Colorado University Athletics
Tuesday, September 26
Erie, CO
All Day
Colorado
vs
Third Round
Utah Rallies To Tie Buffaloes For Simpson-CU Invitational Honors
September 26, 2017 | Men's Golf
Senior Spencer Painton Takes Runner-Up Honors
ERIE — The University of Colorado men's golf team was caught by Pac-12 Conference rival Utah in the final round and the Buffaloes and Utes wound up sharing the title here Tuesday as the 8th Annual Mark Simpson-Colorado Invitational came to a close.
Ties are technically not broken in college golf, so this counts as a win for both teams; but the CU and Utah coaches held a playoff to see their players perform under the kind of pressure that could lie ahead down the road. The Utes won the playoff on the first extra hole.
The Buffaloes and Utes were tied through three rounds of play at 22-under par (842 team scores), after a see-saw morning had three different teams leading throughout. Wyoming was also atop the leaderboard but eventually settled for third with an 846 (18-under) score. UC-Riverside (858), Oregon State (860) and Air Force (861) rounded out the top six.
In the playoff, which took place on the 452-yard, par-4 18th hole at Colorado National Golf Club, the Utes had two players birdie and three others par, which the Buffs couldn't match, thus earning Utah its first win in six appearances in the Simpson, besting its top finish of third last year.
"There was certainly no shame in how we played or in tying Utah, but we're disappointed we didn't get the playoff win," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "The good about it was that we shot the second low round of the day. We played fine, we were just a little off, but we posted a good score because the guys competed very well and holes playing head-to-head with probably the best Utah team that they've had in a long time. Collectively we had just one bogey over the last 12 a good job of hanging in there.
"It certainly feels like a loss because we didn't win the playoff, but we wanted to have the players have that mindset and play under that kind of pressure that they would face at the NCAA's. Utah won the best four out of five in the playoff, they had two birdies and we had two bogeys."
Senior Spencer Painton finished as the tournament runner-up, carding a final round 3-under 69 that gave him a 12-under 204 total. In posting his best 54-hole score and subsequently his finish as a collegian, he was consistent across the board on CNGC's 7,745-yard, par-72 layout, tying for second in par-3 scoring (2-under), for fifth in par-5 scoring (5-under) and for sixth in par-4 scoring (5-under). He was third in the 107-man field with 17 birdies, and he didn't have a whole worse than bogey all tournament, finishing up with 32 pars and just five bogeys and shooting his single round college best – a 7-under 65 – in the opening round.
Painton also tied three others for the best 54-hole score in school history with his 204/12-under par performance. John Lindberg was the first to go that low in the 1989 BYU Cougar Classic; Pat Grady, CU's current assistant coach, matched that in the 2008 DU-Ron Moore Invitational; and most recently, Philip Juel-Berg did so in the 2015 Air Force Falcon-Gene Miranda Invitational. Those three were all tournament medalists, as Painton was upstaged on the final day by Utah's Kyler Dunkle, who tied the tournament record with a 64 to finish up with a 14-under 202 score.
"I was just making sure I played every shot one shot at a time, trying not to get ahead of myself and keeping the results out of it," Painton said. "The first priority was to go as low as I could for the team, and if I was lucky enough to get the individual honor, that would have been icing on the cake. Kyler was making putt after putt, so I was trying to go as low as I could to help the team as much as I could."
Painton estimated that he hit 42 or 43 greens over the two days, and had just one three-putt all tourney. But he didn't feel that one part of his game outshined the others.
"Everything was basically okay, my irons were especially good yesterday. I didn't feel that anything was really outstanding, but I scored really well with what I had. It does feel special to leave my name in a great program in my home state," he said of tying the school record."
"Spencer had a really good week, he's had a lot of really good rounds this year," Edwards added. "He's a team-first guy, and we're really excited with how he developed his game."
Sophomore Daniel O'Loughlin had his third straight solid performance after joining the team earlier this summer after transferring from McNeese State. He finished up with a 1-under 71 for a 5-under 211 total, tying for 12th overall. He managed the course well, scoring nine birdies and 41 pars, the latter tying for the team-high as well as for the fifth-most in the field, and had just four bogeys in the three rounds.
