Colorado University Athletics
Wednesday, May 16
Stockton, Calif.
All Day
Colorado
vs
Third Round
Yannik Paul was one of three CU seniors who completed their collegiate careers Wednesday.
Golfers Finish Seventh At NCAA West Regional
May 16, 2018 | Men's Golf
Miss Advancing To The NCAA Championship Finals
STOCKTON, Calif. — The University of Colorado men's golf team pulled to within two shots of fifth place, the final qualifying spot for the NCAA Championship Finals, but eventually slipped into a seventh place finish here Wednesday as the NCAA West Regional came to a close.
CU turned in final round score of 2-over par 290, finishing with 54-hole score of 862 (2-under); that would in the end be 10 strokes back of fifth place, though it was much closer than that most of the day. Late double- and quadruple bogeys took the Buffaloes out of red numbers for the day and let No. 6 LSU, the region's top seeded team, slip by them into sixth.
The No. 42 Buffaloes entered the final round tied for sixth with No. 30 Oregon, three shots back of fifth. But the Ducks broke away from the Buffs mainly due to one of their players having a hot final round after two pedestrian ones. Ryan Gronlund shot one of two 6-under 66s posted Wednesday by Oregon, including a 29 on the back nine that propelled the Ducks, who started on No. 10, make the turn at 4-over.
No. 43 Kansas claimed its first regional crown with a 20-under 864 team score, edging No. 18 Stanford by three shots; No. 55 Iowa State took third (847), followed by No. 7 Alabama (849) and then Oregon (852). Those teams earned the five qualifying spots for the NCAA Championship Finals later this month in Stillwater, Okla. LSU skipped by the Buffs and finished with an 857 tally.
"Rough day," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "We were fighting it again, didn't play the par-5s on the front very well. We really played those well all year, but we just were a little out of position to score well on those today.
The Buffs collectively played the par-5s at 3-under in the final round, as compared to 15-under the first two days. Oregon played those at 12-under and LSU at minus-9 on Wednesday.
"That said, we were still in a position (to challenge for the last spot) if we had a great back nine," Edwards said. "But we were just a little bit off in general. We still competed, still gave ourselves a chance. I know if I would have been told in advance that we'd beat two teams seeded higher than us, I would have said for sure we would have advanced."
Colorado did defeat fourth-seeded Southern California by five shots, turning the tables on the 19th-ranked Trojans for their four-stroke win over the Buffs at last month's Pac-12 Championship. CU also edged out fourth seed and No. 31 TCU by three shots. In the end, Colorado finished where it was seeded – seventh.
Senior Yannik Paul finished up at CU's top scorer here, as he tied for 12th with a 4-under 212 score after shooting even for the final round on the 7,239-yard, par-72 Reserve at Spanos Park course layout. He was 1-over at the turn but had a hot stretch on the back nine where he birdied three of his first four holes. He then had four straight pars until closing with a double bogey. His 14 birdies here led the Buffs and were sixth-most in the 75-man field; he also played the par-3s fifth-best at 1-under, while the rest of the Buffs struggled a bit (collectively at 21-over).
The Viernheim, Germany native finished his CU career with no less than 20 records, including marks for the best single-season stroke average (70.24) as well as for the spring (69.64). He was under par this season for a record nine tournaments, and tied the mark for a career with 22. A legitimate candidate for All-American honors, he posted seven top 20 finishes this spring in eight events, and six of those were in the top 13.
Paul did see his school record streak of 10 consecutive rounds of par or better come to an end Wednesday, and unfortunately it did so on what turned out to be the final hole of his college career with that double bogey that brought him back to even for the day.
"Yannik was aggressive on No. 18," Edwards said. "He hit a good tee shot, but his second shot went about 15 feet over the flag and ended up in the hazard and he had to take a penalty stroke."
Sophomore Daniel O'Loughlin turned in CU's low score for the day, a 1-under 71, that enabled him to tie for 16th with a 3-under 213 total. He had five birdies and nine pars against four bogeys on his day, with his 13 birdies overall here the second-most by a Buff. He opened even through six – with three birdies and three bogeys – before settling down. He played the par-5s at 5-under and the par-4 holes even.
Senior Spencer Painton finished up his CU career with a 1-over 73, giving him a 54-hole score of 2-under 214, tying him for 19th. He was cruising along at 3-under for the day, with four birdies and one bogey through 16 holes; but on the par-4, 467-yard 17th, he had to take a quadruple bogey 8. Edwards said he suffered a bad break on that hole.
