Colorado University Athletics
Spencer Painton and John Souza are two of CU's three seniors looking to help the team advance to the NCAA Finals.
Buff Men Ready For NCAA West Regional
May 12, 2018 | Men's Golf
CU Looking To Return To The NCAA Finals For The First Time Since 2002
STOCKTON, Calif. — The University of Colorado men's golf team arrived here Saturday ahead of the NCAA West Regional with the goal to snap a 15-year drought: getting the Buffaloes back to the NCAA Finals for the first time since 2002.
The West/Stockton Regional begins Monday, with coach Roy Edwards' team getting in a few practices back home in Boulder around final exams and graduation ceremonies. With those now behind them, the Buffs can now focus on finishing in the top five of 13 teams competing here, which would earn CU that trip to the NCAA Finals. Colorado has knocked at that door several times over the past 15 season but hasn't been able to walk through it.
Colorado, ranked No. 42 in the nation (GolfStat; No. 44 Golfweek) is the No. 7 seed in the field, its second-highest since the regionals went to six sites in 2009. This is the sixth straight year the Buffaloes have qualified for the NCAA postseason, and the 22nd time in the 30-year history of regional play. The goal of advancing to the championship finals has been the focus of the team since preseason practices began last August.
"I think that is something that has been driving us all year," Edwards said. "It's motivated our work-ethic and our preparation. It's not just getting there, it's doing some damage once we get there, and doing so first at the regional. We're going to get to the Finals dependent on how well we prepare and focus through next Wednesday."
Colorado is coming off its best finish in a conference meet in nine years, as the Buffaloes were the runners-up in the Pac-12 Championships, pushing host Southern California to the brink in ending up just four strokes behind the Trojans.
"I think the reason we played so well was that all six guys really competed hard," Edwards noted. "It's certainly something we're proud of, but at the same time, most of our goals are still ahead of us. We can use that finish to motivate and drive us to compete well the rest of the year."
Colorado will be represented by seniors Spencer Painton, Yannik Paul and John Souza, sophomores Ross Macdonald and Daniel O'Loughlin, and freshman Trevor Olkowski. All six competed in the Pac-12's with Macdonald and Paul tying for second Souza for 16th. Olkowski is actually an alternate, as the format is the traditional "5-for-4," with the best four scores used to compute the team score; for the first time in NCAA regional play, teams can bring a sixth player who can be substituted for any of the active five up to 10 minutes prior to any round.
Paul leads the team in stroke average with a 70.19 figure, third-best among the 85 players set to compete. He currently leads the team in 21 statistical categories, and is on a record pace for the overall and spring season averages. O'Loughlin follows at 71.59 (17th in the field), and then Painton (71.76, 19th), Macdonald (72.19, 30th) and Souza (72.59, 39th). Olkowski's average is 73.27, which if he should play, would be the seventh-best in the field by a freshman.
This is the deepest team the Buffaloes are taking to a regional in over a decade; the five Buffaloes set to open play are all ranked in the top 39 in stroke average of all competitors in Stockton; only Stanford (six in the top 33) and LSU (five in the top 45) have more than four of their players in that group. CU has their best fourth- and fifth-man averages in its history entering the event, 73.5 and 75.7 respectively, and the four players who have previously appeared in NCAA action are a combined 8.1 strokes better this year than their previous seasons.
"It's a team that really played well this spring, we had some high level head-to-head wins over good teams," Edwards said. "It's one of our winningest teams ever and as result, this team is primed to compete for a regional title. We have a confident group of players who care deeply about one another."
LSU, ranked sixth nationally, is the top seed in the West Regional, followed by No. 7 Alabama, No. 18 Stanford, No. 19 Southern California, No. 30 Oregon, No. 31 TCU, No. 42 Colorado, No. 43 Kansas, No. 54 Kennesaw State, No. 55 Iowa State, No. 94 UNC-Greensboro, No. 135 UC Irvine and No. 193 North Dakota State; the latter three teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference championships.
