Sunday, April 15
Tempe, AZ
All Day
Colorado
vs
Third Round
Yannik Paul, third from right, with the ASU Thunderbird medalist trophy
Paul Earns Co-Medalist Honors In ASU Thunderbird Invitational
April 16, 2018 | Men's Golf
Buffs Finish Ninth As A Team
TEMPE, Ariz. — CU senior Yannik Paul won his first major tournament and in the process helped the University of Colorado men's golf team move up three notches into a ninth place finish as the Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational came to a close here Sunday.
Paul and UNLV's Shintaro Ban earned co-medalist honors, as they could not break their deadlock after two rounds; each finished with a 2-under 69 in the final round to post 11-under 202 scores for 54 holes.
Paul started some 66 minutes ahead of Ban in Sunday's pairings and finished up as the leader in the clubhouse though tied with Ban, who still had four holes to play. Ban caught him with an eagle on No. 14 (a par-5), but fell one stroke back after he bogeyed No. 15. He then tied Paul with a birdie on No. 17, another par-5. Paul had birdied No. 8 to break a tie at the time, as the two dueled throughout the day, never being more than two strokes apart on the 7,032-yard, par-71 Karsten Golf Course design.
The 202 score was the best in CU history for a 54-hole tournament on a par-71 course, and the second-best on any layout. It was also the sixth time in school history a player scored three rounds in the 60s in a tournament. Paul had one previous win, but it came in the 36-hole Ballyneal Challenge his junior year, a local event that had just three teams competing.
"What a win for Yannik. He has been playing very well all spring and it all came together for him this week," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "This was an elite field in golf and was a huge win. He has been a great player and teammate and this is very well-deserved. I have been especially impressed with his patience all year, his game has flourished and even better golf is ahead of him. He has joined an illustrious group of champions of the Thunderbird including Buff legend Steve Jones."
Host and No. 25 Arizona State, co-leaders after two rounds, won its own meet after closing with a 4-under 280 score for an overall 22-under 830 total. That was good enough to edge No. 3 Oklahoma by a single shot (831), with No. 27 UNLV, which entered the day tied with the Sun Devils, taking third, three back at 833. Unanimous No. 1 Oklahoma State was fourth (835); the Cowboys amazing streak of seven straight tournament wins came to end, six of which took place this spring. No. 32 Arizona rounded out the top five (838).
The No. 43 Buffaloes recorded their best team round for the final 18, a 1-over 285; that enabled CU to jump from 12th into ninth place after finishing with an 11-over 863 total.
Colorado started on No. 10 all three rounds, and was 3-under as a team through nine (after starting 2-over in round one and 5-under in the second). But as was the case with the front side being the tougher nine, the Buffs came back down to Earth a bit and finished the third and final round with a 1-over 285 score.
Paul was CU's first medalist in a major 54-hole event since the spring of 2016 (again, older twin Jeremy had that distinction, winning the Wyoming Cowboy Classic almost two years ago to the day). He did so with 17 birdies, tied for the most in the 85-man field, along with 31 pars; otherwise, he had just six bogeys. He was at or near the top in scoring on all hole configurations: even on the par-3s (tied for first), 7-under on the par-5s (tied for fifth) and 4-under on the par-4s (tied for eighth).
"I'm really happy with my first big win," Paul said. "I was really close the last couple of tournaments, so I was hopeful that it could happen soon. I made some putts, but did leave a couple out there. The biggest thing for me was that there was always one spot on every hole where you cannot hit it or place it where getting it up and down would have been near impossible. I just played it really smart and fortunately, hit it in the right spots and got some good up-and-downs when I needed them."
Senior John Souza and sophomore Daniel O'Loughlin tied for 52nd with 7-over par 220 scores; Souza wrapped things with a 1-over 72 and O'Loughlin a 2-over 73. O'Loughlin, who finished his final round with two straight birdies, tied for the fourth-most pars on the weekend with 37, while Souza's 35 tied for 15th.
Senior Spencer Painton rallied from a second round 78 to shoot an even-par 71 Sunday, giving him an 11-over 224, which placed him a tie for 64th. He had four birdies and 10 pars against four bogeys to close out, as he matched his third-best improvement from one round to the next – seven shots – as a Buffalo.
