Tuesday, September 25
Erie, Colo.
All Day
Colorado
at
Third Round
Sophomore Trevor Olkowski captured his first major collegiate tournament win Tuesday on CU's home course.
Photo by: Dan Madden
Golfers Claim Own Simpson-CU Invitational Title Once Again
September 25, 2018 | Men's Golf
Olkowski Shares Medalist Honors As CU Wins For Sixth Straight Year
ERIE — The University of Colorado men's golf team held off several charges to its second round lead to emerge victorious in its own Mark Simpson-CU Invitational, which came to a close here Tuesday.
Colorado entered the final round with a three stroke lead over Utah, as the two Pac-12 Conference rivals had separated themselves from the field through 36 holes. The Utes pulled even with the Buffaloes on several occasions, but each time CU staved off the rallies and in the end hung on for a two shot win. The Buffaloes finished with a 14-under par team score of 850, while Utah closed at 852 (-12).
CSU-Fullerton held on to its third place standing with a 1-over 865 team total, while Wyoming used a tournament-tying best single round score of 275 to zoom from seventh into fourth at 4-over 868. Grand Canyon rounded out the top five (878).
It marked the sixth straight year the Buffaloes have won or shared the title in their home event, the third outright crown in the run; it was CU's seventh overall win in the nine years of the event. It was Colorado's second tournament win this month, as the Buffaloes opened the year with a win in Air Force's Gene Miranda Invitational.
"We really played well yesterday afternoon in some very bad weather, really difficult winds, and I thought the guys really battled hard today," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "Utah has a great team, they beat up everybody last week in Idaho and we knew we had to play well to beat them today".
Sophomore Trevor Olkowski and Utah senior Kyler Dunkle entered the day tied for the lead with 5-under par 139 scores, and the two would pop in and out of the top spot throughout the day on Colorado National Golf Club's 7,703-yard, par-72 course circuit. In the end, the two officially tied for medalist honors after both recorded final round 68s for a 9-under 207 tally, though Dunkle birdied the first playoff hole (No. 18) while Olkowski made par to break the tie to be awarded the first place trophy.
"I drove the ball really well both days, and felt I putted well, so things all kind of came together," Olkowski said. "Some of my approaches weren't the best and I didn't play the par-3s as best as I could of, but I did really well on the par-4s and 5's. I really had no idea where anyone else or even where our team was, but Kyler's been playing extremely well and I knew he would continue that today. I knew it was going to be close, and a couple of mistakes I made down the stretch cost me the outright win."
Dunkle becomes the first repeat champion in the Simpson's history, as he won in 2017; Olkowski won his first collegiate tournament and the third Buffalo to earn medalist honors in CU's home event. In addition, Olkowski shattered his previous best score for 54 holes of 212 as a collegian.
"It feels good to get that first win, hopefully the first of more to come," he added. "Once you get the first, you want to get the second. I was in and out of the five spot last year, but played in most of the tournaments so I was always competing, which is one thing that I've always relied on. My play at Air Force (where he tied for fifth) helped me as well. Playing in the final group with a chance to win there was an experience that prepared me for this."
"Trevor's one of those guys who is really steady and levelheaded," Edwards said. "He's played in 14 events and has shown incremental improvement, and is developing into one of the top players in the region. When he plays, even when he practices, he just has no weaknesses, so he's always going or be factor. If you were to watch him play, you'd never think he was winning the tournament. He's just real consistent, almost always in the right position and I'm just really excited and happy for him."
He was consistent here, as he finished tied with a team-high of 13 birdies with 37 pars and only four bogeys, while leading the 96-man field in par-4 scoring (8-under par) and tying for eighth on the par-5s (4-under). Dunkle led the field with 17 birdies, but had to overcome double and triple bogeys over the three rounds.
In all, six Buffaloes placed in the top 18, showing the Buffaloes have some depth despite being a team with just one senior.
"We had good rounds from everybody in the lineup," Edwards said. "Daniel and Ross had really good events, and have played well all month. They've been great in all three events we played. Kristoffer had two really nice rounds to finish, Andre really came out and played well these two days, and I'm really proud of him. And we had good rounds from the other two playing individually in Victor and Wilson."
Junior Daniel O'Loughlin was also in the hunt for medalist honors, but settled for a third place finish after he closed with an even-par 72; he turned in a 5-under 211 for the event and remained CU's early stroke average leader with a 71.0 mark for nine rounds. He tied for the team-high here with 13 birdies to go with 33 pars and eight bogeys.
