Colorado University Athletics
Daniel O'Loughlin is looking to finish his senior year strong.
Photo by: Dan Madden
Golfers Set To Open Spring Season In Hawai'i
February 05, 2020 | Men's Golf
Buffs Looking For a Good Start
WAIKOLOA, Hawai'i — The University of Colorado men's golf team will open the spring portion of its schedule in a very familiar location, as for the 15th straight year, the Buffaloes will participate in the 29th annual Amer Ari Hawaii-Hilo Invitational.
The tournament, which runs this Thursday through Saturday, is one of many that open the spring collegiate season and usually provides an early indication of where the Buffs stand nationally. Colorado had an up-and-down kind of fall season, finishing down the line in the rankings (No. 85, GolfStat; No. 87, Golfweek) despite winning two tournaments.
One again the field comprised here is one of the strongest in the spring, with nine of the nation's top 45 teams (GolfStat rankings) set to compete here, including second-ranked Texas Tech and No. 3 Georgia Tech. Others include Pepperdine (No. 6), Arizona State (No. 10), Auburn (No. 21), Oregon State (No. 22), Texas (No. 25), Stanford (No. 27) and Southern California (No. 43). Overall, 11 teams in the nation's top 75 are participating, and as always is the case, the 20-team field is dominated with Pac-12 Conference teams, six of which are competing this time around.
The three-day tournament in "paradise" is always a real treat for the participants, as the tournament will be played on the renowned 7,074-yard, par-72 Waikoloa King's Course on Hawai'i's Big Island, a Scottish links-style layout with fairways interspersed between ancient lava fields, along with numerous lakes and pot bunkers. The teams will play 18 holes each day in a shotgun start format at 10:30 a.m. MST; temperatures are forecast to be in the mid-70s, but with a 50 percent of showers for Thursday's first round before sunny skies should rule the last two days. The trade winds could kick up as well, expected to be in the teens all three days.
"We have been able to have quite a bit of practice so far this semester," Colorado head coach Roy Edwards said. "A lot of the guys definitely have been working hard during the off-season. It is clear several guys have gotten a lot better.
"It is great to be in Hawai'i, he continued. "The team is excited to get going. Waikoloa will be a good course for us to get started because it demands patience and proper execution of course management. We expect a good week this week and a strong spring season overall."
The Buffs won two tournaments, defending their titles in both the Air Force Miranda Invitational and their own Mark Simpson Invitational; it gave Edwards 17 team titles at the reins of the program, besting the old mark of 16 under the late Simpson. In-between the Buffs struggled in the Maui Jim Invitational in Scottsdale (14th out of 15) but posted a much better finish in New Mexico's Tucker (seventh out of 15), the two meets with the strongest fields in the fall according to Golfweek's rankings.
"This tournament has consistently been ranked among the top amateur tournaments in the world, not just in college golf," Edwards added. "The teams it attracts have players highly ranked on the amateur lists, and that puts it on par with the NCAA regionals. It's a great tournament in a special place to start the spring season, and the field provides great motivation for our guys to go out and perform well."
Six Buffaloes are on trip: seniors Daniel O'Loughlin (a team-leading 70.4 fall stroke average) and Ross Macdonald (72.1), junior Cole Krantz (73.1), sophomores Kristoffer Max (73.2) and John Paterson (72.1) and redshirt freshman Adam Matteson (73.2). Max will be playing as an individual while the other five will count toward CU's team scoring total in the event. All six played in 14 rounds during the fall season.
NOTES: It's the 17th time CU will participate in this meet on Hawai'i's "Big Island," having done so two other times when it wasn't the team's first spring competition … Colorado finished 14th here last year out of 17 teams); the Buffs opened with an 8-under 280, their second-best single team round of the year and stood in eighth place after 18 holes … In 2017, the Buffaloes posted their best finish in the event, tying for fourth with a 23-under par 841 team score (with rounds of 281-279-281) … CU was 11-under par in 2018 (287-284-282) … O'Loughlin's 70.43 stroke average for the fall is the best in CU history for the fall portion of a season; he bested the previous mark of 70.65 by Jeremy Paul in the fall 2015 semester. He also has played 89 rounds without shooting an 80 or higher; that's the most to start a CU career and trails the record of 102 by Yannik Paul set over the course of three seasons … O'Loughlin (216, tie for 48th), Max (218, 58th), Macdonald (225, 86th) and Paterson (227, 94th) all played here last year … Former assistant coach Patrick Grady has CU's best individual finish in this meet, as he tied for third as a senior in 2009 (firing a 4-under 212); Jeremy Paul ('17) and Michael Baird ('08) have the best gross scores of 205 … The Buffs opened the spring in Hawai'i one other time, in 1993 in the John Burns Intercollegiate on Oahu.
