Colorado University Athletics
Men's Golfers Rally To Win Wyoming Cowboy Classic
April 05, 2016 | Men's Golf
CHANDLER, Ariz. — The University of Colorado men's golf team made up a four-shot deficit almost immediately here Tuesday, assuming the lead after four holes and then pulled away for an 8-shot victory in the Wyoming Cowboy Classic.
The Buffaloes, the highest-ranked team in the field at No. 61, finished with a team score of 843, which was 21-under par, after shooting the low score in the field for the second straight round (a 7-under 281). Colorado had been in eighth place after the first round but used a 16-under 272 effort in the second round to climb back into contention.
Second round leader Sam Houston State held on to second place with an 851 score, followed by host and No. 90 Wyoming in third at 852. William & Mary (861) finished fourth and UC Santa Barbara and Western Kentucky tied for fifth at 862.
It was CU's largest margin of victory in a 54-hole meet since the fall of 2012, when the Buffs won the Air Force Falcon Invitational by 12 shots.
Junior Jeremy Paul shared medalist honors with three other players, as he turned in a career-best performance here with an 11-under 205. He entered the day tied for second, three shots back of Sam Houston State's Jake McCrory, but he carded a final round 4-under 68 to catch McCrory, who shot a 71 on the 7,334-yard, par-72 Cattail Course at Whirlwind Golf Club layout.
Paul had the most birdies in the 109-man field with 16, which matched his own team-best in last fall's Alister Mackenzie Invitational. He was under par collectively for the meet on all the par-3, par-4 and par-5 holes, and was the only player to shoot in the 60s all three rounds. He also had 34 pars, meaning just five holes worse than per here, and all were single bogeys.
UC-Santa Barbara's Brandon Dauman and Arizona's Jordan Gumberg also finished at 11-under, and the four did engage in a one-hole playoff. Paul and Gumberg both made par, Paul sinking a 12-footer, while the other two bogeyed, but with teams scrambling to get out of town, tournament officials declared all four co-medalists.
It was Paul's third career win, his second in major tournament action as he becomes the 12th Buff to win at least two; the record is four. His 11-under par 205 effort ties the third best performance in CU history, trailing 12-under scores by John Lindberg in the 1989 BYU Cougar Classic and by current assistant coach Patrick Grady in the 2008 DU-Ron Moore Invitational. Scott Petersen, Derek Tolan and Beau Schoolcraft also own 11-under scores. Paul's previous 54-hole best was a 9-under 209.
"I played pretty well the entire time, my driving was good, my irons were good," Paul said. "My putting was decent, I didn't make any really crazy putts but made most of the important ones, and that kept my momentum going. I just kept putting myself in good position and was really patient. Sometimes I can be too aggressive, so I focused on staying really patient and waiting for my chances and that proved to really be the key."
Freshman Ross Macdonald earned his second-highest finish as a collegian, as he tied for ninth with a 5-under 211 score, his first 54-hole tournament under par as well as his best score. He had five birdies and 10 pars in his final round and finished with 13 birdies and a team-best 34 pars overall. He birdied two of his first three holes to help CU open with its hot start.
Sophomore John Souza finished with an even-par 72, giving him a 3-under 213 which tied him for 13th place. He hung right around par most of the day and closed with two birdies to get back to even, as he had five birds and nine pars to close things out. He mastered the par-5s here, tying for the lead in the field playing them collectively at 8-under.
Junior Ethan Freeman fashioned a 1-under 71 to finish at 2-under 214, which tied him for 16th. He was consistent all three rounds, ending with 12 birdies and 33 pars, and opened strong Tuesday with two birdies in his first four holes.
Senior Philip Juel-Berg just was a little off here, firing a 78 in the final round to finish in a 91st place tie with a 13-over 229. While he had eight birdies and 28 pars, 18 holes of bogey or worse were a season-high. It was his most strokes over par in a tournament since early in his junior season.
"It was great, ever since the start yesterday's second round), the guys were tremendous and really competed hard," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "That's what I was most proud of ... really just proud of the entire team and what everyone did."
With Juel-Berg uncharacteristically struggling, Edwards was asked if that put more pressure on the other four designated scorers knowing that one of the team's top two players wasn't playing his best.
"To be honest, I really don't want anyone to know what anybody else is doing, although they always manage to find out," he said. "But we coach them to not worry about anything other than to focus on their own games and to concentrate on each and every shot they have ahead of them."
The remaining three Buffaloes on the roster all competed here as individuals, sophomore Kade Crossland and freshmen Pierce Aichinger and Wilson Belk. Aichinger was the most consistent of the three, finishing up with a 3-over 75 for a 9-over 225 total that tied him for 72nd. He had eight birdies and 32 pars for the meet, and in the final round was even or 1-under until a double bogey on his 14th hole of the day (No. 1) that sidetracked him.