Junior Ross Macdonald fashioned a final round 69, with that 3-under effort enabling him to finish on the "happy side" of par with a 2-under 214. That tied him for sixth place and he had an eagle, two birdies and 14 pars against a single bogey to wrap things up here.
Freshman John Paterson closed with a 1-over 73 for a 2-over 218 total, good for a tie for 18th. He had 10 birdies overall, including four Tuesday, to go with 33 pars for the tourney.
CU's final designated scorer was sophomore Cole Krantz, who had some struggles after opening with a 1-over 73; he finished up with a 5-over 77 that left him in a tie for 75th at 16-over 230. He didn't explode with high numbers (just one double bogey), it was more a matter of scoring 23 pars to 21 bogeys.
Four other CU team members participated here individually, their scores not counting toward the CU team total. Junior Andre Leveque, a transfer from South Florida, tied for 10th after firing a 3-under 69 Tuesday; that brought him back to even par 216 for the tournament. He tied Olkowski with a team-high six birdies on the day as well 13 overall. Freshman Kristoffer Max, playing in his third collegiate event, had some mild struggles to open his career but shined in the Simpson, closing with a 2-under 70, his college best, that enabled him to tie for 14th with a 1-over 217 total.
Junior Victor Bjorlow and senior Wilson Belk both wrapped things up here with 2-over par 74s; that gave Bjorlow a 5-over 221 that tied him for 31st, while Belk, who had one of two eagles by CU golfers Tuesday, would tie for 35th with a 6-over 222. He tied for the lead in par-5 scoring in the field, playing the 12 "long ones" over the two days at 7-under.
Colorado will turn right around and depart Wednesday for the University of New Mexico's William H. Tucker Invitational, which will take place at UNM's Championship Course this Friday and Saturday.
NOTES: This was the 15th major tournament win under Edwards, second only to the late Mark Simpson, who saw his teams win 16 ("I think it shows that the guys have had a lot of success and coach Simpson had a lot of great teams. Our guys should feel good about being in a category with a lot of his players.") … This is the sixth time the Buffs have won two tournaments in the same season under Edwards, the second time in the same month as CU won the Simpson and shared the Air Force Invitational title back in September 2011 … The average score for the tournament was 74.76, as the 73.18 mark for the third and final round was the best of the three here … Colorado led the field in par-5 scoring (19-under) and was second on the par-4's (1-under) … O'Loughlin was the medalist in the Air Force meet, thus CU has had two wins and two medalists this year in three tries; the last time CU won a major tournament and also had the medalist come in the 2016 Wyoming Cowboy Classic, when Jeremy Paul tied for medalist honors … This also marked the 16th time in the Edwards' Era at Colorado (13 seasons) that the Buffaloes had three players finish in the top 10 of a major 54-hole tournament, the second time this season …
The tournament is named in honor of Simpson, who served as Colorado's head coach for 29 years (1977-2005), until he passed away at the age of 55 on Dec. 5, 2005; he was inducted earlier that year into the GCAA Hall of Fame. Edwards created this tournament in 2010 in his honor.
1. COLORADO............................ 279-289-282—850
2. Utah......................................... 279-292-281—852
3. CSU-Fullerton......................... 292-290-283—865
4. Wyoming................................ 289-304-275—868
5. Grand Canyon........................ 292-296-290—878
6. Houston Baptist...................... 292-294-294—880
7. Pacific...................................... 295-311-278—884
8. Cal-Baptist.............................. 288-304-293—885
9. Northern Colorado................. 296-314-279—889
10. Utah Valley State.................... 286-311-293—890
11. Gonzaga.................................. 296-311-288—895
12. Utah State............................... 296-308-296—900
13. Southern Utah........................ 304-307-291—902
14. UC Riverside........................... 298-300-305—903
15. Stephen F. Austin................... 310-312-288—910
16. CSU-Northridge...................... 303-308-305—916
Colorado entered the final round with a three stroke lead over Utah, as the two Pac-12 Conference rivals had separated themselves from the field through 36 holes. The Utes pulled even with the Buffaloes on several occasions, but each time CU staved off the rallies and in the end hung on for a two shot win. The Buffaloes finished with a 14-under par team score of 850, while Utah closed at 852 (-12).
CSU-Fullerton held on to its third place standing with a 1-over 865 team total, while Wyoming used a tournament-tying best single round score of 275 to zoom from seventh into fourth at 4-over 868. Grand Canyon rounded out the top five (878).
