Edwards Signs Two For Men's Golf

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                BOULDER - University of Colorado men's golf coach Roy Edwards signed two high school seniors to letters of intent to attend CU next fall in the early signing period that began last Wednesday.

                Signing letters-of-intent, confirmed through CU's compliance office, were Derek Fribbs, from Douglas County High School in Castle Rock, and Paul McConnell, from Garland, Texas.

                McConnell is listed as the No. 177 junior in the Golfweek/Titleist rankings; Fribbs did not have enough events to be ranked.  But in the National Junior Golf Scoreboard Class of 2009 rankings, Fribbs checked in at No. 61 and McConnell at No. 107.  Both players have assembled impressive resumes in local and regional tournaments.

"We are pleased with the signings of Derek and Paul," Edwards said.  "If these guys work hard and believe in themselves, they have a chance to be solid contributors immediately to the team.  We are already looking forward to having them in Boulder."

                Fribbs was selected as the Colorado Player of the Year by both the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post following an outstanding senior season this past fall when he owned a scoring average of 71.2 (or just a shade higher that CU's fall leader, Derek Tolan, who posted a school fall record of 71.0).  Fribbs was the 5A state champion with a 73-69?142 performance on the Air Force Academy's Eisenhower Blue Course, winning the title by six shots and leading Douglas County to the state championship.  He also scored rounds of 65 (at Buffalo Run Golf Course) and 67 (at South Suburban) during the season.

Fribbs, whose cousin is Travis Sandersfeld, a redshirt freshman safety on CU's football team, also tied for second in the state meet as a sophomore, turning in a 73-71?144 at Pinehurst Country Club; that was three strokes off the lead.  He tied for 18th as a junior at Collindale Golf Course in Fort Collins.

Fribbs also advanced to the round of 16 in the Colorado Golf Association Junior Match Play Championship, and qualified for the match play portion in the 108th CGA Match Play Championship.  He was named a CGA Junior All-Star.  He had four top 20 finishes in American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) competition, including a win in the Medicus in Albuquerque, where he shot a 66-71?137 on the University of New Mexico's Championship Course.

 "We are extremely excited about Derek," Edwards said of arguably the state's top senior golfer.  "We feel he is the best player from the state of Colorado in the class of 2009.  He is a long-hitting player who is a tremendous competitor and is one of the biggest sleepers in the country."

                McConnell has fared well in both the Texas high school and amateur circuits as well as nationally in AJGA competition.  He was the 2006 Texas Junior Match Play champion, qualifying for the event with a 72-76?148 score and then after winning his first match 1 up, cruised to the title with three 4 and 3 decisions, including in the final, and a 7 and 5 win in the semifinals.

He is a two-time Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) 6A High School Champion, winning with a 70-74?144 score (even) as a sophomore in 2007 and a 68-76?144 score (even) as a junior in 2008.  He will play for a third TAPPS title this spring.   In AJGA play, he has posted three second place finishes, coming at the 2006 Colonial (5-under), the 2006 Quad Cities (5 under) and the 2008 Dalhousie Championships (1-under).  He was "fully exempt" on the AJGA Tour last summer after placing fourth in the AJGA New Mexico Championship.

McConnell started playing when he was four, and played in his first tournament two years later.  He posted several top results before he finished grade school.

"Paul is a player who has an extensive playing resume nationally and in the state of Texas," Edwards said of his out-of-state signee, who will become just the fifth player from Texas to join the CU golf team, and the first since Davis Driver (from El Paso) was a senior in 1972.  "His all-around game is strong and versatile, which is an important characteristic for being a successful college golfer.  He has shown steady progress over his high school career and I expect that trend to continue during his time in Boulder."

                Edwards has one scholarship remaining, but indicated he hadn't yet decided to offer someone in the spring or choose to save it for the 2010 recruiting class.