Golfers 15th At The Prestige
LA QUINTA, Calif. - The University of Colorado men's golf team escaped the cellar here Tuesday, but could only climb three notches in finishing 15th in the third annual playing of "The Prestige," a competition between the nation's top academic golf-playing institutions.
TCU held the lead from wire-to-wire, shooting under par in all three rounds including a 6-under 282 in the third and final round to win easily with an 853 score. Cal-Irvine finished second, 15 strokes off the pace, while Colorado placed 15th with a 904 total.
The Buffs couldn't totally recover from a disastrous first round, when they found themselves in last place, but did wind up recording the fifth best score in the darkness-delayed second round to move up the standings.
Kansas' Chris Marshall claimed medalist honors with a nine-under 207 score, edging TCU's Adam Robinson by a single shot. CU was led by freshman Derek O'Neill, who turned in his best collegiate tournament of his young career. He tied for 12th with his 71-73-73-217 scorecard on the 6,841-yad, par 72 La Quinta Resort Mountain Course at PGA West.
Senior captain Stephen Carroll (a 77 Tuesday for a 227) and junior Jeff Hanson (76-228) were the next best Buffs, tying for 48th and 52nd respectively.
"We lost a lot of strokes to the field in the first round, but I was pleased with how the guys fought back, especially immediately thereafter in the second round," CU head coach Mark Simpson said. "You want to see that kind of fight, that kind of determination and that kind of composure to gather yourself and move on. This was a tough golf course, good challenges at every turn, and we hung in there. Derek finally got his game going, and he picked up a lot of confidence here. But we're having those peaks and valleys you're going to have with so many freshmen in the mix."
The Buffs basically remain on the road, as CU will cross the country to the east coast to participate in the inaugural Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championships this weekend in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The top 16 teams from last spring's NCAA Championships will compete in the tourney, as Colorado enters as the No. 15 seed and will start off against No. 2 Augusta.
The six Buffaloes to compete in the match play are Carroll, Hanson, O'Neill, Edward McGlasson, Ryan Anderson and Michael Feuerstein, the last four of which are all true freshmen.
Buffalo Individuals
T12. Derek O'Neill.......... 71-73-73--217
T48. Stephen Carroll........ 79-71-77--227
T52. Jeff Hanson............ 74-78-76--228
T64. Edward McGlasson....... 87-70-75--232
90. Blake Moore............ 90-80-82--252
Team Scores
1. TCU.................. 284-287-282--853
2. UC-Irvine............ 286-296-286--868
3. Pepperdine........... 299-286-288--873
4. UCLA................. 292-293-292--877
5. Vanderbilt........... 295-291-294--880
6. Kansas............... 300-286-296--882
6. Washington........... 292-298-292--882
8. UC-Davis............. 293-292-301--886
9. San Diego............ 301-295-295--891
10. Oregon............... 304-293-297--894
11. Stanford............. 298-300-301--899
12. Pacific.............. 291-299-311--901
13. Rice................. 301-300-301--902
13. Yale................. 298-313-291--902
15. COLORADO............. 311-292-301--904
16. UC-Santa Barbara..... 304-310-308--922
17. UC-San Diego......... 303-303-319--925
18. Air Force............ 302-317-315--934