It marked the sixth straight year the Buffaloes have won or shared the title in their home event, the third outright crown in the run; it was CU's seventh overall win in the nine years of the event. It was Colorado's second tournament win this month, as the Buffaloes opened the year with a win in Air Force's Gene Miranda Invitational.
"We really played well yesterday afternoon in some very bad weather, really difficult winds, and I thought the guys really battled hard today," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "Utah has a great team, they beat up everybody last week in Idaho and we knew we had to play well to beat them today".
Sophomore Trevor Olkowski and Utah senior Kyler Dunkle entered the day tied for the lead with 5-under par 139 scores, and the two would pop in and out of the top spot throughout the day on Colorado National Golf Club's 7,703-yard, par-72 course circuit. In the end, the two officially tied for medalist honors after both recorded final round 68s for a 9-under 207 tally, though Dunkle birdied the first playoff hole (No. 18) while Olkowski made par to break the tie to be awarded the first place trophy.
"I drove the ball really well both days, and felt I putted well, so things all kind of came together," Olkowski said. "Some of my approaches weren't the best and I didn't play the par-3s as best as I could of, but I did really well on the par-4s and 5's. I really had no idea where anyone else or even where our team was, but Kyler's been playing extremely well and I knew he would continue that today. I knew it was going to be close, and a couple of mistakes I made down the stretch cost me the outright win."
Dunkle becomes the first repeat champion in the Simpson's history, as he won in 2017; Olkowski won his first collegiate tournament and the third Buffalo to earn medalist honors in CU's home event. In addition, Olkowski shattered his previous best score for 54 holes of 212 as a collegian.
"It feels good to get that first win, hopefully the first of more to come," he added. "Once you get the first, you want to get the second. I was in and out of the five spot last year, but played in most of the tournaments so I was always competing, which is one thing that I've always relied on. My play at Air Force (where he tied for fifth) helped me as well. Playing in the final group with a chance to win there was an experience that prepared me for this."
"Trevor's one of those guys who is really steady and levelheaded," Edwards said. "He's played in 14 events and has shown incremental improvement, and is developing into one of the top players in the region. When he plays, even when he practices, he just has no weaknesses, so he's always going or be factor. If you were to watch him play, you'd never think he was winning the tournament. He's just real consistent, almost always in the right position and I'm just really excited and happy for him."
He was consistent here, as he finished tied with a team-high of 13 birdies with 37 pars and only four bogeys, while leading the 96-man field in par-4 scoring (8-under par) and tying for eighth on the par-5s (4-under). Dunkle led the field with 17 birdies, but had to overcome double and triple bogeys over the three rounds.
In all, six Buffaloes placed in the top 18, showing the Buffaloes have some depth despite being a team with just one senior.
"We had good rounds from everybody in the lineup," Edwards said. "Daniel and Ross had really good events, and have played well all month. They've been great in all three events we played. Kristoffer had two really nice rounds to finish, Andre really came out and played well these two days, and I'm really proud of him. And we had good rounds from the other two playing individually in Victor and Wilson."
Junior Daniel O'Loughlin was also in the hunt for medalist honors, but settled for a third place finish after he closed with an even-par 72; he turned in a 5-under 211 for the event and remained CU's early stroke average leader with a 71.0 mark for nine rounds. He tied for the team-high here with 13 birdies to go with 33 pars and eight bogeys.
Junior Ross Macdonald fashioned a final round 69, with that 3-under effort enabling him to finish on the "happy side" of par with a 2-under 214. That tied him for sixth place and he had an eagle, two birdies and 14 pars against a single bogey to wrap things up here.
Freshman John Paterson closed with a 1-over 73 for a 2-over 218 total, good for a tie for 18th. He had 10 birdies overall, including four Tuesday, to go with 33 pars for the tourney.
CU's final designated scorer was sophomore Cole Krantz, who had some struggles after opening with a 1-over 73; he finished up with a 5-over 77 that left him in a tie for 75th at 16-over 230. He didn't explode with high numbers (just one double bogey), it was more a matter of scoring 23 pars to 21 bogeys.
Four other CU team members participated here individually, their scores not counting toward the CU team total. Junior Andre Leveque, a transfer from South Florida, tied for 10th after firing a 3-under 69 Tuesday; that brought him back to even par 216 for the tournament. He tied Olkowski with a team-high six birdies on the day as well 13 overall. Freshman Kristoffer Max, playing in his third collegiate event, had some mild struggles to open his career but shined in the Simpson, closing with a 2-under 70, his college best, that enabled him to tie for 14th with a 1-over 217 total.
