Colorado University Athletics
Tuesday, September 27
Erie, Colo.
All Day
Colorado
vs
Third Round
Hansen led CU with a fourth place showing in CU's own Simpson Invitational.
Buff Golfers Victorious In Own Simpson-CU Invitational
September 27, 2016 | Men's Golf
Freshman Hansen Leads Four Buffs In Top 20
ERIE — The University of Colorado men's golf team was pressed by their neighbors to the north here Tuesday but never dropped out of the top spot as the Buffaloes claimed the team title in their own 7th Annual Mark Simpson-CU Invitational.
The Buffaloes entered the final round with a five-shot advantage over Utah and a seven-stroke edge over Wyoming. While CU started out a little slow, the Cowboys came out guns a blazing and whittled the lead down to one on several occasions. But Colorado held off the charge and finished with a team score 20-under par 844, good for a one-shot win over the UW. Utah claimed third (853), followed by Campbell (856) and Northern Colorado (860) to round out the top five; UNC joined Wyoming in posting the day's best single-round team score of 8-under 280.
Colorado shot a 2-under 286 to be under par for all three rounds in the tournament, which the Buffaloes have now won or shared the title five times in seven years, including the last four times in succession.
Freshman Morten Toft Hansen paced the Buffaloes in tying for fourth place with a 7-under 209 score; he had entered the day with a one-shot lead but couldn't add to his first day birdie total of 10. He wrapped things with a 1-over 73, scoring par on his first 17 holes before bogeying No. 18. It was still quite a performance, as he had 41 pars to go with those 10 birdies and just three lone bogeys overall on CU's home course, the 7,745-yard, par-72 Colorado National Golf Club. He also led the 108-man field in par-4 scoring, playing the combined 30 par-4 holes at 6-under.
Senior Ethan Freeman tied for seventh, finishing up with an even-par 72 for a 6-under scorecard of 210. He led the Buffaloes in birdies in the meet with 13, sixth-most overall in the event. Junior Yannik Paul, CU's stroke average leader coming in (71.4), played to just a bit below that mark by closing with a 2-under 70 for a 4-under 212 total, which tied him for 13th. Both Paul (six bogeys) and Freeman (seven) also did not have any holes worse than a bogey, as Paul had 38 pars to go with 10 birdies.
Junior John Souza, playing for CU's Silver (or B) team), also recorded a top 20 finish, despite a final round 75; he was at 2-under 214 overall which tied him for 19th. He played the par-5 holes the second-best in the field for the tourney at 7-under.
Senior Jeremy Paul and junior Spencer Painton matched Freeman with final round 72s, with Paul tying for 36th overall at 1-opver 217 and Painton for 44th at 3-over 219 to round out CU's "first-team" contingent. Painton had 39 pars and six birdies (11 bogeys), while Paul was the only one of the five to have holes worse than a bogey, but just three of those (10 birdies, 37 pars). His 69-76-72 scorecard was still fairly remarkable since he returned from Cancun and the World Team Amateur Championships at 1:30 a.m. Monday morning; in short, he has played seven highly competitive rounds in as many days.
Of the other players competing on CU's Silver team, sophomore Wilson Belk moved up 11 spots into a tie for 36th, as he closed with a second straight 72 for a 1-over 217 total. He joined the four "A" teamers that did not score any worse than a bogey over the course of the tournament and matched Freeman's 13 birdies. Senior Ryan Schmitz (78-224) and freshman Victor Bjorlow (77—224) tied for 76th, and junior Kade Crossland (79-233) tied for 99th; he did have CU's lone eagle on the day.
"We're obviously excited to come out with the win, and fortunate as well to hold off Wyoming who had a really good round today," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "I thought our guys did a really nice job of keeping their composure and handling their games really well, despite not playing our best. Every win is special, it's not easy to win golf tournaments. We're going to cherish and treasure this one."