Freshman Trevor Olkowski rounded out the Buffaloes competing in Tempe, as he closed with a 6-over 77 that dropped him into a tie for 72nd with a 14-over 227 score. He had three birdies and eight pars on his last loop around Karsten, with five bogeys and two doubles. He opened his day with one of his birdies, and closed it with his last one with just three holes remaining.
"It was a much better final round," Edwards noted. "We got off to a good start and were struggling a bit through the middle of the round. I was proud of how the guys really competed all the way to the end. That has been the personality of our team all year and it is a big strength of ours. We need to keep working on our short games in preparation for L.A. at the end of the week. We are really looking forward to it."
Colorado will now turn its attention to the seventh annual Pac-12 Championships, which are just over a week away. The competition is set for April 23-25 at Rolling Hills Country Club in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif., which is just due south of Los Angeles.
ASU INDIVIDUAL INVITATIONAL: Colorado also had two players competing in the ASU Individual Invitational, a "companion" event in Phoenix at the Papago Golf Course (7,316 yards; par-71); most teams brought additional players to compete as all have impending conference championships in the weeks ahead.
Sophomore Ross Macdonald tied for fourth, finishing with a 1-under 70 that brought him back to even-par (213) for the tournament. Freshman Cole Krantz wrapped things up with a 4-over 75, ending in a tie for 25th with a 12-over 225.
Macdonald had four birdies and 11 pars Sunday, giving him 10 and 31, respectively overall; he tied for the seventh-most birdies and played the par-4s third best at 1-under in the 35-player field. Krantz tied for the 12th-most pars with 33, as most of his overage can be traced to just three holes where he scored two triple bogeys and a double.
Oklahoma's Rylee Reinertson claimed medalist honors in the mini-event, as he ran away from the rest of the field with a final round 6-under 66. Entering the day in second and one-shot back of the lead, he finished with an 8-under 205 score.
NOTES: Paul joins Steve Jones as CU medalists in the event; Jones won in April 1981 with a 1-over 217 score … Paul again tied the school single-season record with his seventh tournament under par; it was first set by his older twin brother Jeremy in 2015-16 which he matched last year … He is also closing in on another of his brother's marks, as this was his 20th career tournament at or under par (in his case, all have been under) in 45 events; Jeremy completed his CU career with 22 ... Paul now leads the team in rounds in the 60s with 11, tied for the second-most in a single-season in school history (his 32 in his career are second on that all-time list); he has 66 career rounds of par or better, passing Philip Juel-Berg (64) while here into second on that CU career list, trailing only his older twin, Jeremy, who had 74 … Beau Schoolcraft's 9-under 201 is the best overall gross score in CU annals, as he posted that in the 2011 Wyoming Cowboy Classic, and not too far from here doing so in Scottsdale … The average score overall was 72.66, with Sunday's third round the highest of the three at 72.96 … Colorado had the third-most pars (166) but were down the line a bit in birdies (42, or 12th) … Colorado finished in the lower half of a tournament for just the third time in 10 events this season … The Buffs were 8-8 against Division I teams here this weekend, and are now 117-50-5 on the season (13-15-2 against Pac-12 members after going 2-3 here) … Paul lowered his team-leading season stroke averages to 70.52 overall and 69.83 in the spring, both threatening his brother's school season records of 70.66 and 70.67, respectively, set during the 2015-16 season … This was CU's second straight tournament on a course with a par-71 configuration; the first eight were all par-72 layouts … The Pac-12 Championships feature a 6-for-5 scoring format, which will be the first this season for CU.
Paul and UNLV's Shintaro Ban earned co-medalist honors, as they could not break their deadlock after two rounds; each finished with a 2-under 69 in the final round to post 11-under 202 scores for 54 holes.
Paul started some 66 minutes ahead of Ban in Sunday's pairings and finished up as the leader in the clubhouse though tied with Ban, who still had four holes to play. Ban caught him with an eagle on No. 14 (a par-5), but fell one stroke back after he bogeyed No. 15. He then tied Paul with a birdie on No. 17, another par-5. Paul had birdied No. 8 to break a tie at the time, as the two dueled throughout the day, never being more than two strokes apart on the 7,032-yard, par-71 Karsten Golf Course design.