Junior Victor Bjorlow and senior Wilson Belk both wrapped things up here with 2-over par 74s; that gave Bjorlow a 5-over 221 that tied him for 31st, while Belk, who had one of two eagles by CU golfers Tuesday, would tie for 35th with a 6-over 222. He tied for the lead in par-5 scoring in the field, playing the 12 "long ones" over the two days at 7-under.
Colorado will turn right around and depart Wednesday for the University of New Mexico's William H. Tucker Invitational, which will take place at UNM's Championship Course this Friday and Saturday.
NOTES: This was the 15th major tournament win under Edwards, second only to the late Mark Simpson, who saw his teams win 16 ("I think it shows that the guys have had a lot of success and coach Simpson had a lot of great teams. Our guys should feel good about being in a category with a lot of his players.") … This is the sixth time the Buffs have won two tournaments in the same season under Edwards, the second time in the same month as CU won the Simpson and shared the Air Force Invitational title back in September 2011 … The average score for the tournament was 74.76, as the 73.18 mark for the third and final round was the best of the three here … Colorado led the field in par-5 scoring (19-under) and was second on the par-4's (1-under) … O'Loughlin was the medalist in the Air Force meet, thus CU has had two wins and two medalists this year in three tries; the last time CU won a major tournament and also had the medalist come in the 2016 Wyoming Cowboy Classic, when Jeremy Paul tied for medalist honors … This also marked the 16th time in the Edwards' Era at Colorado (13 seasons) that the Buffaloes had three players finish in the top 10 of a major 54-hole tournament, the second time this season …
The tournament is named in honor of Simpson, who served as Colorado's head coach for 29 years (1977-2005), until he passed away at the age of 55 on Dec. 5, 2005; he was inducted earlier that year into the GCAA Hall of Fame. Edwards created this tournament in 2010 in his honor.
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS (*—played as individual)
T1. Trevor Olkowski............................... 68-71-68—207
3. Daniel O'Loughlin............................. 68-71-72—211
T6. Ross Macdonald............................... 72-73-69—214
T10. *Andre Leveque............................... 70-77-69—216
T14. *Kristoffer Max.................................. 74-73-70—217
T18. John Paterson.................................. 71-74-73—218
T31. *Victor Bjorlow................................. 70-77-74—221
T35. *Wilson Belk..................................... 73-75-74—222
T75. Cole Krantz........................................ 73-80-77—230
3. Daniel O'Loughlin............................. 68-71-72—211
T6. Ross Macdonald............................... 72-73-69—214
T10. *Andre Leveque............................... 70-77-69—216
T14. *Kristoffer Max.................................. 74-73-70—217
T18. John Paterson.................................. 71-74-73—218
T31. *Victor Bjorlow................................. 70-77-74—221
T35. *Wilson Belk..................................... 73-75-74—222
T75. Cole Krantz........................................ 73-80-77—230
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS
T1. Trevor Olkowski, Colorado............. 68-71-68—207
T1. Kyler Dunkle, Utah............................ 66-73-68—207
3. Daniel O'Loughlin, Colorado........... 68-71-72—211
4. Dalton Daniel, CSU-Fullerton........... 73-69-70—212
5. Mitchell Schow, Utah....................... 69-76-68—213
T1. Kyler Dunkle, Utah............................ 66-73-68—207
3. Daniel O'Loughlin, Colorado........... 68-71-72—211
4. Dalton Daniel, CSU-Fullerton........... 73-69-70—212
5. Mitchell Schow, Utah....................... 69-76-68—213
TEAM SCORES
1. COLORADO............................ 279-289-282—850
2. Utah......................................... 279-292-281—852
3. CSU-Fullerton......................... 292-290-283—865
4. Wyoming................................ 289-304-275—868
5. Grand Canyon........................ 292-296-290—878
6. Houston Baptist...................... 292-294-294—880
7. Pacific...................................... 295-311-278—884
8. Cal-Baptist.............................. 288-304-293—885
9. Northern Colorado................. 296-314-279—889
10. Utah Valley State.................... 286-311-293—890
11. Gonzaga.................................. 296-311-288—895
12. Utah State............................... 296-308-296—900
13. Southern Utah........................ 304-307-291—902
14. UC Riverside........................... 298-300-305—903
15. Stephen F. Austin................... 310-312-288—910
16. CSU-Northridge...................... 303-308-305—916
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
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