Golfers Remain 11th At Big 12 Men's Championships
Related Links
#articleRelated {
display: none;
}
TRINITY, Texas - The University of Colorado men's golf team posted the day's sixth best score but could not move out of its 11th place standing as the third round of the 12th Annual Big 12 Conference Championships was completed here Saturday.
No. 5 Oklahoma State added two strokes to its second round lead and is ahead by 16 shots over No. 27 Texas Tech heading into the final round. The Cowboys are the only school under par, with a 14-under 850 total. Tech (866), No. 38 Texas (868) and No. 16 Texas A&M (877) make up the rest of the top four, which has separated as a group from the rest of the field.
Colorado, the sixth-seed in the meet and the No. 60 team nationally, shot an 8-over 296 Saturday and has a 46-over team total of 910 heading into the final round. The Buffs are 14 strokes out of sixth place but are a healthy 11 ahead of last place Missouri; in over 90 years of college golf, CU has just one last place finish in a conference meet (1949 in the old Big Seven).
But the Buffaloes came here to end a three-year run of finishing 11th, 10th (tie) and 11th.
"We know we still have a chance to finish as high as sixth and today we did creep a little closer to the teams ahead of us," head coach Roy Edwards said. "We're just in a rough patch right now. We started on the harder side first and were in a good position to play well, but struggled coming in down the stretch. We didn't score like we could have or should have on some of the easier holes?for here."
Colorado's four scorers were 2-over on the back side, its first nine of the round, but played the front nine 6-over on the 7,470-yard, par-72 Whispering Pines Golf Club course.
Senior Jim Grady turned in CU's best performance Saturday as well as for the first three rounds overall. His 4-under par 68 tied for the second best round of the day in the 60-man field, was the best 18-hole score of his collegiate career, and was also his team best fifth round in the 60s by a Buffalo this season, all in the spring. It was also the second best round to date by a Buff in 36 rounds of Big 12 Conference championship play, bested only by a 66 by Matt Call in the 1999 meet at Prairie Dunes.
Grady's effort included six birdies and just two bogeys, one of which came on his first hole of the day (No. 10) before going on to post 34s on both nines. He has 227 total for 54 holes and is tied for tied for 31st.
"Jim played really, really well," Edwards said. "He really stepped up when we needed someone to, and he has done that a lot of times this semester. I was proud of him today. We really needed the score he posted."
Sophomore Luke Symons fired a 77 for a 226 score, as he is the highest Buffalo in the individual standings, tied for 29th through three rounds. He had a birdie and six bogeys to go with 11 pars, and started off well enough Saturday, just 1-over after the first nine; three straight bogeys on Nos. 1, 2 and 3 sent him in the other direction to begin his second nine.
Freshman Michael Imperato continued his steady play with a 75 Saturday, with his round featuring one birdie, 13 pars and four bogeys. He added to his team-high here as he now has 35 pars in 54 holes, tied for the 10th most in the tournament. With a 231 overall score, he is tied for 44th overall, which is 10th out of the 15 true freshmen competing here.
Symons and Imperato have the fewest holes?two?scoring double bogey or worse here through 54 holes by any CU players.
Senior Michael Baird had CU's high score on the day, a 6-over 78, despite recording the most pars (14); he had two bogeys and two doubles. He is in 46th overall with a 232 (16-over) total entering the final round.
Junior Derek Tolan recorded a 4-over 76 and is tied for 48th with a 234 score. He has been dealing with a deep cut on his right hand he suffered early in the week, but he's managed to overcome it but has struggled a bit regardless. He had three birdies, five bogeys and a double in his round Saturday.
"We have a good mindset and we know if we play well (Sunday) we can move past a bunch of teams and turn this into a respectable performance," Edwards said. "That could set the tone for the rest of the season and into nationals, so we're fired up to close here on a strong note."
Oklahoma State's Kevin Tway remained in the lead, although is now in solo possession of it as he recorded a 2-under 70 for a 210 overall score (6-under), good for a one shot lead over teammate Rickie Fowler and Texas Tech's Garrett Merrill, who matched Grady's 68 score.
The fourth and final round is set for a 7 a.m. MDT start Sunday; the Buffs will be paired with Nebraska and Missouri and begin at 7:50. It is the first conference meet that CU has ever participated in that will be 72 holes, and the first four round tournament for the Buffs since the 2002 NCAA Championships.
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
T29. Luke Symons.............................. 76-73-77?226
T32. Jim Grady................................... 80-79-68?227
T44. Michael Imperato........................ 80-76-75?231
46. Michael Baird.............................. 75-79-78?232
T48. Derek Tolan................................ 83-75-76?234
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
1. Kevin Tway, Oklahoma State...... 72-68-70?210
T2. Rickie Fowler, Oklahoma State.... 72-68-71?211
T2. Garrett Merrill, Texas Tech.......... 76-67-68?211
T4. Charlie Holland, Texas................. 70-71-71?212
T4. Chris Ward, Texas Tech............. 72-69-71?212
TEAM SCORES
1. Oklahoma State....................... 285-282-283?850
2. Texas Tech............................. 302-282-282?866
3. Texas....................................... 288-294-286?868
4. Texas A&M.............................. 299-284-294?877
5. Baylor...................................... 298-296-298?892
6. Kansas.................................... 303-295-298?896
7. Oklahoma................................. 295-297-308?900
8. Iowa State............................... 298-313-292?903
9. Kansas State........................... 297-307-301?905
10. Nebraska................................. 303-300-305?908
11. COLORADO........................... 311-303-296?910
12. Missouri.................................. 312-304-305?921