Colorado University Athletics
Friday, February 16
Palm Desert, CA
All Day
Colorado
vs
First Round
Senior John Souza's 2-under 70 led the Buffaloes to third place Friday.
Photo by: Tony Harman
Golfers Open In Third At Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate
February 16, 2018 | Men's Golf
Buffs Record Sixth Straight Team Round Under Par
PALM DESERT, Calif. — The University of Colorado men's golf team overcame some early struggles and settled into third place after Friday's first round of the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate.
California, ranked 15th in the nation, owns the lead with a 13-under 275 score, with No. 9 Texas Tech second at 4-under 284; Colorado, ranked No. 54, is the only other school to break par, coming in at a 1-under 287. No. 21 UCLA is fourth (1-over 289), with No. 26 Tennessee and UC-Riverside rounding out the top five with 2-over 290 scores.
Cal, Texas Tech and the Buffaloes are the only schools in the 23-team field to have three players in the top 26, but the Bears were able to build a hefty lead by having four accomplish it, three of whom shot in the 60s.
It was Colorado's fourth round under par in as many tries this spring, the sixth in a row dating back to the fall and 13th out of 16 rounds for the entire season. The school record for consecutive rounds under par is seven, set during the 2013-14 campaign, and the CU best for rounds of par or better for an entire year is 16, accomplished twice including last year.
The Buffaloes, starting on the back nine, were 3-over after the first three holes (6-over including the fifth designated scorer), but kept it close to par most of the day as several teams struggled, including four teams behind CU in the standings after 18 holes which are ranked in the nation's top 40.
Senior John Souza fired a 2-under 70 on the 7,322-yard, par-72 Classic Club course layout to lead the Buffaloes on Friday, as he stands tied for 17th individually. He had a solid second nine, shooting a 4-under 32 on the front nine after opening with a double on No. 11, his second hole and was 3-over at one point before birdying five of his last 10 holes. Those five birdies were a team-high Friday and also tied for the ninth-most in the field.
Senior Yannik Paul managed a 1-under 71, which has him in the top 25 (tied for 22nd), as he was steady with three birdies and 13 pars against a couple of bogeys. He was 2-under on the 10 par-4 holes, tied for eighth-best in the field.
Senior Spencer Painton had a steady round en route to fashioning an even-par 72, which has him tied for 26th. He scored two birdies and 14 pars against two bogeys and was never over par the entire round.
Sophomore Daniel O'Loughlin turned in a 2-over 74, tying him for 52nd. He bogeyed two of his first three holes (Nos. 11 and 12) but scored a birdie on No. 14 to get back to 1-over, and when he birdied No. 18, he was back to even. He started with a second straight birdie on the front side to get briefly into the red on the day, but then went bogey-double on his next two holes and was 3-over after a bogey on No. 7 before he closed the day with his fourth birdie.
Freshman Trevor Olkowski had a rough start but bounced back to shoot a 3-over 75; he scored a triple bogey 7 on his second hole of the day (No. 11) with a double and bogey on his last three in his first nine and stood at 5-over 41. He then settled down and had two birdies and seven pars on his second nine and is thus tied for 69th.
Southern Illinois' Peyton Wilhoit is the individual leader, as he birdied his first and last holes and four in-between for a 6-under 66; that's good for a one-shot lead over California's Sebastian Crampton, with six others two strokes back.
There are 20 players competing as individuals in the 135-man field, including the three Buffaloes.
Sophomore Victor Bjorlow recorded a 3-over 75, freshman Cole Krantz turned in a 4-over 76 with junior Wilson Belk firing a 10-over 82.
Bjorlow had a birdie and 14 pars, settling down after he opened with a double bogey, while Krantz also had 14 pars (with four bogeys); those 14 pars were fifth-most in the first round. Belk opened with four straight pars but a triple bogey on No. 14 started to sidetrack him. He shot 41 on both sides, but did end the day on a good note, scoring his lone birdie on No. 9.
TCU's Triston Fisher leads that group with a 4-under 68, as six bested par of the 20.
"We didn't get off to a very good start, so to shoot 1-under, we were very pleased with that," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "John especially did a very nice job after struggling early and had a nice comeback. Yannik and Spencer were in control of their games all day. Daniel had a couple of mistakes early on, otherwise he would have had a good day, and even though we didn't count his score, Trevor really hung in there.
California, ranked 15th in the nation, owns the lead with a 13-under 275 score, with No. 9 Texas Tech second at 4-under 284; Colorado, ranked No. 54, is the only other school to break par, coming in at a 1-under 287. No. 21 UCLA is fourth (1-over 289), with No. 26 Tennessee and UC-Riverside rounding out the top five with 2-over 290 scores.
Cal, Texas Tech and the Buffaloes are the only schools in the 23-team field to have three players in the top 26, but the Bears were able to build a hefty lead by having four accomplish it, three of whom shot in the 60s.
It was Colorado's fourth round under par in as many tries this spring, the sixth in a row dating back to the fall and 13th out of 16 rounds for the entire season. The school record for consecutive rounds under par is seven, set during the 2013-14 campaign, and the CU best for rounds of par or better for an entire year is 16, accomplished twice including last year.
The Buffaloes, starting on the back nine, were 3-over after the first three holes (6-over including the fifth designated scorer), but kept it close to par most of the day as several teams struggled, including four teams behind CU in the standings after 18 holes which are ranked in the nation's top 40.
Senior John Souza fired a 2-under 70 on the 7,322-yard, par-72 Classic Club course layout to lead the Buffaloes on Friday, as he stands tied for 17th individually. He had a solid second nine, shooting a 4-under 32 on the front nine after opening with a double on No. 11, his second hole and was 3-over at one point before birdying five of his last 10 holes. Those five birdies were a team-high Friday and also tied for the ninth-most in the field.