"Yannik was a fighting his whole round and had a big birdie on the last hole to close things out and finish with a 70," Edwards added. "Ethan had another really strong week. He was disappointed in his round today but he's been very consistent. Morten was disappointed in his putting today, but he's had a great first month as a collegian."
Despite Morten finishing fourth, his score Tuesday did not count toward CU's team total, a definite rarity, but Edwards not that it speaks to the team's depth.
"We have a deep team, and you never know who is going to step up. We needed everyone in it until the end to count toward our team score. It's definitely a huge strength of ours."
Northern Colorado freshman Coby Welch claimed medalist honors, the first frosh in the seven-year history of the meet to do so. The Valor Christian High School graduate (Highlands Ranch), shot the best score in the final round, a 6-under 66, to move up from eighth place to win with an 11-under score of 205. It tied three others for the second-lowest score in the tournament's history as he defeated Wyoming's Ryan Wallen (68-206) by one shot.
The Buffaloes will return to action in two weeks, remaining in the state to participate in Denver's Paintbrush Intercollegiate at Colorado Golf Club in Parker on October 10-11.
"We've had a busy month, so we'll take a few days to regroup. We have two really important tournaments to close out the fall season in the coming weeks that will feature some of the top teams in the nation. The first is down the road in Parker and then we'll close out the fall in a combination of stroke play and match play at the site of the Safeway Open (PGA Tour event)."
NOTES: This was the 12th major tournament win by CU under Edwards, the second-most in a coaches' reign at CU; the late Mark Simpson for whom this tournament is named won 16 … Wyoming joined CU in being under par for all three rounds, upping the total to six times that has occurred in the history of the tournament (three times by Colorado) … Seven different schools have produced the medalist in the meet: Colorado (twice, sharing honors one year with San Diego), Colorado State, Houston Baptist, UMC, San Jose State and now Northern Colorado … CU and Wyoming produced the third and fourth lowest team scores in the history of the event … Hansen tied CU's freshman record the low 18 hole score with his second round 65, previously set by two of his teammates (Freeman and Jeremy Paul during the '13-14 season) … Freshman Jack Li, who injured his wrist last week, made a go of it and shot an 81 in the first round but withdrew for the remainder of the tournament … The average score for the final round was 74.11, up from the previous two rounds (73.44, 73.30) due to the traditional more difficult course set-up.
The Buffaloes entered the final round with a five-shot advantage over Utah and a seven-stroke edge over Wyoming. While CU started out a little slow, the Cowboys came out guns a blazing and whittled the lead down to one on several occasions. But Colorado held off the charge and finished with a team score 20-under par 844, good for a one-shot win over the UW. Utah claimed third (853), followed by Campbell (856) and Northern Colorado (860) to round out the top five; UNC joined Wyoming in posting the day's best single-round team score of 8-under 280.
Colorado shot a 2-under 286 to be under par for all three rounds in the tournament, which the Buffaloes have now won or shared the title five times in seven years, including the last four times in succession.
Freshman Morten Toft Hansen paced the Buffaloes in tying for fourth place with a 7-under 209 score; he had entered the day with a one-shot lead but couldn't add to his first day birdie total of 10. He wrapped things with a 1-over 73, scoring par on his first 17 holes before bogeying No. 18. It was still quite a performance, as he had 41 pars to go with those 10 birdies and just three lone bogeys overall on CU's home course, the 7,745-yard, par-72 Colorado National Golf Club. He also led the 108-man field in par-4 scoring, playing the combined 30 par-4 holes at 6-under.
Senior Ethan Freeman tied for seventh, finishing up with an even-par 72 for a 6-under scorecard of 210. He led the Buffaloes in birdies in the meet with 13, sixth-most overall in the event. Junior Yannik Paul, CU's stroke average leader coming in (71.4), played to just a bit below that mark by closing with a 2-under 70 for a 4-under 212 total, which tied him for 13th. Both Paul (six bogeys) and Freeman (seven) also did not have any holes worse than a bogey, as Paul had 38 pars to go with 10 birdies.
