Men's Golf: Buffs In Ninth At Big 12 Title Meet

HUTCHINSON, Kan. - The University of Colorado men's golf team opened strong but had two bad stretches as the Buffaloes stand in ninth place at the halfway mark of the 15th Annual Big 12 Conference Championships, the school's last before joining the Pac-12 Conference this July.

"Guess who" is atop the leaderboard through 36 holes, as No. 1-ranked and four-time defending league champion Oklahoma State owns a 15-over par total of 575, good for a three-stroke lead over No. 11 Texas (578), with No. 26 Oklahoma (579) and No. 6 Texas A&M (582) lurking.   Colorado is in ninth place with a 38-over total of 598 after the Buffs posted a disappointing 307 (plus-27) in Monday's second round.

Colorado was in eighth place after the first round, eight shots behind OSU and just five behind three others who were tied for second.  The Buffs endured a muddied part of their first round with a hot finish - the four scorers for the first 18 played the last five holes at a collective 6-under par, scoring an eagle, five birdies and 12 pars with just one bogey to close out the round.  That was the best in the 12-team field, even topping Oklahoma State, which saw its four scorers play those last 20 holes at just 2-under.

"We ended strong in the morning, but couldn't keep that momentum going when we started the second round," head coach Roy Edwards said.  "We had a poor start and a poor finish in the afternoon, though the middle was pretty good.  We've just got to be more consistent, and we've struggled with that all year.  We just can't do that as inconsistency doesn't lend itself to getting into any kind of rhythm, and that leads to high scores."

The fifth-year CU coach was spot on with his assessment of the second round, as it was textbook inconsistency.  The four Buffs who scored for the team were a combined 20-over the first six holes (30 holes total), played the next six at 3-under, and closed the last six at 10-over.

The temperature never rose above the mid-50s, dipping into the 40s by the end of the round, with light rain off and on in the morning and steady winds between 15-20 miles per hour present for most of the day.

Edwards said the weather basically impacted all the teams the same, though more often than not, in subpar conditions, the Buffs often play better than most.  "We didn't handle the weather any better or any worse than anyone else," he said. 

All 12 schools posted higher team scores in the second round than the first, as did 42 golfers in the 59-man field.  The average first round score was 73.7, the norm in the second two-plus strokes higher at 75.8.

Junior Kevin Kring turned in CU's most consistent effort over both rounds, as he ended the day with a 73-74-147 scorecard, tying him for 18th place.  He racked up the most pars by any Buffalo (24, also eighth best in the field), along with the fewest holes of bogey or worse with nine, only one of which was a double.  He also made three birdies and is third in par-3 scoring (1-under) on the 6,759-yard, par-70 Prairie Dunes Golf Club course. 

Sophomore Pat Wilson started well with a 1-over 71, which had him tied for ninth at the time, but put a 79 into the books his second time around the track for a 10-over 150 total, which has him tied for 36th.  Wilson scored one of just six eagles Monday, recording a 3 on the 519-yard, par-5 No. 17 in the morning, which enabled him to be tied for ninth on the day in par-5 scoring (at 2-under).  He logged two birdies, 21 pars, 10 bogeys and two doubles to go with his eagle.

Senior Luke Symons is tied for 38th after a 76-75-151 effort, as he moved into a tie for eighth place on CU's all-time rounds played list with 141; he caught Steve Jones with his two Monday rounds.   He played the par-3's even, tied for eighth in the field, and tied for the team best with four birdies.  He otherwise had 19 pars, 11 bogeys and two doubles.

Sophomore Jason Burstyn is tied for 51st after a 77-79-156 performance, as he matched Symons' four birdies for the day but could only manage 15 pars; he also had 14 bogeys and three doubles.  He did handle the par-5s well, tied for ninth in the field after playing them at 2-under par.

Junior Sebastian Heisele rounded out the CU performers Monday, unfortunately having to endure a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde kind of day.  He opened with a solid 1-over 71, which included birdies on two of his first three holes, but the proverbial wheels came off in the second round.  He would score a career collegiate worst 87 (17-over), just his second college round in the 80s for 81 total rounds; he had but five pars against nine bogeys and four doubles to end the day with a 158 total, tying him for 55th.

Two Oklahoma State Cowboy golfers are tied for the individual lead, with Morgan Hoffman and Kevin Tway both in the clubhouse through two rounds with 1-under 139 totals.  Oklahoma's Ryan Sirman is one back at 140.

With a 61-98-3 record against Division I competition, the only way the Buffaloes can earn a bid into the NCAA postseason is to win this tournament.

 "We have two more rounds, and things are tightly packed enough where we can still have a good finish if we can play well these last two days," Edwards said.  "All's not lost, we have 36 holes left, and we still have opportunities ahead of us.  Each guy has to concentrate on getting more consistent, and that will lead to better consistency for the team.  We have two rounds left to show we can do it."

The third round is scheduled for a 7 a.m. MDT shotgun start Tuesday, with the Buffs to begin play on the No. 10 tee and paired with Kansas and Baylor.  The fourth and final round will be Wednesday.