Golfers In 11th At Big 12 Men's Championships
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TRINITY, Texas - The University of Colorado men's golf team hit a bad patch early Friday in the first of two rounds of the 12th Annual Big 12 Conference Championships and never really recovered in finishing the day in 11th place.
Colorado, the sixth-seed in the meet and the No. 60 team nationally, still has two rounds to climb in the standings, but it appears no one might catch No. 5 Oklahoma State, which ended the day with a commanding 15-stroke lead over No. 38 Texas. The Cowboys have a team score of 567, followed by the Longhorns (582), No. 16 Texas A&M (583) and No. 27 Texas Tech (584). The Buffaloes put a 614 in the books.
The first round started out decent enough for the Buffaloes, as through five holes, the four top players were just 1-over par. That ballooned on the next four holes to 9-over for the back nine (CU started on No. 10), and with no really one catching fire to reverse the trend, led to a team score of 311 for the round, some 23-over on the 7,470-yard, par-72 Whispering Pines Golf Club course.
Starting on No. 1 in the afternoon, the Buffaloes fared a bit better, turning at just 5-over, a nine-stroke improvement on its morning play on the side. They played the back side about the same in recording a 303 the second time around. CU had seven double bogeys and two quadruple ones in the morning, but did shave that down to five doubles in the afternoon.
"It was a little bit of Murphy' Law today," head coach Roy Edwards said. "Whatever could go wrong did go wrong. Basically, we struggled in almost all areas of the game, and it added up to some bad rounds overall. You just can't do that, and especially at the conference tournament.
Sophomore Luke Symons recorded the best single round of the day for the Buffs, a 1-over 73, and coupled with a morning 76 gave him a 149 total to tie for 22nd place. He had a team best seven birdies, with 19 pars, eight bogeys and two doubles Friday; his afternoon round included five birdies and he played the last seven holes of the day at 2-under. He is even-par on the back nine and 5-over on the front.
Senior Michael Baird had the next best effort for the Buffs, with his 75-79?154 performance tying him for 38th. He had four birdies, 20 pars, 10 bogeys and two doubles on the day, the latter both in the second round after he played a fairly steady opening 18.
Freshman Michael Imperato turned in an 80-76?156 scorecard, as he recorded three birdies and team-high 22 pars against nine bogeys, a double bogey and quadruple bogey, the latter on a par-3 in the morning round after he was just 1-over through six holes.
Junior Derek Tolan fought off a bothersome deep cut on his right hand to shoot an 83-75?158, which has his tied for 51st. He had six birdies, 18 pars, seven bogeys, four doubles and a quad, struggling at times. He was 1-under par through 12 holes in the second round before closing with two bogeys and a double over the final six.
Rounding out the CU action Friday was senior Jim Grady with an 80-79?159 effort. He has two birdies, 20 pars, 11 bogeys and three doubles over the two rounds, as he played the front side 11-over but the back nine just 4-over for the day.
"We know we need to work hard and we need to try and get refreshed and learn from today," Edwards said. "We know we're a really good team and just have to go out there and do what we know we are capable of. We're glad it's 72 holes this year instead of 54, and we know if we can play well the last two rounds, we'll move up. A first division finish is still very much possible."
Two OSU golfers lead the individual race, as Rickie Fowler and Kevin Tway both shot identical 72-68?140 scores.
The third round is set for a 8 a.m. MDT start Saturday, with the final round set to commence at 7 a.m. Sunday at Whispering Pines, located in a heavily wooded area about 90 miles to the northeast of Houston.
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
T22. Luke Symons............................ 76-73?149
T38. Michael Baird............................ 75-79?154
T45. Michael Imperato..................... 80-76?156
T51. Derek Tolan............................... 83-75?158
T53. Jim Grady.................................. 80-79?159
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
T1. Rickie Fowler, Oklahoma St..... 72-68?140
T1. Kevin Tway, Oklahoma State... 72-68?140
T3. Charlie Holland, Texas............. 70-71?141
T3. Tyler Rody, Oklahoma............... 70-71?141
T3. Chris Ward, Texas Tech............ 72-69?141
TEAM SCORES
1. Oklahoma State.................... 285-282?567
2. Texas...................................... 288-294?582
3. Texas A&M............................ 299-284?583
4. Texas Tech............................ 302-282?584
5. Oklahoma.............................. 295-297?592
6. Baylor..................................... 298-296?594
7. Kansas................................... 303-295?598
8. Kansas State......................... 297-307?604
9. Iowa State.............................. 298-314?612
10. Nebraska............................... 303-300?603
11. COLORADO.......................... 311-303?614
12. Missouri.................................. 312-304?616