Saturday, May 27
Scottsdale, Ariz.
All Day
Colorado
vs
Second Round
Hunter Clark celebrates after draining a birdie putt Saturday.
Photo by: Lexi Hartmann
Golfers Move Into A Tie For 17th At NCAA Championship Finals
May 27, 2023 | Men's Golf
Clark Shoots 67; Buffaloes three shots, two spots back of Sunday's cut line
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The University of Colorado men's golf team moved up six spots into a tie for 17th place here Saturday, as the NCAA Championship Finals reached its midway point.
The Buffaloes are very much in contention to make the 15-team cut into Monday's fourth and final round, as CU is just three strokes back of three teams tied for 13th (and eight out of eighth place, which is the cutline for match play that begins Monday).
Third-ranked Illinois grabbed the lead at the 36-hole mark, due to the Fighting Illini posting the best single round score of the 60 over two days – a 7-under 273 for 2-under 558 score overall. No. 9 Florida moved into second place with a 1-over 561 total, as the Gators were the only other team to break par in the second (2-under 278). No. 2 North Carolina and No. 11 Georgia Tech, the first round leader, are tied for third (566), with No. 8 Pepperdine rounding out the top five (568).
Colorado, ranked No. 48, moved into a tie for 17th with San Francisco with 19-over 579 totals. After the morning round was complete, the Buffaloes had moved up from a tie for 23rd into a tie for 15th, but 10 of those teams were also playing in the afternoon; 12 teams that finished had higher scores in relation to CU's 12-over at the time. Colorado's 7-over 287 score in the afternoon round tied for the fourth-best, behind Florida's 278 and Auburn's and Georgia Tech's 286.
While the Buffaloes haven't been a birdie machine, what's kept them in the hunt is the fact that it only has two holes worse than bogey through two rounds (180 holes) – none on Saturday, the only team of the 30 that could make that claim. Yet a small flurry of birdies Saturday – four over the last five holes, pulled the Buffs closer to making the cut.
CU's story of the second round was sophomore Tucker Clark, who hails from nearby Paradise Valley, rebounding from an opening 80 to card a 3-under 67, the second lowest score of the second round, which jumped him 69 spots in the standings into a tie for 84th. The 13- stroke improvement was the largest in the field, as well as a Colorado best in its NCAA Finals history. In 1964, Bob Bahan opened with an 85 and shot a 75, that 10-shot improvement holding as the best for 59 years until Saturday.
His 67 was also the third-best score in an NCAA Finals by a Buffalo, behind only a 65 by Hale Irwin in 1967 (en route to medalist honors) and a 66 by Ben Portie in 2002.
"Yesterday, I think I put too much pressure on myself because I had a lot of people out there watching me," Clark said of two dozen or so friends and family in the gallery. "I labored out there all day, didn't really hit great iron shots, and though I thought I had some good putts, they just didn't go in. It was as frustrating as could be, but I knew my game wasn't that far off. I just needed to hit better irons.
"Last night, I talked with my coaches and my mental coach (Howard Falco)," he said. "I was especially focused after studying today's pin sheet, and came out really focused on every hole. I hit it to those spots where I was thinking. I knew if I hit better irons today, I would post a lower number. I've had a lot of confidence because I've been hitting the ball well the last month, so I felt the first round was an aberration."
"Today, I drove it well, but my iron play was much improved and I wound up with somewhere in the 20s in putts," he said. "I just came in with the same mentality that I carried into yesterday, but I wanted to focus on my game more instead of the attention around me and who was watching.
Sophomore Dylan McDermott is tied for 36th after a 2-over 72, which has him in at 3-over 143 heading into the third round. He had a steady day with two birdies and 12 pars against four birdies, and should CU not qualify as a team, he is in position to advance individually at present. He remains one of just 12 (out of 30) players designated in the No. 1 position to lead their teams at the midway point.
Freshman Hunter Swanson shot a 4-over 74, which gave him a 6-over 146 at the midway point, tying him for 67th; he had one birdie and 12 pars opposite five bogeys, but his sole birdie came on the par-4 17th, one of the late ones in the round that helped the Buffaloes inch closer to the cut line.
Sophomore Justin Biwer is also tied for 84th with Clark after firing a 4-over 74 for a 7-over 147; he had one birdie and five bogeys on his day, along with 12 pars.