Junior John Souza, playing for CU's Silver (or B) team), also recorded a top 20 finish, despite a final round 75; he was at 2-under 214 overall which tied him for 19th. He played the par-5 holes the second-best in the field for the tourney at 7-under.
Senior Jeremy Paul and junior Spencer Painton matched Freeman with final round 72s, with Paul tying for 36th overall at 1-opver 217 and Painton for 44th at 3-over 219 to round out CU's "first-team" contingent. Painton had 39 pars and six birdies (11 bogeys), while Paul was the only one of the five to have holes worse than a bogey, but just three of those (10 birdies, 37 pars). His 69-76-72 scorecard was still fairly remarkable since he returned from Cancun and the World Team Amateur Championships at 1:30 a.m. Monday morning; in short, he has played seven highly competitive rounds in as many days.
Of the other players competing on CU's Silver team, sophomore Wilson Belk moved up 11 spots into a tie for 36th, as he closed with a second straight 72 for a 1-over 217 total. He joined the four "A" teamers that did not score any worse than a bogey over the course of the tournament and matched Freeman's 13 birdies. Senior Ryan Schmitz (78-224) and freshman Victor Bjorlow (77—224) tied for 76th, and junior Kade Crossland (79-233) tied for 99th; he did have CU's lone eagle on the day.
"We're obviously excited to come out with the win, and fortunate as well to hold off Wyoming who had a really good round today," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "I thought our guys did a really nice job of keeping their composure and handling their games really well, despite not playing our best. Every win is special, it's not easy to win golf tournaments. We're going to cherish and treasure this one."
"Yannik was a fighting his whole round and had a big birdie on the last hole to close things out and finish with a 70," Edwards added. "Ethan had another really strong week. He was disappointed in his round today but he's been very consistent. Morten was disappointed in his putting today, but he's had a great first month as a collegian."
Despite Morten finishing fourth, his score Tuesday did not count toward CU's team total, a definite rarity, but Edwards not that it speaks to the team's depth.
"We have a deep team, and you never know who is going to step up. We needed everyone in it until the end to count toward our team score. It's definitely a huge strength of ours."
Northern Colorado freshman Coby Welch claimed medalist honors, the first frosh in the seven-year history of the meet to do so. The Valor Christian High School graduate (Highlands Ranch), shot the best score in the final round, a 6-under 66, to move up from eighth place to win with an 11-under score of 205. It tied three others for the second-lowest score in the tournament's history as he defeated Wyoming's Ryan Wallen (68-206) by one shot.
The Buffaloes will return to action in two weeks, remaining in the state to participate in Denver's Paintbrush Intercollegiate at Colorado Golf Club in Parker on October 10-11.
"We've had a busy month, so we'll take a few days to regroup. We have two really important tournaments to close out the fall season in the coming weeks that will feature some of the top teams in the nation. The first is down the road in Parker and then we'll close out the fall in a combination of stroke play and match play at the site of the Safeway Open (PGA Tour event)."
NOTES: This was the 12th major tournament win by CU under Edwards, the second-most in a coaches' reign at CU; the late Mark Simpson for whom this tournament is named won 16 … Wyoming joined CU in being under par for all three rounds, upping the total to six times that has occurred in the history of the tournament (three times by Colorado) … Seven different schools have produced the medalist in the meet: Colorado (twice, sharing honors one year with San Diego), Colorado State, Houston Baptist, UMC, San Jose State and now Northern Colorado … CU and Wyoming produced the third and fourth lowest team scores in the history of the event … Hansen tied CU's freshman record the low 18 hole score with his second round 65, previously set by two of his teammates (Freeman and Jeremy Paul during the '13-14 season) … Freshman Jack Li, who injured his wrist last week, made a go of it and shot an 81 in the first round but withdrew for the remainder of the tournament … The average score for the final round was 74.11, up from the previous two rounds (73.44, 73.30) due to the traditional more difficult course set-up.