The Buffs have lined up this year 14 times against teams in the West Regional, going 7-7, but own a 27-16-2 mark in individual rounds. CU has been in tournaments with Stanford (1-2), USC (1-2), Oregon (1-2), TCU (1-1), Kansas (2-0) and UC Irvine (1-0), but only Stanford holds an edge in individual rounds, and its slim at that (4-5-1). On the season, CU is 127-51-5 against Division I competition, the 70.8 winning percentage at present in line to be the best in team history.
The course is going to be a bit of a mystery to most of the field, as only one team (UC Irvine) and two players participating as individuals played it this season. The Reserve at Spanos Park has a 7,239-yard, par-72 configuration with rye grass fairways and Bent greens; it opened in 1999 after being carved out 360 acres of lakes, wetlands and working farmland. Pacific, the host school for the regional, hosted its home meet there last October with then No. 22 Santa Clara winning with a 30-under par score.
"Every regional field is very balanced competitively, you've got to play well to advance," Edwards said. "It's a really good mix, you have some west coast teams but the top two seeds are from the SEC. One thing we like about the regional format is you get to see some teams you don't see during the year, and others that you're very familiar with. And what is as big a deal as anything is getting to learn a golf course you're not familiar with in a very short period of time."
This is just the second time in 22 regional appearances that the Buffs will play west of the Central Time Zone; the only other occasion was in 2009, when CU competed in Daly City, Calif. CU has often been shipped to the southeast where it has to play on grasses that the players seldom see, something that top seeds LSU and Alabama will have to deal with.
"We are very excited to be headed to California for the NCAA Regional at Stockton," Edwards said. "This is the region we were hoping to go to. You're excited that you make it, because it's not always easy to make the field, but that is where we wanted to go if we had to choose.
After Sunday's practice round, regional play will begin at 8:30 a.m. mountain time on all three competition days. For the first round, the Buffaloes will be paired with Kansas and Kennesaw State and will start on the No. 1 tee for the first round at 9:25. The weather forecast at this point is calling for temperature in the low 80s, but with potential winds up to 15 miles per hour from the northwest. Wind could make things interesting on several holes, as six basically run east-west and the other dozen north-south.
The West/Stockton Regional begins Monday, with coach Roy Edwards' team getting in a few practices back home in Boulder around final exams and graduation ceremonies. With those now behind them, the Buffs can now focus on finishing in the top five of 13 teams competing here, which would earn CU that trip to the NCAA Finals. Colorado has knocked at that door several times over the past 15 season but hasn't been able to walk through it.
Colorado, ranked No. 42 in the nation (GolfStat; No. 44 Golfweek) is the No. 7 seed in the field, its second-highest since the regionals went to six sites in 2009. This is the sixth straight year the Buffaloes have qualified for the NCAA postseason, and the 22nd time in the 30-year history of regional play. The goal of advancing to the championship finals has been the focus of the team since preseason practices began last August.
"I think that is something that has been driving us all year," Edwards said. "It's motivated our work-ethic and our preparation. It's not just getting there, it's doing some damage once we get there, and doing so first at the regional. We're going to get to the Finals dependent on how well we prepare and focus through next Wednesday."
Colorado is coming off its best finish in a conference meet in nine years, as the Buffaloes were the runners-up in the Pac-12 Championships, pushing host Southern California to the brink in ending up just four strokes behind the Trojans.
"I think the reason we played so well was that all six guys really competed hard," Edwards noted. "It's certainly something we're proud of, but at the same time, most of our goals are still ahead of us. We can use that finish to motivate and drive us to compete well the rest of the year."
Colorado will be represented by seniors Spencer Painton, Yannik Paul and John Souza, sophomores Ross Macdonald and Daniel O'Loughlin, and freshman Trevor Olkowski. All six competed in the Pac-12's with Macdonald and Paul tying for second Souza for 16th. Olkowski is actually an alternate, as the format is the traditional "5-for-4," with the best four scores used to compute the team score; for the first time in NCAA regional play, teams can bring a sixth player who can be substituted for any of the active five up to 10 minutes prior to any round.
