get it to 6- or 7-under, how many things have to turn out your way. There's a big gap there.”
It's where Juel-Berg and his teammates would like to be not only this weekend in Oklahoma, but for the stretch run of their season. The Maxwell will mark their last regular season event. After that will come the April 29-May 1 Pac-12 championships in Salt Lake City, followed by — hopefully — the NCAA Regionals and NCAA Championships.
It's the NCAA competitions that the Buffs are quietly aiming for. A year ago, they led the NCAA Central Regional after the first day and were in second after day two. But a tough third round saw them slip to sixth — with only the top five teams advancing to the NCAA Championships.
“We don't really set any strict team goals,” Juel-Berg said. “But it's an unwritten expectation within the team that we make it to the regionals, and that's my biggest priority. After that — you never know what regionals will bring. The courses are normally tough, the fields are obviously tough and they only take the top five from there to nationals.”
If the CU advances to the NCAA Regionals, it would be the Buffs' — and Juel-Berg's — fourth straight appearance.
But Colorado hasn't played in the NCAA Championships as a team since 2002. They've had a couple of individuals qualify since then, including David Oraee a year ago.
“No question, it would be fun to end my senior year at nationals,” Juel-Berg said.
In Juel-Berg's three NCAA Regional appearances, he has never finished lower than 39th. But as the Buffs painfully learned a year ago, just a handful of shots over the course of three days can mean the difference between moving on and staying home.
“When you look back at tournaments, you might be three shots out of fifth as a team and you finished seventh,” Juel-Berg said. “That's three shots out of somewhere between 800 and 900 shots — it's nothing. You learn that every shot counts.”
It's why he and his teammates will focus on the team aspect of their play as they head down the stretch run.
“Everywhere in Europe, when you grow up playing golf, it's a team sport,” Juel-Berg said. “You play match play events exactly like the Ryder Cup. You play team matches and you play for the national championship as a team. You play it as an individual, too, but the focus is on the team.”
This year, Juel-Berg believes he and his teammates have developed a special chemistry that will make a difference as they hit the postseason. He points to the Buffs' last meet, the Wyoming Cowboy Classic, as the perfect example.
Juel-Berg had his worst tournament in more than a year at the event, finishing in 91st place with a 13-over 229. It was one of a handful of times in his career that his score didn't count toward the team total.
But because the rest of the team still played well, the Buffs still came away with the team championship.
“The team really did well in spite of how I played,” Juel-Berg said. “It was awesome that they could go in and cover for me.”
But Juel-Berg isn't planning on having another tournament like that anytime soon — certainly not over the next several weeks.
“Stuff like that happens every now and then — it's golf,” Juel-Berg said. “If I were going to pick a tournament for that to happen, I would have picked that one, especially since we still won. But at the same time, it's a little knock on your confidence, and golf is all about confidence. With the big tournaments coming up, I have to get past that.”
Aside from the Cowboy Classic, Juel-Berg has had a solid spring. He's been CU's top finisher in two of the Buffs' four tournaments, and last fall, he earned his first collegiate victory, winning the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational at the Air Force Academy.
Now, the Buffs have their eyes set on a strong showing at the The Goodwin and Pac-12 championships, which will hopefully lead to an NCAA Regional berth.
“We've talked about it multiple times,” Juel-Berg said. “We need something special to get to regionals, and we need a lot of the young guys to play well. Last year, it was more of a 'Let's just go out and play as we usually do and we'll make it.'
“This year we need that last factor, and it's team chemistry — believing and supporting each other. I think for the first time in my time here at CU, that chemistry is really strong and we will have some success as a result.”
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
