Colorado University Athletics
Golfers Finish In Eighth Place Tie At NCAA Southeast Regional
May 18, 2016 | Men's Golf
The men's golf team turned in its best performance Wednesday, but couldn't make up any ground in finishing in a tie for eighth place in the NCAA Southeast Regional.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Colorado men's golf team turned in its best performance here this week on Wednesday, but couldn't make up any ground in finishing in a tie for eighth place in the NCAA Southeast/Tuscaloosa Regional.
The Buffaloes registered an even-par 288 score to finish with a 26-over 890 total. CU basically remained in eighth place most of the day, though did move into seventh briefly. But for Colorado to advance to the NCAA Championship Finals, it needed to make up 18 strokes on fifth place as only the top five teams advanced, and that proved next to impossible since the team in that spot – No. 8 Auburn – was practically playing at home.
There was no change among the top five teams other than two switching positions in the final round, all thus advancing to the finals next week in Eugene, Ore. No. 5 Georgia led from wire-to-wire in finishing with a 16-under par 848 team score, with No.17 South Carolina finishing second, where it also was after the first two rounds, as the Gamecocks came in at 12-under 852. Host and No. 19 Alabama moved up a notch into third (857, -9), swapping places Wednesday with No. 32 Kentucky which dropped into fourth (858, -6). Auburn had no problem holding onto the fifth and final qualifying spot, finishing at 3-over 867 but outdistancing sixth place UNLV by eight strokes.
Junior Jeremy Paul led the Buffaloes here, tying for 21st after fashioning a 2-over 74 to wrap a tournament that started with a lot of promise. After opening with a 68 on the 7,512-yard, par-72 Ol' Colony Golf Course layout and being tied for the lead, a second round 77 sidetracked his effort here to qualify as an individual if CU could not advance as a team. He was 1-under after birdying No. 11, his second hole, but he managed just one other birdie the rest of the way along with 12 pars and four bogeys. He scored a team-best 35 pars this week, along with seven birdies and CU's lone eagle.
Paul, who set the CU single-season record for stroke average (70.6), saw his school record streak of 54 consecutive rounds counting toward team scoring come to an end; it was just the fifth out of 110 career rounds that did not count.
Junior Ethan Freeman wrapped things up with a 1-over 73 for a 6-over 222 total, which tied him for 34th. After opening with four pars, he had a double bogey and a bogey before playing the remainder of his round at 2-under. With four birdies on the round, he led Colorado with 12 in all, which were also the 10th-most in the field of 75 in the regional.
Senior Philip Juel-Berg ended his stellar CU career with an even-par 72, which placed him in a tie for 46th with a 10-over 226 score. He had a team-high five birdies Wednesday, and would have had a score in the 60s had it not been for a pair of double bogeys that he scored to end each nine. Otherwise, he had 10 pars and a bogey in playing in his 51st tournament as a Buffalo – all the major events CU scheduled during his career.
Sophomore John Souza turned in his best round here, as he finished up with a 1-over 73 for a 12-over 228, as he finished 53rd. He bogeyed his first four holes to start his day, but then birdied three of his next seven before closing with seven straight pars.
Freshman Wilson Belk closed with a 2-under 70, CU's best score of the day, which enabled him to move up 15 spots into a tie for 56th with a 16-over 232 total; as the player who made the biggest jump on the final day, he had four birdies and 12 pars against just two bogeys. The 70 matched the second-best round shot any of the 13 freshmen competing here this week. He was 2-over through five but played his last 13 holes at 4-under, including a birdie to close out the tournament, as he finished 11th among the freshmen overall.
"It was a good final round, all five guys were in it all day which is important to score well," said CU head coach Roy Edwards. "Wilson finishing out with a 70 was really strong. The course was set up a little bit easier, so the scores were a little lower for the most part, but we still played our best round of the three. We made fewer big numbers and that was obviously a big factor here, along with maybe being a little bit more familiar with the course. But we simply just played better. Yesterday (second round) we were off our game, but today we came back and played a solid round. I was proud with how they responded."
