Men's Golfers In Seventh At Midway Point Of Big 12 Championships
Related Links
#articleRelated {
display: none;
}
TRINITY, Texas - The University of Colorado men's golf team stands in seventh place at the midway point of the 14th Annual Big 12 Conference Golf Championships after the first two rounds of competition here Friday.
No. 1 Oklahoma State and No. 5 Texas A&M are tied for the lead through 36 holes, as both recorded identical 11-under par 565 scores. No. 7 Texas is lurking right behind at 566, with No. 12 Texas Tech (571), Kansas State (573) and No. 50 Baylor (575) rounding out the first division (top six).
Colorado, ranked No. 90, was in sixth after turning in a 1-over par 289 for opening 18, but had a few afternoon struggles in posting a 295 for an 8-over 584 total.
"We got off to a good start and were in position to shoot a really low score, but struggled coming in," head coach Roy Edwards said. "Overall it was still a very solid opening round. In the afternoon, we could have another solid round but we had to count a 78, which was the bulk of why we shot 7-over for the round. The guys know we're oh so close to putting something really good together, and we have two more chances here to do just that."
Redshirt freshman Jason Burstyn, who has had a fine spring and earned the fifth-man position for these championships, is pacing the Buffaloes through two rounds. His 73-70?143 scorecard has him 1-under overall and tied for 14th individually, and of the 15 freshman playing here, tied for the third best score. He had five birdies, 27 pars and four bogeys in playing as steady as any CU freshman has in his first league meet; while several frosh have recorded even-par 70s, Burstyn's 2-under par 70 in the afternoon was the best round by a Buff frosh in a conference championship since 1972, when Mike Mulhern opened the Big 8 Championship with a 4-under 68 at Boulder Country Club.
[Watch Burstyn on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssNgo_66724]
Sophomore Sebastian Heisele is tied for 25th after a pair of 73s has him at 2-over 146. He too was consistent, with four birdies, 26 pars and four bogeys on the 7,480-yard, par-72 Whispering Pines Golf Club course layout.
Freshman Derek Fribbs also enjoyed a solid first time out in a conference title affair, posting a 73-74?147 effort; he led the Buffs with 29 pars, with two birdies and five bogeys accounting for his 3-over par status which has him tied for 29th. He's tied for eighth among all frosh here.
"I am very proud of the freshmen," Edwards said. "Jason played solid all day, as did Derek. Both guys are capable of even better things, and Sebastian put two good back-to-back rounds together despite not putting very well. If he can get some putts to drop, he'll go low. He's hitting the ball very well right now."
Senior Justin Bardgett, CU's No. 1 man with a 72.6 stroke average, had a "Jekyll and Hyde" kind of day. He's tied for 32nd after recording a 70-78?148 performance (4-over), but spent much of the morning round in second place. He opened with four pars, and then birdied six of his next 10 holes to stand 6-under with Nos. 7-9 remaining after starting on the back nine. He was thus in position to tie or break the best round ever by a CU golfer in a conference championship meet.
But that's when things would turn ugly for the next 16 holes crossing over both rounds Friday. He scored a double bogey on the par-4 7th hole, and then concluded his opening round with back-to-back bogeys. He started round two with three straight pars, but endured one triple, one double and two bogeys, with one birdie for a counter punch, over the next 10 holes. He did catch his breath and finish with five straight pars. He did record a team-best seven birdies.
Matt Call's third round 66 in the 1999 Big 12 Championship at Prairie Dunes set the gross scoring mark for a CU golfer in a league meet, while Bill Musselman's 5-under 67 in 1968 at Boulder's Lake Valley Golf Club stands as the best under par score.
"Justin made a mistake on No. 7, a couple of bad swings led to a bogey on 8, and then he missed a short putt on 9," Edwards relayed from what his senior had told him. "He had just a couple of bad swings in the afternoon that led to his higher number. He's disappointed and he wants to play well, but he still has 36 holes left and can have a good finish."
Sophomore Kevin Kring rounded out the CU effort with an 81-78?159, or 15-over score, placing him 58th. He truly struggled, with three birdies, 19 pars, 11 bogeys, two doubles and a triple on the day. As a freshman in 2009, he opened with an 8-over 78, but eventually came around to close with an even-par effort for a 12th place finish, so he has a history, albeit brief, of rebounding.
The average score for Friday's 120 rounds was 73.6. Fifteen players are under par at the midway point, with five others in at even.
Texas Tech's Chris Ward is on top of the individual leader board after firing a 10-under par 134 with rounds of 69 and 65; he was even through 13, then played his last 23 holes at 10-under with an eagle, eight birdies and the rest pars. He owns a one-shot edge over Texas' Bobby Hudson, who opened with what so far is the low round of the tournament, an 8-under 64; he came back with an afternoon 71.
The third round is set for Saturday, with the Buffaloes paired with Nebraska and Oklahoma; the trio will start on No. 10 and will go off in staggered starting times beginning at 8:00 a.m. mountain time. The final round is set for Sunday.
"We want to play a solid round and catch one or two teams ahead of us and be in position to have a strong finish Sunday," Edwards concluded. "We're confident that we can do that over the next two days."
Rainy conditions were present at the start of Friday's play, eventually giving way to sunshine and temperatures in the mid-80s, combined with typical Texas humidity to make things fairly muggy most of the day. Thunderstorms are again expected in early morning hours but should clear in time for the first tee times Saturday, with the forecast calling for highs in the upper 70s.
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
T14. Jason Burstyn............................. 73-70?143
T25. Sebastian Heisele....................... 73-73?146
T29. Derek Fribbs................................ 73-74?147
T32. Justin Bardgett........................... 70-78?148
58. Kevin Kring................................... 81-78?159
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
1. Chris Ward, Texas Tech............. 69-65?134
2. Bobby Hudson, Texas................. 64-71?135
3. Lorenzo Scotto, Baylor................ 69-67?136
T4. Jordan Russell, Texas A&M....... 68-69?137
T4. Andrea Pavan, Texas A&M........ 71-66?137
TEAM SCORES
T1. Oklahoma State...................... 281-284?565
T1. Texas A&M............................. 280-285?565
3. Texas....................................... 282-284?566
4. Texas Tech.............................. 286-285?571
5. Kansas State........................... 290-283?573
6. Baylor...................................... 288-287?575
7. COLORADO............................. 289-295?584
8. Nebraska................................. 290-295?585
9. Oklahoma................................ 299-290?589
10. Kansas..................................... 295-298?593
11. Iowa State............................... 300-294?594
12. Missouri.................................. 301-297?598