Sophomore Jack Holland struggled for the second straight round, as he turned in a 9-over 79 for a 15-over 155 total, that had him tied for 147th. He had nine pars and nine bogeys Saturday, when he did par No. 7 for the second straight round, the toughest hole of the day, the second-toughest Friday and the hardest through both rounds.
"We knew the opening stretch of holes were going to be very challenging, and relative to the field, we started well," head coach Roy Edwards said. "I was really impressed with Tucker's round, a phenomenal comeback from yesterday; he was spectacular the whole day.
"The team did what we always do, just stayed in the round by staying calm and believing in ourselves, and that led to a really good finish," Edwards noted. "The team as a whole has been very dedicated to picking the proper lines off tees and into greens and have executed things very well."
Georgia Tech's Ross Steelman maintained his lead in the race for medalist honors, as he turned in a 1-under 69 for a 7-under 133 total which grew his lead from two to three strokes; Texas A&M's Daniel Rodrigues and Illinois' ADumont de Chassart are tied for second at 4-under 136.
The third round is set for Sunday, with Colorado to be paired with No. 5 Texas Tech and No. 40 San Francisco; they will tee off on No. 1 beginning at 11:20 MST. After the round, the field will be cut to the low 15 teams and nine unaffiliated individuals. The top eight teams will then advance into match play, with quarterfinals and semifinals set for May 30 and the championship match on May 31.
As to what the Buffs need to do to advance into the final 15, Edwards essentially said stick to the game plan.
"We need to just continue to focus on ourselves, no one else," he said. "Even though the course will be firmer and it'll be a little warmer, it's an advantage to play in the afternoon. You know exactly here you stand and we can see what holes have been troublesome for the others ahead of us."
NOTES: McDermott was named to the PING All-West Region team, as the list was released by the Golf Coaches Association of America Saturday morning; Biwer for some odd reason was left off the squad … Senior Jack Hughes is also on the trip as an alternate in case of illness, injury or simply to substitute in … When the Buffs started to tee off, the temperature was 90 degrees; the humidity was just 11 percent and the wind was negligible … After Bahan's10-stroke improvement in '64, the next best were eight-shot rallies by Bill Musselman in 1968 (second round 76, third round 68), Allen Hoos in 1966 (second round 78, third round 70) and Ron Speaker in 1984 (first round 80, second round 72) … The average score for all 312 rounds through 36 holes is 73.27 (73.29 on Saturday, 73.24 on Friday) … Colorado is playing the par-3's at 11-over (tied for 19th, Stanford leads at 2-under) the par-4s at 25-over (tied for 16th; Florida and Georgia Tech are 8-over to lead) and the par-5s at 2-over (still tied for 25th; Pepperdine leads at 9-under) … The Buffs had just 17 birdies (tied for 25th, North Carolina and Pepperdine have 31 to top the list) and their 110 pars tied for 16th (Florida has the high of 128) … There were no eagles Saturday after just two on Friday (neither were on a par-5) … With no holes worse than bogey Saturday, the Buffs have kicked big numbers to the curb, with just 15 worse than bogey in its last 882 holes going back to the first round of the Pac-12 Championship.
NOTES II: Four Pac-12 schools advanced into the NCAA Finals; in addition to CU, host Arizona State moved from 21st into a tie for ninth, Stanford moved from 17th into a tie for 13th; and Oregon, which had been tied with CU, moved from 23rd into 22nd.
The Buffaloes are very much in contention to make the 15-team cut into Monday's fourth and final round, as CU is just three strokes back of three teams tied for 13th (and eight out of eighth place, which is the cutline for match play that begins Monday).
Third-ranked Illinois grabbed the lead at the 36-hole mark, due to the Fighting Illini posting the best single round score of the 60 over two days – a 7-under 273 for 2-under 558 score overall. No. 9 Florida moved into second place with a 1-over 561 total, as the Gators were the only other team to break par in the second (2-under 278). No. 2 North Carolina and No. 11 Georgia Tech, the first round leader, are tied for third (566), with No. 8 Pepperdine rounding out the top five (568).
Colorado, ranked No. 48, moved into a tie for 17th with San Francisco with 19-over 579 totals. After the morning round was complete, the Buffaloes had moved up from a tie for 23rd into a tie for 15th, but 10 of those teams were also playing in the afternoon; 12 teams that finished had higher scores in relation to CU's 12-over at the time. Colorado's 7-over 287 score in the afternoon round tied for the fourth-best, behind Florida's 278 and Auburn's and Georgia Tech's 286.
