Colorado University Athletics
Tuesday, May 16
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Ethan Freeman Turned In a 76 in the NCAA Regional Second Round Tuesday.
Photo by: Cliff Grassmick
Golfers Continue To Struggle At NCAA Central Regional
May 16, 2017 | Men's Golf
Colorado Falls To 13th; 33 shots Back of Last Qualifying Spot
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The University of Colorado men's golf team continued to struggle here Tuesday, as the hope going in was for a good second round effort that would bring the Buffaloes back into contention in the NCAA Central/Purdue Regional.
However, Colorado, ranked No. 32 in the nation (GolfStat; No. 26 Golfweek), didn't get the start it desired and eventually slipped two notches into last (13th) place. The Buffs' four scorers were 20-over for the round and stand at 36-over 612, some 33 strokes out of the final qualifying spot for the NCAA Championship Finals.
No. 44 New Mexico took over the team lead with a 6-under 570 score, as the Lobos turned in the best single round of the tournament with a 6-under 282 Tuesday. Its Mountain West colleague, No. 17 Nevada-Las Vegas, dropped from first to second and is three back at 3-under 573. No. 5 Florida, the regional's top seed, along with No. 20 Auburn and No. 38 Purdue are all tied for third at 3-over 579; the same trio was tied for fifth entering the second round.
The top five teams and top individual who is not a member of those squads will advance to the NCAA Championship Finals, scheduled for May 26-31 in Sugar Grove, Ill.
Senior Ethan Freeman and junior Yannik Paul have posted CU's lowest scores here, as both are in with 9-over 153s through 36 holes, tying the pair for 53rd; Freeman recorded one of the Buffs' two best second round scores with a 76, while Paul fashioned a 78.
Freeman shot 38 on each side, and was 1-over through eight, before a rough patch – bogey, par, double – sent him to 4-over before finishing out even down the stretch. Paul was even through seven and just 1-over after 11 holes, but bogeyed five of his last seven holes; he had two birdies and eight pars with eight bogeys for his round.
Junior Spencer Painton also fired a 4-over 76 for a 10-over 154 score, which has him tied for 58th. He had a team-best three birdies with nine pars against five bogeys and a double for his round Tuesday.
Freshman Victor Bjorlow recorded a 6-over par 78 for an 11-over 155 total, which has him tied for 63rd (and 10th out of the 12 freshmen competing here). He turned at 5-over after suffering a triple bogey on No. 18, but came back to play his last nine at only 1-over.
Junior John Souza rounded out the CU contingent, scoring an 85 for a 16-over 160 total, which has him 75th in the standings. He was 4-over through eight but back-to-back triple bogeys on Nos. 18 and 1 really hurt and were uncharacteristic for him, as he had just three triples in 576 holes on the season entering the day.
"There's not much I can really say, it was just another poor day," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "Everybody's obviously disappointed, but it certainly isn't due to a lack of effort. Everyone goes through peaks and valleys when they play, and we have had some good moments here and there, but we overall haven't played that well the last few weeks. You just have to fight through it and try to keep getting better. It just hit us at the worst time of the season."
Illinois State's Trent Wallace, participating here as an individual, took over the individual lead after firing a 2-under 70 Tuesday for a 6-under 138 total. He leads two players but a single stroke.
The third and final round is scheduled for Wednesday morning; Colorado will start on the No. 10 tee at 7:20 a.m. MDT and be paired with the 10 individuals competing. The winds are expected to pick up dramatically and gust up to 35 miles per hour.
"We have to look at (Wednesday) as a great opportunity for us," Edwards said. "There's a lot of pride on this team so we want to come out and compete and try to end the season on a little bit of a better note than what we feel right now."
NOTES: The Buffs do own the second largest comeback in regional history: in 1999, CU made up nine strokes in leaping from 18th place into a tie for 10th and then defeating Kent State on the first playoff hole to advance to the NCAA Finals; Arkansas still owns the biggest comeback, jumping from 20th into 10th in 1990; both occurred when there were three regionals instead of the current six … The average score for the 75-man field Tuesday was 74.57, down about a quarter of a stroke from Monday; for 150 rounds, it stands at 74.69 … CU's worst regional finish was 21st (out of 27) in 2006 in a rain-drenched affair in Chadron, Ohio; the Buffs haven't finished last in a tournament in four years (15th; the Prestige at PGA West) and have done so just three times in 137 tournaments under Edwards … Colorado entered as the No. 6 seed in the 13-team field, and as a team, Colorado has played the par-3s fourth-best through two rounds (+9); the Buffs have scored 106 pars (ninth), but have just 15 birdies tor rank last (UNM leads with 38).However, Colorado, ranked No. 32 in the nation (GolfStat; No. 26 Golfweek), didn't get the start it desired and eventually slipped two notches into last (13th) place. The Buffs' four scorers were 20-over for the round and stand at 36-over 612, some 33 strokes out of the final qualifying spot for the NCAA Championship Finals.