CU turned in final round score of 2-over par 290, finishing with 54-hole score of 862 (2-under); that would in the end be 10 strokes back of fifth place, though it was much closer than that most of the day. Late double- and quadruple bogeys took the Buffaloes out of red numbers for the day and let No. 6 LSU, the region's top seeded team, slip by them into sixth.
The No. 42 Buffaloes entered the final round tied for sixth with No. 30 Oregon, three shots back of fifth. But the Ducks broke away from the Buffs mainly due to one of their players having a hot final round after two pedestrian ones. Ryan Gronlund shot one of two 6-under 66s posted Wednesday by Oregon, including a 29 on the back nine that propelled the Ducks, who started on No. 10, make the turn at 4-over.
No. 43 Kansas claimed its first regional crown with a 20-under 864 team score, edging No. 18 Stanford by three shots; No. 55 Iowa State took third (847), followed by No. 7 Alabama (849) and then Oregon (852). Those teams earned the five qualifying spots for the NCAA Championship Finals later this month in Stillwater, Okla. LSU skipped by the Buffs and finished with an 857 tally.
"Rough day," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "We were fighting it again, didn't play the par-5s on the front very well. We really played those well all year, but we just were a little out of position to score well on those today.
The Buffs collectively played the par-5s at 3-under in the final round, as compared to 15-under the first two days. Oregon played those at 12-under and LSU at minus-9 on Wednesday.
"That said, we were still in a position (to challenge for the last spot) if we had a great back nine," Edwards said. "But we were just a little bit off in general. We still competed, still gave ourselves a chance. I know if I would have been told in advance that we'd beat two teams seeded higher than us, I would have said for sure we would have advanced."
Colorado did defeat fourth-seeded Southern California by five shots, turning the tables on the 19th-ranked Trojans for their four-stroke win over the Buffs at last month's Pac-12 Championship. CU also edged out fourth seed and No. 31 TCU by three shots. In the end, Colorado finished where it was seeded – seventh.
Senior Yannik Paul finished up at CU's top scorer here, as he tied for 12th with a 4-under 212 score after shooting even for the final round on the 7,239-yard, par-72 Reserve at Spanos Park course layout. He was 1-over at the turn but had a hot stretch on the back nine where he birdied three of his first four holes. He then had four straight pars until closing with a double bogey. His 14 birdies here led the Buffs and were sixth-most in the 75-man field; he also played the par-3s fifth-best at 1-under, while the rest of the Buffs struggled a bit (collectively at 21-over).
The Viernheim, Germany native finished his CU career with no less than 20 records, including marks for the best single-season stroke average (70.24) as well as for the spring (69.64). He was under par this season for a record nine tournaments, and tied the mark for a career with 22. A legitimate candidate for All-American honors, he posted seven top 20 finishes this spring in eight events, and six of those were in the top 13.
Paul did see his school record streak of 10 consecutive rounds of par or better come to an end Wednesday, and unfortunately it did so on what turned out to be the final hole of his college career with that double bogey that brought him back to even for the day.
"Yannik was aggressive on No. 18," Edwards said. "He hit a good tee shot, but his second shot went about 15 feet over the flag and ended up in the hazard and he had to take a penalty stroke."
Sophomore Daniel O'Loughlin turned in CU's low score for the day, a 1-under 71, that enabled him to tie for 16th with a 3-under 213 total. He had five birdies and nine pars against four bogeys on his day, with his 13 birdies overall here the second-most by a Buff. He opened even through six – with three birdies and three bogeys – before settling down. He played the par-5s at 5-under and the par-4 holes even.
Senior Spencer Painton finished up his CU career with a 1-over 73, giving him a 54-hole score of 2-under 214, tying him for 19th. He was cruising along at 3-under for the day, with four birdies and one bogey through 16 holes; but on the par-4, 467-yard 17th, he had to take a quadruple bogey 8. Edwards said he suffered a bad break on that hole.
"On his drive, he ended up being out of bounds by a foot or two. It wasn't clearly marked and really could have been in-bounds, but was ruled otherwise. He then hit his second tee shot clearly out of bounds, and in the end, that cost him and us four shots. It wasn't the difference in us qualifying, but maybe finishing a spot higher."