Georgia's Greyson Sigg claimed medalist honors with a 9-under 207, as he had shared the lead after each of the first two rounds. He edged South Carolina's Matthew NeSmith by a stroke, with William Rainey of the College of Charleston in third, two shots back; all three players shot 68s on Wednesday. Rainey advanced to the NCAA Finals as the top individual who was not on one of the five schools that qualified.
"All in all, the positive is we ended the season on a good note and we played above our seed line (11th), which was good as well and we beat a couple of good teams," Edwards added. "On the season overall, it was another good year and I'm appreciative of the guys for their efforts and all they put into the year. I expect we'll pick up some individual honors that will be announced in the next month as well for Philip and Jeremy, and that will be some good recognition for them."
NOTES: The par-72 was a fitting final career round for Philip Juel-Berg, as it was the 26th of his career, adding to his own school record. His final career stroke average of 73.37 is the second best in CU history as well, and he wrapped his career with 64 rounds of par or better, also a CU record. As previously stated, he was just the sixth Buffalo to play in four NCAA Championships … Jeremy Paul finished his junior season at CU by setting numerous records, most notably season marks for stroke average (70.66), rounds in the 60s (18) and subpar rounds (21); he bettered the average mark by nearly a stroke, shattering the 71.46 mark set by Kane Webber in 2003-04. He'll enter his senior year with a chance to rewrite many career records … He has led the team in stroke average all three years he has been a Buff, the first to do so since Knut Ekjord did from 1995-97 … Wilson Belk had a 1-under 70 in the final round of the Pac-12 Championships, which tied for CU's best score that day as well (with Ethan Freeman) … The Buffs finished with a team stroke average of 73.50, a new school best that just edged the previous mark of 73.51, which was set last year … Colorado played the par-3's at a collective 16-over par, the par-4's at 33-over and the par-5's at 2-under, eighth, eighth and seventh, respectively, in the field … The average score in the field for tournament was 74.6, which included a tournament low 73.1 for the final round (after 75.8 for the first round and 74.9 for the second) … There were eight Pac-12 schools competing in regionals; five advanced to the finals: Stanford won the Tucson regional, where Oregon finished second and Cal fourth; Arizona State won the Albuquerque regional with USC taking third. Washington finished sixth in Nashville and UCLA 10th in Wisconsin … Colorado will look forward to hosting the 2017 Pac-12 Championships next April at Boulder Country Club.
|
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
|
T21. |
68-77-74—219 |
|
|
T34. |
75-74-73—222 |
|
|
T46. |
74-80-72—226 |
|
|
53. |
80-75-73—228 |
|
|
T56. |
79-83-70—232 |
|
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
|
1. |
Greyson Sigg, Georgia |
68-71-68—207 |
|
2. |
Matthew NeSmith, S. Carolina |
70-70-68—208 |
|
3. |
William Rainey, Charleston |
70-71-68—209 |
|
T4. |
Davis Riley, Alabama |
74-67-69—210 |
|
T4. |
Tyler McDaniel, Kentucky |
72-67-71—210 |
|
TEAM STANDINGS |
|
1. |
Georgia |
284-282-282—848 |
|
2. |
South Carolina |
287-282-283—852 |
|
3. |
Alabama |
292-284-281—857 |
|
4. |
Kentucky |
288-287-283—858 |
|
5. |
Auburn |
294-290-283—867 |
|
---- |
Did Not Make Cut For Finals |
-------------------------- |
|
6. |
UNLV |
290-303-282—875 |
|
7. |
Charleston |
298-295-294—887 |
|
8. |
COLORADO |
296-306-288—890 |
|
8. |
Lipscomb |
302-300-288—890 |
|
10. |
Kansas |
308-301-305—914 |
|
11. |
Charleston Southern |
315-310-291—916 |
|
12. |
Harvard |
323-298-301—922 |
|
13. |
Southern Illinois |
314-308-301—923 |
