Golfers In The Hunt At K-State's Bighorn Invitational

Friday, March 23

Palm Desert, CA

All Day

Colorado

First Two Rounds

Yannik Paul opened the Bighorn Invitational with a career-best 65.

Golfers In The Hunt At K-State's Bighorn Invitational

March 23, 2018 | Men's Golf

Paul Shoots Day's Low Round, One Back In Third

By: David Plati, Associate AD/Sports Information

                PALM DESERT, Calif. — The University of Colorado men's golf team and three of its players are in the hunt for top honors here in the inaugural Kansas State Bighorn Invitational, as the Buffaloes are in fifth after Friday's two rounds.

                No. 15 Illinois owns the lead with a 20-under par 556 team score, but the top of the standings is jam-packed, with five teams within eight shots of the lead. No. 76 Mississippi State is second (560), No. 30 Brigham Young and No. 74 Notre Dame are tied for third (563) and the No. 47 Buffs are fifth (564).

                Colorado was fourth after the morning round with a 5-under 283, four back of Illinois, which actually got off to a slow start (1-over after three holes) before getting on a roll. The Buffaloes came back with a 7-under 281 the second time around the 7,000-yard, par-72 The Canyons course at Bighorn Golf Club, which offers an intriguing test of golf.

                While making par is always appreciated and usually dominates the scoring, just 58 percent of the holes yielded that score Friday (out of just under 2,400). The five Buffaloes here actually made 88 pars, but had 92 other scores – fortunately 46 were birdies along with three eagles.

                "It's the kind of golf course, where if you hit good shots, you're going to be rewarded and have a really good chance at making birdie," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "But if you hit it off line, you can be looking at a big number really quick."

                "This has to be the most perfectly manicured golf course I've even seen," Edwards added. "I told Pat (Grady, assistant coach) when we first arrived at the course it looked like we were driving into a painting. Everything's perfect in every way. The guys love it, it's a fun course. It's not easy, it's difficult course, but the guys know it's a real treat to play it."

                Three Buffaloes are within four shots of the lead as the individual standings are tightly packed as well.

                Leading the way is senior Yannik Paul, who shot his collegiate-best score in the morning, a 7-under par 65, which held up as the low score of the day. He had eight birdies, tied for the most in a single round by a Buff this season.   Starting on the 9th hole, he ended his first round with three straight birdies on Nos. 6, 7 and 8; he then birdied three of his first four holes to open play in the afternoon and had it at 10-under at that point. He then came back down to Earth a bit, shooting 5-over on his next 13 holes before rallying with a birdie to finish his day and stands tied for third at 6-under 138, one shot out of the lead.

                His 14 birdies are the most after 36 holes in the 66-man field. That already ties for the fourth-most in a tournament by a Buff this year, behind a high of 17 and a pair of 15-birdie efforts.

                Sophomore Daniel O'Loughlin turned in a 72-67—139 scorecard (5-under), tying him for seventh and is thus just two strokes out of the top spot. He opened with a solid effort (three birdies, 12 pars) and then matched Paul's birdie count for a single round with eight in round two; only a bogey and a double prevented him from posting a lower number. He started on No. 11 and had those blemishes early, as he wrapped up his day with five birds in his last nine holes.

                Senior Spencer Painton is tied for 14th after fashioning a 72-69—141 effort. He had an eagle, eight birdies and 20 pars overall, against seven bogeys as he was the only Buff to avoid a double or worse Friday. He opened his second 18 with three quick birdies and closed with two in his last five holes after having a stretch where he made three bogeys to keep him from going even lower.

                Senior John Souza carded a 74-75—149 which has him tied for 44th. He had eight birdies and 17 pars on the positive side, but nine bogeys and two doubles put him in black numbers for the day. Playing off the No. 10 tee to begin each round, he had 180-degree starts: he was 3-under after five holes in the first round, and then was 3-over after just two holes in round two.

                Sophomore Victor Bjorlow struggled in the morning with an 8-over 80; three bogeys, two doubles and the lone triple by a Buffs Friday ballooned his opening effort. But … after making a pair of bogeys early in the afternoon, he came back with two eagles and worked to an even-par 72, his 152 score having him tied for 56th.   The pair of eagles matched Souza's total in a round at Air Force last September for the team-best.

                "It was a good day, we did a lot of really good things, played a lot of good golf," Edwards said. "When we did struggle, we managed our games well, and that's the personality of this team. That's why we believe we can go out tomorrow and be in position to win the golf tournament, along with having three guys that can do the same thing from a medalist standpoint."

                "Victor's round was huge in the afternoon," Edwards added. "It's always more mentally challenging to come back right back from a tough round on the same day. You have to find it (your game) and regroup in the middle of things. You don't have overnight to gather yourself, and he did a great job of settling down and wound up scoring for the team."

Two players share the lead at 7-under 137, Illinois' Michael Feagles and Mississippi State's Taylor Bibbs (each put up a 70 and 67, just in reverse order). Paul is tied for third with three others, and of the 25 players under par through two rounds, 14 are within three shots of the lead.

The final round is set for Saturday, with the Buffaloes set to tee off at 9:09 a.m. MDT off the No. 1 tee. CU will be paired with Kansas and BYU. The Buffs will return to Boulder after the round and turn right around and travel to Palo Alto on Tuesday ahead of Stanford's "The Goodwin," slated for next Thursday through Saturday (March 29-31).

NOTES: CU's two subpar rounds as a team were the 17th and 18th this season, setting a school record for the rounds in a season of par or better; the old mark was 16, set in 2013-14 and again last year … All 18 have been under par, which has shattered the old mark of 14 done in '13-14 … The average score Friday was 72.95, a bit lower in the second round (72.83) than the first (73.08) … Colorado and Indiana share the lead in eagles with three apiece … Saturday is the first round of the Colorado Mines Writz Invitational at Bear Creek Golf Club in Denver; four Buffs will be participating as individuals: senior Kade Crossland, sophomore Ross Macdonald and freshmen Cole Krantz and Trevor Olkowski. The tournament is minus its defending champion – Bjorlow … CU's last medalists in a major 54-hole tournament came during the 2015-16 season, when senior Philip Juel-Berg won the Air Force Falcon Invitational in the fall and junior Jeremy Paul the Wyoming Cowboy Classis in the spring.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS

T3.	Yannik Paul	65-73—138
T7.	Daniel O'Loughlin	72-67—139
T14.	Spencer Painton	72-69—141
T44.	John Souza	74-75—149
T56.	Victor Bjorlow	80-72—152

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

T1.	Michael Feagles, Illinois	70-67—137
T1.	Taylor Bibbs, Mississippi State	67-70—137
T3.	Yannik Paul, Colorado	65-73—138
T3.	Ben Albin, Notre Dame	69-69—138
T3.	Dylan Meyer, Illinois	67-71—138
T3.	Bryan Baumgarten, Illinois	70-68—138

TEAM STANDINGS

1.	Illinois	279-277—556
2.	Mississippi State	279-281—560
3.	Notre Dame	281-282—563
3.	Brigham Young	284-279—563
5.	COLORADO	283-281—564
6.	Kansas	286-284—570
7.	San Diego State	294-283—577
8.	Indiana	291-291—582
8.	South Alabama	286-296—582
10.	Washington State	290-293—583
11.	Kansas State	292-292—584
12.	Nebraska	298-290—588