Sophomore Victor Bjorlow matched Painton with CU's low score in the final round, a 3-under 69 that propelled him a 4-under 212 and a tie for 14th, establishing three collegiate bests in the process: his best single round score, his best 54-hole score and his top finish in a major tournament. He had four birdies and 13 pars with a single bogey in the final round, and overall had an eagle, 10 birdies and 35 pars with just eight bogeys in finishing fifth in par-5 scoring (5-under).
Senior John Souza tied for 24th as he closed with an even-par 72 for a 1-under 215 count. He had 10 birdies and 36 pars for the tourney, as he was consistent on all the holes (1-over on the par-3s, even on the par-4s and 2-under on the par-5s).
Sophomore Ross Macdonald rounded out the main CU team (four other Buffs participated as a "B" team), and he couldn't get much going here but hung in as best he could, finishing with a 5-over 77 for a 16-over 232, tying him for 99th. Though he had no birdies, he scored 15 pars in the final round.
Leading the way of the "B" Buffaloes was true freshman Trevor Olkowski, who fashioned a 1-over 73 Tuesday for a3-under 213 score, as he cracked the top 20 with a tie for 18th. He was one of five Buffaloes here who did not record a score higher than bogey, as he had eight birdies, 41 pars and just five bogeys in the meet.
Painton, O'Loughlin, Souza and senior Kade Crossland joined Olkowski in not scoring anything higher than a bogey. Crossland tied for 78th after closing with a 3-over 75, which gave him a 9-over 225 total for three rounds.
CU's other true frosh, Cole Krantz, wrapped things up with a 5-over 77, as he closed at 5-over 221 to tie for 64th. He had just one hole higher than a bogey, and that came 44 holes into the tournament. Junior Wilson Belk finished up with a 6-over 78 and a 10-over 226 score, tying him for 82nd. He opened his final round with two birdies, but was undone in a four-hole span he played at 7-over on his second nine.
"Daniel had another nice tournament, he had a huge birdie on 18 to help force the playoff," Edwards said. "I'm really pleased with the development of Trevor. And it may not have been reflected in all the scores, but there were good things from everybody. I was especially impressed with Victor coming into the lineup 15 minutes before the tournament started on Monday and how he responded."
Dunkle tied the low score in the eight-year history of the Simpson, previously set by Colorado State's Kirby Pettitt in 2012; he also tied Pettitt and CU's David Oraee for the low single round score of 64, which he shot on Tuesday in a round that featured 10 birdies.
The Buffaloes will remain in the state for their next tournament, as they will participate in the second annual University of Denver Paintbrush Invitational at Colorado Golf Club in Parker on Oct. 9-10.
NOTES: This was the 13th major tournament win under Edwards, who is second only to the late Mark Simpson, who this tournament is named for, had his teams with 16 … The Buffaloes competed without one of their top players, senior Yannik Paul, who is sidelined with some back pain that has lingered for a couple of weeks … This was the third time there was a tie in the team standings, but the first time that there was a playoff; it's been dependent on the travel schedule of the teams who were tied. All three have involved Colorado; Washington State tied the Buffs in 2013, and Missouri-Kansas City did the same in 2015 … The average score for the field was 73.35 (for a total of 321 rounds); it was 73.57 for the third and final round … Utah won with an unorthodox breakdown, as the Utes led the field in par-4 (14-under) and par-5 (24-under) scoring, but were next-to-last on the par-3 holes (20-over); by contrast, CU was first in par-3 (1-over), fourth in par-4 (even) and fourth in par-5 (7-under) … A total of 24 players finished under par (with four others even), the third-most players under par in the history of the event.
(*—played as an individual.)
TEAM STANDINGS
#—won playoff on first extra hole.
Ties are technically not broken in college golf, so this counts as a win for both teams; but the CU and Utah coaches held a playoff to see their players perform under the kind of pressure that could lie ahead down the road. The Utes won the playoff on the first extra hole.
The Buffaloes and Utes were tied through three rounds of play at 22-under par (842 team scores), after a see-saw morning had three different teams leading throughout. Wyoming was also atop the leaderboard but eventually settled for third with an 846 (18-under) score. UC-Riverside (858), Oregon State (860) and Air Force (861) rounded out the top six.
In the playoff, which took place on the 452-yard, par-4 18th hole at Colorado National Golf Club, the Utes had two players birdie and three others par, which the Buffs couldn't match, thus earning Utah its first win in six appearances in the Simpson, besting its top finish of third last year.