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
T4. Morten Toft Hansen........................ 71-65-73—209
T7. Ethan Freeman................................. 69-69-72—210
T13. Yannik Paul....................................... 74-68-70—212
T19. b—John Souza................................ 70-69-75—214
T36. Jeremy Paul...................................... 69-76-72—217
T36. b—Wilson Belk................................. 73-72-72—217
T44. Spencer Painton.............................. 73-74-72—219
T76. b—Ryan Schmitz............................. 73-73-78—224
T76. b—Victor Bjorlow............................ 74-73-77—224
T99. b—Kade Crossland.......................... 71-83-79—233
108. *-Jack Li............................................ 81-WD
(b-competed on Colorado "B" team; *-competed as an individual)
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS
T7. Ethan Freeman................................. 69-69-72—210
T13. Yannik Paul....................................... 74-68-70—212
T19. b—John Souza................................ 70-69-75—214
T36. Jeremy Paul...................................... 69-76-72—217
T36. b—Wilson Belk................................. 73-72-72—217
T44. Spencer Painton.............................. 73-74-72—219
T76. b—Ryan Schmitz............................. 73-73-78—224
T76. b—Victor Bjorlow............................ 74-73-77—224
T99. b—Kade Crossland.......................... 71-83-79—233
108. *-Jack Li............................................ 81-WD
(b-competed on Colorado "B" team; *-competed as an individual)
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS
1. Coby Welch, Northern Colorado..... 70-69-66—205
2. Ryan Wallen, Wyoming.................... 73-65-68—206
3. Yannick Emmert, Wichita State....... 68-70-69—207
T4. Morten Toft Hansen, Colorado........ 71-65-73—209
T4. Sunwoo Choi, Air Force.................... 69-68-72—209
T4. Mitchell Schow, Utah........................ 72-69-68—209
T7. Ethan Freeman, Colorado................. 69-69-72—210
T7. Val Almendarez, Houston Baptist.... 70-67-73—210
T9. Kyler Dunkle, Utah............................. 67-73-71—211
T9. Tanner Jenson, Utah State............... 70-69-72—211
T9. Derek Bayley, Washington State...... 70-70-71—211
T9. Jesper Svensson, Campbell.............. 70-70-71—211
TEAM SCORES
1. COLORADO................... 282-276-286—8442. Ryan Wallen, Wyoming.................... 73-65-68—206
3. Yannick Emmert, Wichita State....... 68-70-69—207
T4. Morten Toft Hansen, Colorado........ 71-65-73—209
T4. Sunwoo Choi, Air Force.................... 69-68-72—209
T4. Mitchell Schow, Utah........................ 72-69-68—209
T7. Ethan Freeman, Colorado................. 69-69-72—210
T7. Val Almendarez, Houston Baptist.... 70-67-73—210
T9. Kyler Dunkle, Utah............................. 67-73-71—211
T9. Tanner Jenson, Utah State............... 70-69-72—211
T9. Derek Bayley, Washington State...... 70-70-71—211
T9. Jesper Svensson, Campbell.............. 70-70-71—211
TEAM SCORES
2. Wyoming................................ 280-285-280—845
3. Utah......................................... 277-286-290—853
4. Campbell................................. 283-282-291—856
5. Northern Colorado................ 295-285-280—860
6. Air Force................................. 291-285-285—861
7. Houston Baptist..................... 283-282-300—865
8. Washington State.................. 289-285-292—866
9. Texas-Arlington..................... 282-293-294—869
9. Utah State............................... 296-285-288—869
9. Utah Valley State................... 292-291-286—869
12. Seattle..................................... 292-290-288—870
12. Gonzaga.................................. 293-287-290—870
14. Wichita State.......................... 286-297-288—871
15. Weber State............................ 288-289-295—872
16. Boise State.............................. 292-282-299—873
(--. Colorado "B")............... 287-287-302—876)
17. Southern Utah....................... 297-289-297—883
18. Santa Clara............................. 291-301-297—889
Players Mentioned
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