Belk tied for 91st after closing with a 3-over 75 to give him a 13-over 229 total, as he had a single birdie with 13 pars against four bogeys in his final round. He matched Macdonald's team high of 34 pars as well.
Crossland finished with a 12-over 84, his first round score, as he struggled to finish things out with nine pars, six bogeys and three doubles Tuesday; he was done in with 22 holes of bogey or worse here, which led to a 27-over 243 total, which placed him 109th in the field.
"We knew coming in that this could be the easiest one for us to win as a team, since we came in as the highest ranked so we wanted to win this one really badly," Paul said. "We just didn't get off to a great start, but then we got things really going and the younger kids came through. Plus, it was very important for us to win this tournament to improve our ranking in relation to regionals."
Edwards likes how the depth of this team has developed. CU was the only school here with four golfers in the top 30, and all actually placed in the top 16.
"It's been really good as far as guys developing, in particular John and Ross," he said. "We don't win without the efforts of everybody, but those two were really key for us here. Ross is having a very good freshman year, he loves the game and works really hard because he wants to be a great player. That's usually a recipe for success."
Colorado will return to action two weeks in The Maxwell in Ardmore, Okla., on April 16-17, the last tune-up ahead of the Pac-12 Championships in Salt Lake City at the end of the month.
NOTES: Thus was the 12th win by a Roy Edwards-coached Colorado team, as he is closing in on the 16 that the late Mark Simpson had during his tenure (1977-2005); Edwards is in his 10th year with the Buffs ... The Buffs actually shot one stroke lower here last year (842), but finished third, four out of the lead ... CU's 843 score was the seventh-best in a 54-hole tournament on a par-72 course, and the 11th-best gross total overall for courses of all pars ... The Buffaloes led all teams here in birdies (61) and in par-5 scoring (23-under by the five designated scorers); CU was third in par-4 scoring (+12) and fourth in par-3 scoring (+3) ... Colorado picked up 18 wins here against Division I competition, improving its season record to 105-41-1 (9-13 versus Pac-12 schools); any team that is not its conference champion must have a winning record to qualify for the NCAA postseason and CU has secured that qualification … Paul lowered his overall season average to a team-best 70.59 and his spring squad-best to 70.50; Kane Webber owns the school records in both, 71.46 and 71.30, respectively, which he set as a senior in 2003-04 ... CU added to its record for the most rounds in the 60s in a single season with seven here, raising the total to 37; and with four top 20 finishes here, the Buffs now have 27 this season, tied for third-most and just three shy of the top spot.
|
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
|
T1. |
69-68-68—205 |
|
|
T9. |
72-69-70—211 |
|
|
T13. |
75-66-72—213 |
|
|
T16. |
74-69-71—214 |
|
|
T72. |
76-74-75—225 |
|
|
T91. |
76-75-78—229 |
|
|
T91. |
85-69-75—229 |
|
|
109. |
84-75-84—243 |
|
*--played as an individual |
|
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
|
T1. |
Jeremy Paul, Colorado |
69-68-68—205 |
|
T1. |
Jake McCrory, SHS |
66-68-71—205 |
|
T1. |
Brandon Dauman, UCSB |
67-70-68—205 |
|
T1. |
Jordan Gumberg, Arizona |
68-70-67—205 |
|
T5. |
Ryan Wallen, Wyoming |
71-69-68—208 |
|
T5. |
Austin Morrison, William & Mary |
70-72-66—208 |
|
TEAM STANDINGS |
|
1. |
COLORADO |
290-272-281—843 |
|
2. |
Sam Houston State |
280-278-293—851 |
|
3. |
Wyoming |
276-286-290—852 |
|
4. |
William & Mary |
287-288-286—861 |
|
5. |
Western Kentucky |
286-285-291—862 |
|
5. |
UC Santa Barbara |
287-289-286—862 |
|
7. |
Utah State |
296-284-285—865 |
|
8. |
Wichita State |
291-289-289—869 |
|
9. |
Gonzaga |
286-295-289—870 |
|
10. |
Arizona |
291-286-294—871 |
|
11. |
Grand Canyon |
291-290-292—873 |
|
12. |
Idaho |
298-285-292—875 |
|
12. |
Air Force |
299-294-282—875 |
|
14. |
Weber State |
295-286-295—876 |
|
15. |
Utah |
286-291-302—879 |
|
16. |
Houston Baptist |
293-300-293—886 |
|
17. |
CSU-Northridge |
301-291-296—888 |
|
18. |
San Francisco |
296-294-299—889 |
|
18. |
Southern Utah |
298-293-298—889 |