"There was certainly no shame in how we played or in tying Utah, but we're disappointed we didn't get the playoff win," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "The good about it was that we shot the second low round of the day. We played fine, we were just a little off, but we posted a good score because the guys competed very well and holes playing head-to-head with probably the best Utah team that they've had in a long time. Collectively we had just one bogey over the last 12 a good job of hanging in there.
"It certainly feels like a loss because we didn't win the playoff, but we wanted to have the players have that mindset and play under that kind of pressure that they would face at the NCAA's. Utah won the best four out of five in the playoff, they had two birdies and we had two bogeys."
Senior Spencer Painton finished as the tournament runner-up, carding a final round 3-under 69 that gave him a 12-under 204 total. In posting his best 54-hole score and subsequently his finish as a collegian, he was consistent across the board on CNGC's 7,745-yard, par-72 layout, tying for second in par-3 scoring (2-under), for fifth in par-5 scoring (5-under) and for sixth in par-4 scoring (5-under). He was third in the 107-man field with 17 birdies, and he didn't have a whole worse than bogey all tournament, finishing up with 32 pars and just five bogeys and shooting his single round college best – a 7-under 65 – in the opening round.
Painton also tied three others for the best 54-hole score in school history with his 204/12-under par performance. John Lindberg was the first to go that low in the 1989 BYU Cougar Classic; Pat Grady, CU's current assistant coach, matched that in the 2008 DU-Ron Moore Invitational; and most recently, Philip Juel-Berg did so in the 2015 Air Force Falcon-Gene Miranda Invitational. Those three were all tournament medalists, as Painton was upstaged on the final day by Utah's Kyler Dunkle, who tied the tournament record with a 64 to finish up with a 14-under 202 score.
"I was just making sure I played every shot one shot at a time, trying not to get ahead of myself and keeping the results out of it," Painton said. "The first priority was to go as low as I could for the team, and if I was lucky enough to get the individual honor, that would have been icing on the cake. Kyler was making putt after putt, so I was trying to go as low as I could to help the team as much as I could."
Painton estimated that he hit 42 or 43 greens over the two days, and had just one three-putt all tourney. But he didn't feel that one part of his game outshined the others.
"Everything was basically okay, my irons were especially good yesterday. I didn't feel that anything was really outstanding, but I scored really well with what I had. It does feel special to leave my name in a great program in my home state," he said of tying the school record."
"Spencer had a really good week, he's had a lot of really good rounds this year," Edwards added. "He's a team-first guy, and we're really excited with how he developed his game."
Sophomore Daniel O'Loughlin had his third straight solid performance after joining the team earlier this summer after transferring from McNeese State. He finished up with a 1-under 71 for a 5-under 211 total, tying for 12th overall. He managed the course well, scoring nine birdies and 41 pars, the latter tying for the team-high as well as for the fifth-most in the field, and had just four bogeys in the three rounds.
Sophomore Victor Bjorlow matched Painton with CU's low score in the final round, a 3-under 69 that propelled him a 4-under 212 and a tie for 14th, establishing three collegiate bests in the process: his best single round score, his best 54-hole score and his top finish in a major tournament. He had four birdies and 13 pars with a single bogey in the final round, and overall had an eagle, 10 birdies and 35 pars with just eight bogeys in finishing fifth in par-5 scoring (5-under).
Senior John Souza tied for 24th as he closed with an even-par 72 for a 1-under 215 count. He had 10 birdies and 36 pars for the tourney, as he was consistent on all the holes (1-over on the par-3s, even on the par-4s and 2-under on the par-5s).
Sophomore Ross Macdonald rounded out the main CU team (four other Buffs participated as a "B" team), and he couldn't get much going here but hung in as best he could, finishing with a 5-over 77 for a 16-over 232, tying him for 99th. Though he had no birdies, he scored 15 pars in the final round.
Leading the way of the "B" Buffaloes was true freshman Trevor Olkowski, who fashioned a 1-over 73 Tuesday for a3-under 213 score, as he cracked the top 20 with a tie for 18th. He was one of five Buffaloes here who did not record a score higher than bogey, as he had eight birdies, 41 pars and just five bogeys in the meet.
Painton, O'Loughlin, Souza and senior Kade Crossland joined Olkowski in not scoring anything higher than a bogey. Crossland tied for 78th after closing with a 3-over 75, which gave him a 9-over 225 total for three rounds.