The tournament, which runs this Thursday through Saturday, is one of many that open the spring collegiate season and usually provides an early indication of where the Buffs stand nationally. Colorado had an up-and-down kind of fall season, finishing down the line in the rankings (No. 85, GolfStat; No. 87, Golfweek) despite winning two tournaments.
One again the field comprised here is one of the strongest in the spring, with nine of the nation's top 45 teams (GolfStat rankings) set to compete here, including second-ranked Texas Tech and No. 3 Georgia Tech. Others include Pepperdine (No. 6), Arizona State (No. 10), Auburn (No. 21), Oregon State (No. 22), Texas (No. 25), Stanford (No. 27) and Southern California (No. 43). Overall, 11 teams in the nation's top 75 are participating, and as always is the case, the 20-team field is dominated with Pac-12 Conference teams, six of which are competing this time around.
The three-day tournament in "paradise" is always a real treat for the participants, as the tournament will be played on the renowned 7,074-yard, par-72 Waikoloa King's Course on Hawai'i's Big Island, a Scottish links-style layout with fairways interspersed between ancient lava fields, along with numerous lakes and pot bunkers. The teams will play 18 holes each day in a shotgun start format at 10:30 a.m. MST; temperatures are forecast to be in the mid-70s, but with a 50 percent of showers for Thursday's first round before sunny skies should rule the last two days. The trade winds could kick up as well, expected to be in the teens all three days.
"We have been able to have quite a bit of practice so far this semester," Colorado head coach Roy Edwards said. "A lot of the guys definitely have been working hard during the off-season. It is clear several guys have gotten a lot better.
"It is great to be in Hawai'i, he continued. "The team is excited to get going. Waikoloa will be a good course for us to get started because it demands patience and proper execution of course management. We expect a good week this week and a strong spring season overall."
The Buffs won two tournaments, defending their titles in both the Air Force Miranda Invitational and their own Mark Simpson Invitational; it gave Edwards 17 team titles at the reins of the program, besting the old mark of 16 under the late Simpson. In-between the Buffs struggled in the Maui Jim Invitational in Scottsdale (14th out of 15) but posted a much better finish in New Mexico's Tucker (seventh out of 15), the two meets with the strongest fields in the fall according to Golfweek's rankings.
"This tournament has consistently been ranked among the top amateur tournaments in the world, not just in college golf," Edwards added. "The teams it attracts have players highly ranked on the amateur lists, and that puts it on par with the NCAA regionals. It's a great tournament in a special place to start the spring season, and the field provides great motivation for our guys to go out and perform well."
Six Buffaloes are on trip: seniors Daniel O'Loughlin (a team-leading 70.4 fall stroke average) and Ross Macdonald (72.1), junior Cole Krantz (73.1), sophomores Kristoffer Max (73.2) and John Paterson (72.1) and redshirt freshman Adam Matteson (73.2). Max will be playing as an individual while the other five will count toward CU's team scoring total in the event. All six played in 14 rounds during the fall season.
NOTES: It's the 17th time CU will participate in this meet on Hawai'i's "Big Island," having done so two other times when it wasn't the team's first spring competition … Colorado finished 14th here last year out of 17 teams); the Buffs opened with an 8-under 280, their second-best single team round of the year and stood in eighth place after 18 holes … In 2017, the Buffaloes posted their best finish in the event, tying for fourth with a 23-under par 841 team score (with rounds of 281-279-281) … CU was 11-under par in 2018 (287-284-282) … O'Loughlin's 70.43 stroke average for the fall is the best in CU history for the fall portion of a season; he bested the previous mark of 70.65 by Jeremy Paul in the fall 2015 semester. He also has played 89 rounds without shooting an 80 or higher; that's the most to start a CU career and trails the record of 102 by Yannik Paul set over the course of three seasons … O'Loughlin (216, tie for 48th), Max (218, 58th), Macdonald (225, 86th) and Paterson (227, 94th) all played here last year … Former assistant coach Patrick Grady has CU's best individual finish in this meet, as he tied for third as a senior in 2009 (firing a 4-under 212); Jeremy Paul ('17) and Michael Baird ('08) have the best gross scores of 205 … The Buffs opened the spring in Hawai'i one other time, in 1993 in the John Burns Intercollegiate on Oahu.
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