Men's Golf: Buffs Remain In Seventh At Big 12's
TRINITY, Texas - The University of Colorado men's golf team had a rollercoaster day but in the end remained in seventh place after Saturday's third round of the 14th Annual Big 12 Conference Golf Championships.
No. 1 Oklahoma State, the co-leader at the midway point, assumed a two-stroke lead heading into the final round with a 13-under par 851 team score. But it's anyone's race at this point, with No. 7 Texas (853), No. 12 Texas Tech (855) and the other second round co-leader No. 5 Texas A&M (857) all within easy striking distance. Kansas State (869) and No. 50 Baylor (876) round out the top six, or first division.
Colorado, ranked No. 90, was in sixth after the first round and seventh after the second, remaining in that position after turning in a 16-over score of 304 for the third round, giving the Buffaloes a cumulative total of 888. Nebraska is in CU's rearview mirror, 1 shot back, with Oklahoma ninth at 897; the three old Big 8 rivals played together Saturday and will again in Sunday's last 18.
Sophomore Sebastian Heisele is tied for 19th after a third straight 1-over 73 for 3-over 219. He had five birdies and eight pars against four bogeys and one double Saturday on the 7,480-yard, par-72 Whispering Pines Golf Club course layout. He was 2-under at one point, and finished the day with a birdie on No. 9 to get it back to 1-over. He's played the par-3s the fifth-best this weekend (a collective 1-under) and the par-5s the 11th-best (-5) in the 60-man field.
Redshirt freshman Jason Burstyn struggled for the first time here, as he followed rounds of 73-70 that had him tied for 14th with a 7-over 79, giving him a 222 total which knocked him down into a tie for 28th. He was actually 1-under after three holes, matching Heisele for CU's best start on the day, but then made two bogeys and suffered a triple to slide back to 4-over after six holes.
Senior Justin Bardgett put a 3-over 75 into the books for 7-over 223 total, tying him for 31st. CU's No. 1 man with a 72.6 stroke average, he had hoped to get off to a good start to get back on track, but struggled at the onset with a bogey then a double before playing even the final 16 holes. He had four birdies Saturday giving him a team-best 11 here for the three rounds, tied for the 13th-most in the overall field.
Freshman Derek Fribbs had five birdies, six pars, five bogeys, a double and a triple en route to a 5-over 77, giving him an 8-over 224 to stand tied for 35th. Fribbs had a plain awful first nine (holes 10-18), turning at 45 after ending the back side with the multi-bogeys. But he mounted an impressive comeback, scoring all five of his birdies on the front nine in posting a 32, the low nine hole score of the day and tied for the fourth lowest nine in the tournament.
Sophomore Kevin Kring continued to struggle, as he followed rounds of 81-78 with a 7-over 79, with his 238 total (22-over) keeping him in 58th place for the third straight round. He hasn't had a lot of big numbers over the course of 54 holes, rather a team-high 17 bogeys has kept him from gaining any momentum.
"We didn't move down obviously, but we did a decent job managing a bad round," head coach Roy Edwards said. "Derek came back with some birdies on the back nine, Justin came back after a poor start and Sebastian played solid again. The two freshmen came back down to Earth a little bit, with Jason having his first big numbers here he had to endure. That's the way it goes some times." The five Buffaloes were a collective 21-over par on the back nine, but just 2-over after the turn Saturday.
Colorado needed to win the conference title to qualify for the postseason, and a 38-stroke comeback isn't likely in the cards, so the Buffaloes know that Sunday is their last round of the season.
"Tomorrow is our last round of our year, and we want to all go into the summer on a good note," Edwards said. "Justin has a good chance in my mind to advance to the NCAA's as an individual, so he'll play inspired on Sunday. He has a pretty good body of work for the season so it'll come down to what's happening in other conference meets around the country."
The course set-up was tougher on Saturday. "There were difficult pin locations and the winds really picked up, making it the toughest of the three rounds here," Edwards said. "Eighteen, for example, played 70 yards long today than Friday. The stretches to end each nine were extremely tough, either dead against the wind or with severe crosswinds."
Edwards' assessment was right on the money. The stroke average for the first two rounds was a modest 73.6, but that jumped to 75.9 Saturday when only two players scored rounds in the 60s, with five others under par and just five more matching it This after 39 subpar rounds, 15 in the 60s, and seven even rounds scored in the first two rounds.
Texas Tech's Chris Ward remained in the lead for medalist honors, carding a 1-under 71 for a 205 total, or 11-under. He extended his lead to two shots over Texas' Bobby Hudson, who logged a 72 into the books Saturday for a 9-under 207 score. Texas A&M's Andrea Pavan is lurking three strokes back.
"Our goal is simple for Sunday and that's to play as good as we can," Edwards concluded. "Maybe something good can happen and we can get into the top six. We'd be pleased with that at this point." Kansas State is bidding to become just the second north division school to finish in the top five when the south has hosted the meet either here or in Tulsa; the Buffs had hoped to do the same and still have an outside shot at it.
The fourth and final round is set for Sunday, with the Buffaloes again starting on No. 10 in staggered starting times beginning at 7:00 a.m. mountain time.
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
T19. Sebastian Heisele........................... 73-73-73-219
T28. Jason Burstyn................................. 73-70-79-222
T31. Justin Bardgett................................ 70-78-75-223
T35. Derek Fribbs................................... 73-74-77-224
58. Kevin Kring..................................... 81-78-79-238
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
1. Chris Ward, Texas Tech.................... 69-65-71-205
2. Bobby Hudson, Texas....................... 64-71-72-207
3. Andrea Pavan, Texas A&M................ 71-66-71-208
4. Peter Uihlein, Oklahoma State.......... 67-72-72-211
5. Lorenzo Scotto, Baylor..................... 69-67-77-213
TEAM SCORES
1. Oklahoma State........................... 281-284-286-851
2. Texas......................................... 282-284-287-853
3. Texas Tech................................. 286-285-284-855
4. Texas A&M................................. 280-285-292-857
5. Kansas State.............................. 290-283-296-869
6. Baylor........................................ 288-287-301-876
7. COLORADO............................ 289-295-304-888
8. Nebraska.................................... 290-295-304-889
9. Oklahoma................................... 299-290-308-897
10. Iowa State.................................. 300-294-311-905
11. Missouri..................................... 301-297-309-907
12. Kansas....................................... 295-298-315-908