Painton did play the par-5s the 10th-best in the field at 6-under, as well as playing the par-4s even (16th-best). His 37 pars tied for the ninth-most here.
Colorado and two of its longtime conference mates from the Big 12, Iowa State and Kansas, were the only schools that had three finishers in the top 20 (all in the top 19, actually). "Yannik, Spencer and Daniel overall had solid weeks, but I'm still proud of everybody," Edwards noted. "It just wasn't good enough."
Senior John Souza concluded his collegiate career with a 5-over 77, which tied him for 67th with a 10-over 226 score. He wrapped things up with two birdies, nine pars and seven bogeys, three of the latter coming in his five holes to put him three down to par early on. He had an eagle, nine birdies and 27 pars – nine in each round – in his final tournament as a Buffalo.
Sophomore Ross Macdonald finished with his best round of the regional, a 2-over-74, as he tied for 72nd with a 13-over 229 total. He didn't record a birdie for the second straight round but had 16 pars, tied for the most in a single round this season by a Buff. Almost half of his overage here can be traced to two holes (double and quadruple bogeys), otherwise he had four birdies, 37 pars and 11 bogeys; his par count matched that of Painton to tie for the ninth-most.
Oregon sophomore Norman Xiong claimed medalist honors, closing with a 6-under 66 for a 15-under 201 total, swapping places with Stanford's Brandon Wu, who finished one back; Wu had led Xiong, who will turn professional after the NCAA's, by one shot heading into the final round.
"We're certainly disappointed with how the season ended, but it was one of the closest teams I've ever been around," Edwards said. "Their work ethic was tremendous and I'll always look back on this team with great fondness. Even though we didn't advance, our attitude and competitiveness was representative of our team all year. Our four seniors have left a legacy for the underclassmen about caring about each other, competing and their work ethic."
NOTES: The Pac-12 had eight teams qualify for the regionals; four have advanced to the finals: Stanford and Oregon from this event, Arizona State (fifth in the Raleigh regional) and UCLA (fourth in the Bryan regional). The league's top ranked team, No. 9 California, missed by 11 strokes in Raleigh, Arizona by two shots in Florida, along with CU and USC in Stockton … Kansas is Edwards' alma mater … Colorado last qualified for the NCAA Finals in 2002 … Twenty-nine players finished under par, with seven others ending even … CU's 862 team score is its second-best in 22 regional appearances, behind only an 853 in 1993-94 … The Stockton Regional was by far the most competitive of the six: just 42 strokes separated first-to-last place; the average for the other five was 82 strokes (from 67 through 93 shots); the West was also the only region where at least one team scored one round in the 300s … The average score for the 225 individual in the regional was 72.48 (72.45 on Wednesday, 72.17 for the second round and 72.83 for the first) … As aforementioned, Colorado played the par-5 holes at 18-under (dropping from third-best after two rounds to eighth), the par-4s at 12-over (fourth-best), and the par-3s at 20-over (12th out of 13) … CU is also tied for fourth in eagles (2), for fifth in birdies (51) and for 10th in pars (162) … Colorado finished with a 133-57-5 record against Division I competition this year, a 69.5 winning percentage; the latter is school-best, topping the 69.1 in 2013-14; the Buffs were above .500 against Pac-12 foes for the first time (24-18-2) … Freshman Trevor Olkowski was the alternate here for the Buffaloes, as this was the first year the NCAA is allowing substitutes at regional competitions; while Edwards said he would only activate him in the case of illness or injury, in the end no team here substituted at any point and all 75 players who started finished.
Painton did play the par-5s the 10th-best in the field at 6-under, as well as playing the par-4s even (16th-best). His 37 pars tied for the ninth-most here.
Colorado and two of its longtime conference mates from the Big 12, Iowa State and Kansas, were the only schools that had three finishers in the top 20 (all in the top 19, actually). "Yannik, Spencer and Daniel overall had solid weeks, but I'm still proud of everybody," Edwards noted. "It just wasn't good enough."
Senior John Souza concluded his collegiate career with a 5-over 77, which tied him for 67th with a 10-over 226 score. He wrapped things up with two birdies, nine pars and seven bogeys, three of the latter coming in his five holes to put him three down to par early on. He had an eagle, nine birdies and 27 pars – nine in each round – in his final tournament as a Buffalo.