CU's other true frosh, Cole Krantz, wrapped things up with a 5-over 77, as he closed at 5-over 221 to tie for 64th. He had just one hole higher than a bogey, and that came 44 holes into the tournament. Junior Wilson Belk finished up with a 6-over 78 and a 10-over 226 score, tying him for 82nd. He opened his final round with two birdies, but was undone in a four-hole span he played at 7-over on his second nine.
Dunkle tied the low score in the eight-year history of the Simpson, previously set by Colorado State's Kirby Pettitt in 2012; he also tied Pettitt and CU's David Oraee for the low single round score of 64, which he shot on Tuesday in a round that featured 10 birdies.
The Buffaloes will remain in the state for their next tournament, as they will participate in the second annual University of Denver Paintbrush Invitational at Colorado Golf Club in Parker on Oct. 9-10.
NOTES: This was the 13th major tournament win under Edwards, who is second only to the late Mark Simpson, who this tournament is named for, had his teams with 16 … The Buffaloes competed without one of their top players, senior Yannik Paul, who is sidelined with some back pain that has lingered for a couple of weeks … This was the third time there was a tie in the team standings, but the first time that there was a playoff; it's been dependent on the travel schedule of the teams who were tied. All three have involved Colorado; Washington State tied the Buffs in 2013, and Missouri-Kansas City did the same in 2015 … The average score for the field was 73.35 (for a total of 321 rounds); it was 73.57 for the third and final round … Utah won with an unorthodox breakdown, as the Utes led the field in par-4 (14-under) and par-5 (24-under) scoring, but were next-to-last on the par-3 holes (20-over); by contrast, CU was first in par-3 (1-over), fourth in par-4 (even) and fourth in par-5 (7-under) … A total of 24 players finished under par (with four others even), the third-most players under par in the history of the event.
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
| 2. | Spencer Painton | 65-70-69—204 |
| T12. | Daniel O'Loughlin | 68-72-71—211 |
| T14. | Victor Bjorlow | 70-73-69—212 |
| T18. | *Trevor Olkowski | 68-72-73—213 |
| T24. | John Souza | 72-71-72—215 |
| T64. | *Cole Krantz | 73-71-77—221 |
| T78. | *Kade Crossland | 77-73-75—225 |
| T82. | *Wilson Belk | 77-71-78—226 |
| T99. | Ross Macdonald | 77-78-77—232 |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Kyler Dunkle, Utah | 70-68-64—202 |
| 2. | Spencer Painton, Colorado | 65-70-69—204 |
| 3. | Tyler Moore, UC-Riverside | 70-68-67—205 |
| 4. | Bryant Falconello, Air Force | 69-68-70—207 |
| T5. | Felix Mory, CSU-Northridge | 66-72-71—209 |
| T5. | John Murdock, Wyoming | 70-71-67—209 |
| T5. | Blair Bursey, Utah Valley | 68-74-67—209 |
| T5. | Joseph Crisostomo, Air Force | 71-68-70—209 |
| T9. | Braxton Miller, Utah State | 70-69-71—210 |
| T9. | Spencer Tibbits, Oregon State | 68-72-70—210 |
| T9. | Quintin Pope, Wyoming | 69-70-71—210 |
TEAM STANDINGS
| 1. | #Utah | 283-282-277—842 |
| 1. | COLORADO | 275-286-281—842 |
| 3. | Wyoming | 283-280-283—846 |
| 4. | UC-Riverside | 289-287-282—858 |
| 5. | Oregon State | 285-285-289—860 |
| 6. | Air Force | 283-288-291—861 |
| 7. | Utah State | 289-291-283—863 |
| 8. | Arkansas-Little Rock | 290-286-288—864 |
| 9. | Northern Colorado | 288-289-289—866 |
| T10. | Seattle | 299-283-285—867 |
| T10. | Utah Valley | 286-299-282—867 |
| T10. | Loyola-Marymount | 292-288-287—867 |
| 13. | Southern Utah | 290-292-288—870 |
| 14. | Houston Baptist | 291-293-287—871 |
| 15. | Idaho | 289-295-292—876 |
| 16. | Weber State | 297-296-287—880 |
| 17. | UT-Rio Grande Valley | 291-293-300—884 |
| 18. | CSU-Northridge | 288-294-305—887 |
| 18. | Wofford | 294-287-306—887 |
Players Mentioned
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