Paul leads the team in stroke average with a 70.19 figure, third-best among the 85 players set to compete. He currently leads the team in 21 statistical categories, and is on a record pace for the overall and spring season averages. O'Loughlin follows at 71.59 (17th in the field), and then Painton (71.76, 19th), Macdonald (72.19, 30th) and Souza (72.59, 39th). Olkowski's average is 73.27, which if he should play, would be the seventh-best in the field by a freshman.
This is the deepest team the Buffaloes are taking to a regional in over a decade; the five Buffaloes set to open play are all ranked in the top 39 in stroke average of all competitors in Stockton; only Stanford (six in the top 33) and LSU (five in the top 45) have more than four of their players in that group. CU has their best fourth- and fifth-man averages in its history entering the event, 73.5 and 75.7 respectively, and the four players who have previously appeared in NCAA action are a combined 8.1 strokes better this year than their previous seasons.
"It's a team that really played well this spring, we had some high level head-to-head wins over good teams," Edwards said. "It's one of our winningest teams ever and as result, this team is primed to compete for a regional title. We have a confident group of players who care deeply about one another."
LSU, ranked sixth nationally, is the top seed in the West Regional, followed by No. 7 Alabama, No. 18 Stanford, No. 19 Southern California, No. 30 Oregon, No. 31 TCU, No. 42 Colorado, No. 43 Kansas, No. 54 Kennesaw State, No. 55 Iowa State, No. 94 UNC-Greensboro, No. 135 UC Irvine and No. 193 North Dakota State; the latter three teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference championships.
The Buffs have lined up this year 14 times against teams in the West Regional, going 7-7, but own a 27-16-2 mark in individual rounds. CU has been in tournaments with Stanford (1-2), USC (1-2), Oregon (1-2), TCU (1-1), Kansas (2-0) and UC Irvine (1-0), but only Stanford holds an edge in individual rounds, and its slim at that (4-5-1). On the season, CU is 127-51-5 against Division I competition, the 70.8 winning percentage at present in line to be the best in team history.
The course is going to be a bit of a mystery to most of the field, as only one team (UC Irvine) and two players participating as individuals played it this season. The Reserve at Spanos Park has a 7,239-yard, par-72 configuration with rye grass fairways and Bent greens; it opened in 1999 after being carved out 360 acres of lakes, wetlands and working farmland. Pacific, the host school for the regional, hosted its home meet there last October with then No. 22 Santa Clara winning with a 30-under par score.
"Every regional field is very balanced competitively, you've got to play well to advance," Edwards said. "It's a really good mix, you have some west coast teams but the top two seeds are from the SEC. One thing we like about the regional format is you get to see some teams you don't see during the year, and others that you're very familiar with. And what is as big a deal as anything is getting to learn a golf course you're not familiar with in a very short period of time."
This is just the second time in 22 regional appearances that the Buffs will play west of the Central Time Zone; the only other occasion was in 2009, when CU competed in Daly City, Calif. CU has often been shipped to the southeast where it has to play on grasses that the players seldom see, something that top seeds LSU and Alabama will have to deal with.
"We are very excited to be headed to California for the NCAA Regional at Stockton," Edwards said. "This is the region we were hoping to go to. You're excited that you make it, because it's not always easy to make the field, but that is where we wanted to go if we had to choose.
After Sunday's practice round, regional play will begin at 8:30 a.m. mountain time on all three competition days. For the first round, the Buffaloes will be paired with Kansas and Kennesaw State and will start on the No. 1 tee for the first round at 9:25. The weather forecast at this point is calling for temperature in the low 80s, but with potential winds up to 15 miles per hour from the northwest. Wind could make things interesting on several holes, as six basically run east-west and the other dozen north-south.
Players Mentioned
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