Sophomore Ross Macdonald finished with his best round of the regional, a 2-over-74, as he tied for 72nd with a 13-over 229 total. He didn't record a birdie for the second straight round but had 16 pars, tied for the most in a single round this season by a Buff. Almost half of his overage here can be traced to two holes (double and quadruple bogeys), otherwise he had four birdies, 37 pars and 11 bogeys; his par count matched that of Painton to tie for the ninth-most.
Oregon sophomore Norman Xiong claimed medalist honors, closing with a 6-under 66 for a 15-under 201 total, swapping places with Stanford's Brandon Wu, who finished one back; Wu had led Xiong, who will turn professional after the NCAA's, by one shot heading into the final round.
"We're certainly disappointed with how the season ended, but it was one of the closest teams I've ever been around," Edwards said. "Their work ethic was tremendous and I'll always look back on this team with great fondness. Even though we didn't advance, our attitude and competitiveness was representative of our team all year. Our four seniors have left a legacy for the underclassmen about caring about each other, competing and their work ethic."
NOTES: The Pac-12 had eight teams qualify for the regionals; four have advanced to the finals: Stanford and Oregon from this event, Arizona State (fifth in the Raleigh regional) and UCLA (fourth in the Bryan regional). The league's top ranked team, No. 9 California, missed by 11 strokes in Raleigh, Arizona by two shots in Florida, along with CU and USC in Stockton … Kansas is Edwards' alma mater … Colorado last qualified for the NCAA Finals in 2002 … Twenty-nine players finished under par, with seven others ending even … CU's 862 team score is its second-best in 22 regional appearances, behind only an 853 in 1993-94 … The Stockton Regional was by far the most competitive of the six: just 42 strokes separated first-to-last place; the average for the other five was 82 strokes (from 67 through 93 shots); the West was also the only region where at least one team scored one round in the 300s … The average score for the 225 individual in the regional was 72.48 (72.45 on Wednesday, 72.17 for the second round and 72.83 for the first) … As aforementioned, Colorado played the par-5 holes at 18-under (dropping from third-best after two rounds to eighth), the par-4s at 12-over (fourth-best), and the par-3s at 20-over (12th out of 13) … CU is also tied for fourth in eagles (2), for fifth in birdies (51) and for 10th in pars (162) … Colorado finished with a 133-57-5 record against Division I competition this year, a 69.5 winning percentage; the latter is school-best, topping the 69.1 in 2013-14; the Buffs were above .500 against Pac-12 foes for the first time (24-18-2) … Freshman Trevor Olkowski was the alternate here for the Buffaloes, as this was the first year the NCAA is allowing substitutes at regional competitions; while Edwards said he would only activate him in the case of illness or injury, in the end no team here substituted at any point and all 75 players who started finished.
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
| T12. | Yannik Paul | 71-69-72—212 |
| T16. | Daniel O'Loughlin | 73-69-71—213 |
| T19. | Spencer Painton | 71-70-73—214 |
| T67. | John Souza | 75-74-77—226 |
| T72. | Ross Macdonald | 75-80-74—229 |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Norman Xiong, Oregon | 68-67-66—201 |
| 2. | Brandon Wu, Stanford | 67-67-68—202 |
| T3. | Charles Corner, UTEP | 69-69-69—207 |
| T3. | Wilson Furr, Alabama | 73-64-70—207 |
| T5. | Andy Spencer, Kansas | 69-69-70—208 |
| T5. | Sam Vincent, Iowa State | 69-69-70—208 |
| T5. | Jonathan Hardee, Alabama | 68-73-67—208 |
TEAM STANDINGS
| 1. | *Kansas | 281-282-281—844 |
| 2. | *Stanford | 285-283-277—845 |
| 3. | *Iowa State | 278-284-285—847 |
| 4. | *Alabama | 282-280-287—849 |
| 5. | *Oregon | 289-283-280—852 |
| 6. | LSU | 293-283-281—857 |
| 7. | COLORADO | 290-282-290—862 |
| 8. | TCU | 283-286-296—865 |
| 9. | Southern California | 295-284-288—867 |
| 10. | UNC-Greensboro | 293-283-293—869 |
| 11. | UC Irvine | 290-293-289—872 |
| 12. | Kennesaw State | 292-290-296—878 |
| 13. | North Dakota State | 297-295-294—886 |
Players Mentioned
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