While the Buffaloes haven't been a birdie machine, what's kept them in the hunt is the fact that it only has two holes worse than bogey through two rounds (180 holes) – none on Saturday, the only team of the 30 that could make that claim. Yet a small flurry of birdies Saturday – four over the last five holes, pulled the Buffs closer to making the cut.
CU's story of the second round was sophomore Tucker Clark, who hails from nearby Paradise Valley, rebounding from an opening 80 to card a 3-under 67, the second lowest score of the second round, which jumped him 69 spots in the standings into a tie for 84th. The 13- stroke improvement was the largest in the field, as well as a Colorado best in its NCAA Finals history. In 1964, Bob Bahan opened with an 85 and shot a 75, that 10-shot improvement holding as the best for 59 years until Saturday.
His 67 was also the third-best score in an NCAA Finals by a Buffalo, behind only a 65 by Hale Irwin in 1967 (en route to medalist honors) and a 66 by Ben Portie in 2002.
"Yesterday, I think I put too much pressure on myself because I had a lot of people out there watching me," Clark said of two dozen or so friends and family in the gallery. "I labored out there all day, didn't really hit great iron shots, and though I thought I had some good putts, they just didn't go in. It was as frustrating as could be, but I knew my game wasn't that far off. I just needed to hit better irons.
"Last night, I talked with my coaches and my mental coach (Howard Falco)," he said. "I was especially focused after studying today's pin sheet, and came out really focused on every hole. I hit it to those spots where I was thinking. I knew if I hit better irons today, I would post a lower number. I've had a lot of confidence because I've been hitting the ball well the last month, so I felt the first round was an aberration."
"Today, I drove it well, but my iron play was much improved and I wound up with somewhere in the 20s in putts," he said. "I just came in with the same mentality that I carried into yesterday, but I wanted to focus on my game more instead of the attention around me and who was watching.
Sophomore Dylan McDermott is tied for 36th after a 2-over 72, which has him in at 3-over 143 heading into the third round. He had a steady day with two birdies and 12 pars against four birdies, and should CU not qualify as a team, he is in position to advance individually at present. He remains one of just 12 (out of 30) players designated in the No. 1 position to lead their teams at the midway point.
Freshman Hunter Swanson shot a 4-over 74, which gave him a 6-over 146 at the midway point, tying him for 67th; he had one birdie and 12 pars opposite five bogeys, but his sole birdie came on the par-4 17th, one of the late ones in the round that helped the Buffaloes inch closer to the cut line.
Sophomore Justin Biwer is also tied for 84th with Clark after firing a 4-over 74 for a 7-over 147; he had one birdie and five bogeys on his day, along with 12 pars.
Sophomore Jack Holland struggled for the second straight round, as he turned in a 9-over 79 for a 15-over 155 total, that had him tied for 147th. He had nine pars and nine bogeys Saturday, when he did par No. 7 for the second straight round, the toughest hole of the day, the second-toughest Friday and the hardest through both rounds.
"We knew the opening stretch of holes were going to be very challenging, and relative to the field, we started well," head coach Roy Edwards said. "I was really impressed with Tucker's round, a phenomenal comeback from yesterday; he was spectacular the whole day.
"The team did what we always do, just stayed in the round by staying calm and believing in ourselves, and that led to a really good finish," Edwards noted. "The team as a whole has been very dedicated to picking the proper lines off tees and into greens and have executed things very well."
Georgia Tech's Ross Steelman maintained his lead in the race for medalist honors, as he turned in a 1-under 69 for a 7-under 133 total which grew his lead from two to three strokes; Texas A&M's Daniel Rodrigues and Illinois' ADumont de Chassart are tied for second at 4-under 136.
The third round is set for Sunday, with Colorado to be paired with No. 5 Texas Tech and No. 40 San Francisco; they will tee off on No. 1 beginning at 11:20 MST. After the round, the field will be cut to the low 15 teams and nine unaffiliated individuals. The top eight teams will then advance into match play, with quarterfinals and semifinals set for May 30 and the championship match on May 31.
As to what the Buffs need to do to advance into the final 15, Edwards essentially said stick to the game plan.
"We need to just continue to focus on ourselves, no one else," he said. "Even though the course will be firmer and it'll be a little warmer, it's an advantage to play in the afternoon. You know exactly here you stand and we can see what holes have been troublesome for the others ahead of us."