No. 44 New Mexico took over the team lead with a 6-under 570 score, as the Lobos turned in the best single round of the tournament with a 6-under 282 Tuesday. Its Mountain West colleague, No. 17 Nevada-Las Vegas, dropped from first to second and is three back at 3-under 573. No. 5 Florida, the regional's top seed, along with No. 20 Auburn and No. 38 Purdue are all tied for third at 3-over 579; the same trio was tied for fifth entering the second round.
The top five teams and top individual who is not a member of those squads will advance to the NCAA Championship Finals, scheduled for May 26-31 in Sugar Grove, Ill.
Senior Ethan Freeman and junior Yannik Paul have posted CU's lowest scores here, as both are in with 9-over 153s through 36 holes, tying the pair for 53rd; Freeman recorded one of the Buffs' two best second round scores with a 76, while Paul fashioned a 78.
Freeman shot 38 on each side, and was 1-over through eight, before a rough patch – bogey, par, double – sent him to 4-over before finishing out even down the stretch. Paul was even through seven and just 1-over after 11 holes, but bogeyed five of his last seven holes; he had two birdies and eight pars with eight bogeys for his round.
Junior Spencer Painton also fired a 4-over 76 for a 10-over 154 score, which has him tied for 58th. He had a team-best three birdies with nine pars against five bogeys and a double for his round Tuesday.
Freshman Victor Bjorlow recorded a 6-over par 78 for an 11-over 155 total, which has him tied for 63rd (and 10th out of the 12 freshmen competing here). He turned at 5-over after suffering a triple bogey on No. 18, but came back to play his last nine at only 1-over.
Junior John Souza rounded out the CU contingent, scoring an 85 for a 16-over 160 total, which has him 75th in the standings. He was 4-over through eight but back-to-back triple bogeys on Nos. 18 and 1 really hurt and were uncharacteristic for him, as he had just three triples in 576 holes on the season entering the day.
"There's not much I can really say, it was just another poor day," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "Everybody's obviously disappointed, but it certainly isn't due to a lack of effort. Everyone goes through peaks and valleys when they play, and we have had some good moments here and there, but we overall haven't played that well the last few weeks. You just have to fight through it and try to keep getting better. It just hit us at the worst time of the season."
Illinois State's Trent Wallace, participating here as an individual, took over the individual lead after firing a 2-under 70 Tuesday for a 6-under 138 total. He leads two players but a single stroke.
The third and final round is scheduled for Wednesday morning; Colorado will start on the No. 10 tee at 7:20 a.m. MDT and be paired with the 10 individuals competing. The winds are expected to pick up dramatically and gust up to 35 miles per hour.
"We have to look at (Wednesday) as a great opportunity for us," Edwards said. "There's a lot of pride on this team so we want to come out and compete and try to end the season on a little bit of a better note than what we feel right now."
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
| T53. | Ethan Freeman | 77-76—153 |
| T53. | Yannik Paul | 75-78—153 |
| T58. | Spencer Painton | 78-76—154 |
| T63. | Victor Bjorlow | 77-78—155 |
| 75. | John Souza | 75-85—160 |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Trent Wallace, Illinois State | 68-70—138 |
| T2. | Shintaro Ban, UNLV | 70-69—139 |
| T2. | Andrej Bevins, New Mexico | 71-68—139 |
| T4. | Andre Garcia, New Mexico | 71-69—140 |
| T4. | John Oda, UNLV | 67-73—140 |
TEAM STANDINGS
| 1. | New Mexico | 288-282—570 |
| 2. | UNLV | 287-286—573 |
| T3. | Purdue | 292-287—579 |
| T3. | Florida | 292-287—579 |
| T3. | Auburn | 292-287—579 |
| 6. | Illinois | 288-296—584 |
| 7. | Augusta | 296-290—586 |
| 8. | St. Mary's | 294-296—590 |
| 9. | South Carolina | 291-302—593 |
| 10. | Richmond | 297-306—603 |
| 11. | Campbell | 306-300—606 |
| 12. | Cleveland State | 310-299—609 |
| 13. | COLORADO | 304-308—612 |
Players Mentioned
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