The 202 score was the best in CU history for a 54-hole tournament on a par-71 course, and the second-best on any layout. It was also the sixth time in school history a player scored three rounds in the 60s in a tournament. Paul had one previous win, but it came in the 36-hole Ballyneal Challenge his junior year, a local event that had just three teams competing.
"What a win for Yannik. He has been playing very well all spring and it all came together for him this week," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "This was an elite field in golf and was a huge win. He has been a great player and teammate and this is very well-deserved. I have been especially impressed with his patience all year, his game has flourished and even better golf is ahead of him. He has joined an illustrious group of champions of the Thunderbird including Buff legend Steve Jones."
Host and No. 25 Arizona State, co-leaders after two rounds, won its own meet after closing with a 4-under 280 score for an overall 22-under 830 total. That was good enough to edge No. 3 Oklahoma by a single shot (831), with No. 27 UNLV, which entered the day tied with the Sun Devils, taking third, three back at 833. Unanimous No. 1 Oklahoma State was fourth (835); the Cowboys amazing streak of seven straight tournament wins came to end, six of which took place this spring. No. 32 Arizona rounded out the top five (838).
The No. 43 Buffaloes recorded their best team round for the final 18, a 1-over 285; that enabled CU to jump from 12th into ninth place after finishing with an 11-over 863 total.
Colorado started on No. 10 all three rounds, and was 3-under as a team through nine (after starting 2-over in round one and 5-under in the second). But as was the case with the front side being the tougher nine, the Buffs came back down to Earth a bit and finished the third and final round with a 1-over 285 score.
Paul was CU's first medalist in a major 54-hole event since the spring of 2016 (again, older twin Jeremy had that distinction, winning the Wyoming Cowboy Classic almost two years ago to the day). He did so with 17 birdies, tied for the most in the 85-man field, along with 31 pars; otherwise, he had just six bogeys. He was at or near the top in scoring on all hole configurations: even on the par-3s (tied for first), 7-under on the par-5s (tied for fifth) and 4-under on the par-4s (tied for eighth).
"I'm really happy with my first big win," Paul said. "I was really close the last couple of tournaments, so I was hopeful that it could happen soon. I made some putts, but did leave a couple out there. The biggest thing for me was that there was always one spot on every hole where you cannot hit it or place it where getting it up and down would have been near impossible. I just played it really smart and fortunately, hit it in the right spots and got some good up-and-downs when I needed them."
Senior John Souza and sophomore Daniel O'Loughlin tied for 52nd with 7-over par 220 scores; Souza wrapped things with a 1-over 72 and O'Loughlin a 2-over 73. O'Loughlin, who finished his final round with two straight birdies, tied for the fourth-most pars on the weekend with 37, while Souza's 35 tied for 15th.
Senior Spencer Painton rallied from a second round 78 to shoot an even-par 71 Sunday, giving him an 11-over 224, which placed him a tie for 64th. He had four birdies and 10 pars against four bogeys to close out, as he matched his third-best improvement from one round to the next – seven shots – as a Buffalo.
Freshman Trevor Olkowski rounded out the Buffaloes competing in Tempe, as he closed with a 6-over 77 that dropped him into a tie for 72nd with a 14-over 227 score. He had three birdies and eight pars on his last loop around Karsten, with five bogeys and two doubles. He opened his day with one of his birdies, and closed it with his last one with just three holes remaining.
"It was a much better final round," Edwards noted. "We got off to a good start and were struggling a bit through the middle of the round. I was proud of how the guys really competed all the way to the end. That has been the personality of our team all year and it is a big strength of ours. We need to keep working on our short games in preparation for L.A. at the end of the week. We are really looking forward to it."
Colorado will now turn its attention to the seventh annual Pac-12 Championships, which are just over a week away. The competition is set for April 23-25 at Rolling Hills Country Club in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif., which is just due south of Los Angeles.
ASU INDIVIDUAL INVITATIONAL: Colorado also had two players competing in the ASU Individual Invitational, a "companion" event in Phoenix at the Papago Golf Course (7,316 yards; par-71); most teams brought additional players to compete as all have impending conference championships in the weeks ahead.
Sophomore Ross Macdonald tied for fourth, finishing with a 1-under 70 that brought him back to even-par (213) for the tournament. Freshman Cole Krantz wrapped things up with a 4-over 75, ending in a tie for 25th with a 12-over 225.