NOTES: McDermott was named to the PING All-West Region team, as the list was released by the Golf Coaches Association of America Saturday morning; Biwer for some odd reason was left off the squad … Senior Jack Hughes is also on the trip as an alternate in case of illness, injury or simply to substitute in … When the Buffs started to tee off, the temperature was 90 degrees; the humidity was just 11 percent and the wind was negligible … After Bahan's10-stroke improvement in '64, the next best were eight-shot rallies by Bill Musselman in 1968 (second round 76, third round 68), Allen Hoos in 1966 (second round 78, third round 70) and Ron Speaker in 1984 (first round 80, second round 72) … The average score for all 312 rounds through 36 holes is 73.27 (73.29 on Saturday, 73.24 on Friday) … Colorado is playing the par-3's at 11-over (tied for 19th, Stanford leads at 2-under) the par-4s at 25-over (tied for 16th; Florida and Georgia Tech are 8-over to lead) and the par-5s at 2-over (still tied for 25th; Pepperdine leads at 9-under) … The Buffs had just 17 birdies (tied for 25th, North Carolina and Pepperdine have 31 to top the list) and their 110 pars tied for 16th (Florida has the high of 128) … There were no eagles Saturday after just two on Friday (neither were on a par-5) … With no holes worse than bogey Saturday, the Buffs have kicked big numbers to the curb, with just 15 worse than bogey in its last 882 holes going back to the first round of the Pac-12 Championship.
NOTES II: Four Pac-12 schools advanced into the NCAA Finals; in addition to CU, host Arizona State moved from 21st into a tie for ninth, Stanford moved from 17th into a tie for 13th; and Oregon, which had been tied with CU, moved from 23rd into 22nd.
| Colorado | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | TOT | ||
| Par | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 35 | 70 |
| Yards | 430 | 395 | 475 | 562 | 205 | 348 | 502 | 188 | 468 | 390 | 650 | 468 | 230 | 430 | 450 | 173 | 405 | 520 | |||
| McDermott | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 72 |
| Biwer | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 39 | 74 |
| Clark | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 35 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 32 | 67 |
| Swanson | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 38 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 74 |
| Holland | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 39 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 40 | 79 |
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS | ||
| T36. | Dylan McDermott | 71-72—143 |
| T67. | Hunter Swanson | 72-74—146 |
| T84. | Justin Biwer | 73-74—147 |
| T84. | Tucker Clark | 80-67—147 |
| T147. | Jack Holland | 76-79—155 |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Ross Steelman, Georgia Tech | 64-69—133 |
| T2. | Daniel Rodrigues, Texas A&M | 70-66—136 |
| T2. | A Dumont de Chassart, Illinois | 68-68—136 |
| 4. | Fred Biondi, Florida | 69-68—137 |
| T5. | Neil Shipley, Ohio State | 70-68—138 |
| T5. | Dylan Menante, North Carolina | 68-70—138 |
| TEAM STANDINGS |
| 1. | Illinois | 285-273—558 |
| 2. | Florida | 283-278—561 |
| 3. | North Carolina | 282-284—566 |
| 3. | Georgia Tech | 280-286—566 |
| 5. | Pepperdine | 281-287—568 |
| 6. | Vanderbilt | 282-288—570 |
| 7 . | Florida State | 284-287—571 |
| 7. | Virginia | 290-281—571 |
| 9. | Arizona State | 291-281—572 |
| 9. | Alabama | 290-282—572 |
| 11. | Auburn | 288-286—574 |
| 11. | Texas A&M | 289-285—574 |
| 13. | Georgia | 285-291—576 |
| 13. | Stanford | 290-286—576 |
| 13. | Brigham Young | 289-287—576 |
| 16. | Texas Tech | 282-295—577 |
| 17. | COLORADO | 292-287—579 |
| 17. | San Francisco | 285-294—579 |
| 19. | Oklahoma | 287-293—580 |
| 20. | Arkansas | 281-301—582 |
| 20. | Ohio State | 287-295—582 |
| 22. | Oregon | 292-291—583 |
| 23. | Mississippi State | 291-295—586 |
| 24. | Texas | 295-292—587 |
| 25. | New Mexico | 293-296—589 |
| 26. | Duke | 290-300—590 |
| 27. | Chattanooga | 294-300—594 |
| 28. | Colorado State | 296-299—595 |
| 29. | East Tennessee State | 302-298—600 |
| 30. | Baylor | 304-297—601 |
Players Mentioned
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