Senior Yannik Paul managed a 1-under 71, which has him in the top 25 (tied for 22nd), as he was steady with three birdies and 13 pars against a couple of bogeys. He was 2-under on the 10 par-4 holes, tied for eighth-best in the field.
Senior Spencer Painton had a steady round en route to fashioning an even-par 72, which has him tied for 26th. He scored two birdies and 14 pars against two bogeys and was never over par the entire round.
Sophomore Daniel O'Loughlin turned in a 2-over 74, tying him for 52nd. He bogeyed two of his first three holes (Nos. 11 and 12) but scored a birdie on No. 14 to get back to 1-over, and when he birdied No. 18, he was back to even. He started with a second straight birdie on the front side to get briefly into the red on the day, but then went bogey-double on his next two holes and was 3-over after a bogey on No. 7 before he closed the day with his fourth birdie.
Freshman Trevor Olkowski had a rough start but bounced back to shoot a 3-over 75; he scored a triple bogey 7 on his second hole of the day (No. 11) with a double and bogey on his last three in his first nine and stood at 5-over 41. He then settled down and had two birdies and seven pars on his second nine and is thus tied for 69th.
Southern Illinois' Peyton Wilhoit is the individual leader, as he birdied his first and last holes and four in-between for a 6-under 66; that's good for a one-shot lead over California's Sebastian Crampton, with six others two strokes back.
There are 20 players competing as individuals in the 135-man field, including the three Buffaloes.
Sophomore Victor Bjorlow recorded a 3-over 75, freshman Cole Krantz turned in a 4-over 76 with junior Wilson Belk firing a 10-over 82.
Bjorlow had a birdie and 14 pars, settling down after he opened with a double bogey, while Krantz also had 14 pars (with four bogeys); those 14 pars were fifth-most in the first round. Belk opened with four straight pars but a triple bogey on No. 14 started to sidetrack him. He shot 41 on both sides, but did end the day on a good note, scoring his lone birdie on No. 9.
TCU's Triston Fisher leads that group with a 4-under 68, as six bested par of the 20.
"We didn't get off to a very good start, so to shoot 1-under, we were very pleased with that," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "John especially did a very nice job after struggling early and had a nice comeback. Yannik and Spencer were in control of their games all day. Daniel had a couple of mistakes early on, otherwise he would have had a good day, and even though we didn't count his score, Trevor really hung in there.
"It's a hard golf course," Edwards noted. "The (school record) round we shot here last year, it had rained the day before so the course was soft. Today, the greens were firm and probably quicker than normal. But it's a good test of golf, and if you're off your game, you're not going to score well. However, if you're in control and manage things right, you're going to shoot a good score."
The second round is set for an 8:00 a.m. MST start on Saturday; Colorado will begin play off the No. 1 tee and will be paired in a near all-Pac-12 foursome with California, Texas Tech and UCLA. The third and final round will take place Sunday morning.
NOTES: The rounds took just under six hours to complete … As Edwards alluded to, this was the tournament last year that the Buffaloes set a school record, and NCAA season best, for a single round under par when CU scored a 22-under 266 in the second round … The average score for the 135-man field Friday was 74.64; there were just five eagles, and one of those was on a par-4 … Sixteen players shot scores in the 60s, while 25 bettered par and seven equaled it … Colorado's scorers recorded the fourth-most birdies (17) and the third-most pars (59) … The Buffs also played the par-5 holes fourth-best (6-under) and the par-4 holes third-best (6-over) … The Buff scorers were just 5-over par on the four toughest holes Friday (6, 7, 15, 16).
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
| T17. | John Souza | 32-38—70 |
| T22. | Yannik Paul | 35-36—71 |
| T26. | Spencer Painton | 37-35—72 |
| T52. | Daniel O'Loughlin | 38-36—74 |
| T69. | Trevor Olkowski | 34-41—75 |
| T69. | *Victor Bjorlow | 36-39—75 |
| T84. | *Cole Krantz | 38-38—76 |
| T132. | *Wilson Belk | 41-41—82 |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Peyton Wilhoit, Southern Illinois | 34-32—66 |
| 2. | Sebastian Crampton, California | 33-34—67 |
| T3. | Sandy Scott, Texas Tech | 34-34—68 |
| T3. | Colin Morikawa, California | 32-36—68 |
| T3. | Jamie Cheatham, California | 32-36—68 |
| T3. | Enrique Marin, Idaho | 34-34—68 |
TEAM STANDINGS
| 1. | California | 275 |
| 2. | Texas Tech | 284 |
| 3. | COLORADO | 287 |
| 4. | UCLA | 289 |
| 5. | UC Riverside | 290 |
| 5. | Tennessee | 290 |
| 7. | Texas-Arlington | 292 |
| 7. | Southern Illinois | 292 |
| 7. | Kansas | 292 |
| 10. | Old Dominion | 293 |
| 10. | TCU | 293 |
| 12. | Boise State | 294 |
| 13. | Arkansas-Little Rock | 295 |
| 13. | Loyola-Marymount | 295 |
| 15. | Wyoming | 297 |
| 15. | CSU-Fullerton | 297 |
| 17. | Nebraska | 299 |
| 17. | Idaho | 299 |
| 19. | Southern Utah | 300 |
| 20. | Denver | 304 |
| 21. | Wichita State | 306 |
| 22. | Stephen F. Austin | 309 |
| 23. | South Dakota State | 310 |
Players Mentioned
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