Macdonald had four birdies and 11 pars Sunday, giving him 10 and 31, respectively overall; he tied for the seventh-most birdies and played the par-4s third best at 1-under in the 35-player field. Krantz tied for the 12th-most pars with 33, as most of his overage can be traced to just three holes where he scored two triple bogeys and a double.
Oklahoma's Rylee Reinertson claimed medalist honors in the mini-event, as he ran away from the rest of the field with a final round 6-under 66. Entering the day in second and one-shot back of the lead, he finished with an 8-under 205 score.
NOTES: Paul joins Steve Jones as CU medalists in the event; Jones won in April 1981 with a 1-over 217 score … Paul again tied the school single-season record with his seventh tournament under par; it was first set by his older twin brother Jeremy in 2015-16 which he matched last year … He is also closing in on another of his brother's marks, as this was his 20th career tournament at or under par (in his case, all have been under) in 45 events; Jeremy completed his CU career with 22 ... Paul now leads the team in rounds in the 60s with 11, tied for the second-most in a single-season in school history (his 32 in his career are second on that all-time list); he has 66 career rounds of par or better, passing Philip Juel-Berg (64) while here into second on that CU career list, trailing only his older twin, Jeremy, who had 74 … Beau Schoolcraft's 9-under 201 is the best overall gross score in CU annals, as he posted that in the 2011 Wyoming Cowboy Classic, and not too far from here doing so in Scottsdale … The average score overall was 72.66, with Sunday's third round the highest of the three at 72.96 … Colorado had the third-most pars (166) but were down the line a bit in birdies (42, or 12th) … Colorado finished in the lower half of a tournament for just the third time in 10 events this season … The Buffs were 8-8 against Division I teams here this weekend, and are now 117-50-5 on the season (13-15-2 against Pac-12 members after going 2-3 here) … Paul lowered his team-leading season stroke averages to 70.52 overall and 69.83 in the spring, both threatening his brother's school season records of 70.66 and 70.67, respectively, set during the 2015-16 season … This was CU's second straight tournament on a course with a par-71 configuration; the first eight were all par-72 layouts … The Pac-12 Championships feature a 6-for-5 scoring format, which will be the first this season for CU.
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
| T1. | Yannik Paul | 67-66-69—202 |
| T52. | Daniel O'Loughlin | 73-74-73—220 |
| T52. | John Souza | 75-73-72—220 |
| T64. | Spencer Painton | 75-78-71—224 |
| T72. | Trevor Olkowski | 72-78-77—227 |
| T4. | Ross Macdonald | 71-72-70—213 |
| T25. | Cole Krantz | 76-74-75—225 |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| T1. | Yannik Paul, Colorado | 67-66-69—202 |
| T1. | Shintaro Ban, UNLV | 69-64-69—202 |
| 3. | Quade Cummins, Oklahoma | 67-67-70—204 |
| 4. | Blake Wagoner, Arizona State | 69-68-68—205 |
| 5. | David Laskin, Arizona | 64-70-72—206 |
TEAM STANDINGS
| 1. | Arizona State | 274-276-280—830 |
| 2. | Oklahoma | 282-271-281—831 |
| 3. | UNLV | 276-274-280—833 |
| 4. | Oklahoma State | 283-282-270—835 |
| 5. | Arizona | 278-284-276—838 |
| 6. | Baylor | 276-281-282—839 |
| 7. | Colorado State | 277-290-288—855 |
| 8. | Utah | 290-282-284—856 |
| 9. | COLORADO | 287-291-285—863 |
| 10. | Oregon State | 290-281-297—868 |
| 10. | Denver | 292-284-292—868 |
| 12. | Wyoming | 287-286-297—870 |
| 13. | Boise State | 288-303-291—882 |
| 14. | New Mexico State | 295-302-287—884 |
| 15. | Washington State | 299-286-300—885 |
| 16. | UC Irvine | 296-298-300—894 |
| 17. | Hawai'i | 302-298-316—916 |
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
Join us for the 15th Annual Colorado Golf Day on August 25 at Boulder Country Club! ⛳
Tuesday, August 12
Buffalo Stampede WEEK 24
Tuesday, February 06
Buffalo Stampede Week 24 TUCKER CLARK
Tuesday, February 06
Afternoon Tee with Matt Thurmond
Monday, June 08