Buff Golfers Slip Into 10th At Big 12 Championships

HUTCHINSON, Kan. - The University of Colorado men's golf team slipped one spot into 10th place in the standings after the third round was completed here Tuesday in the 15th Annual Big 12 Conference Championships.

Oklahoma State used a record 10-under par team score of 270 to pull away from the field, as the Cowboys also have a 54-hole record low score of 845 heading into the final round.  No. 6 Texas A&M moved from fourth into second, but the Aggies are 12 strokes back at 857, with No. 11 Texas a distant third at 862.

Colorado is now in 10th place after a 13-over 293 score it posted Tuesday, and though the Buffs rebounded from posting the highest score in Monday's second round by shaving 14 strokes off the total, they still dropped one spot in the overall standings with 18 holes remaining. Colorado was in eighth place after the first round.

"Just not a very good start; we were nine or 10 shots over par pretty quick before we settled down," head coach Roy Edwards said.  "We have just continued to make too many big numbers, and often too early.  It's something we've done all year and haven't been able to solve.  It's no one thing, it's different things with different people.  We just need to be more disciplined overall, and when we get it in trouble, need to do a better job of what the next shot needs to be.  Sometimes our misses are just too big, and on really hard golf courses, you can't get away with those things."

The five Buffs were 16-over par (10 over by the four eventual scorers) after the first seven holes, with no birdies until Heisele and Symons both scored one on the par-5 17th. 

Senior Luke Symons turned in CU's first subpar round of the tournament, as he played steady on Tuesday in posting four birdies, 12 pars and just two bogeys for a 2-under 68 on the 6,759-yard, par-70 Prairie Dunes Golf Club course.  He has a 9-over total of 219 through 54 holes, which has him tied for 23rd individually, with his eight birdies over the two days tied for 16th most in the 59-man field.  He is playing Prairie Dunes' tough par-3's third best in the field at 1-under, with three birdies, seven pars and two bogeys to date.

Symons' 68 tied for the second lowest round recorded by a Buff in the Big 12 championship event, topped only by a 66 by Matt Call on this same Prairie Dunes layout in 1999.  Two others shot 68s: Derek Tolan, also here in Hutchinson two years ago, and current assistant coach Jim Grady, who fired his at Whispering Pines in Trinity, Texas, in 2008.  He is now in sole possession of eighth place on CU's all-time list of rounds played with 142, where he will finish after he puts Wednesday's final round into the books.

Junior Kevin Kring turned in a 7-over 77 for a 54-hole total of 224 (14-over), which has him tied for 36th place.   He had a birdie and 10 pars to counter six bogeys and a double; his 34 pars over three rounds is tied for the 16th highest in the field.

Sophomore Pat Wilson recorded a 5-over 75 for a 15-over 225 total, which has him tied for 40th in the standings.  He had two birdies and 10 pars with five bogeys and a double on Tuesday; he was 5-over after eight holes but settled down to play the rest of his round at even par.

Junior Sebastian Heisele opened with a 71 Monday but followed that up with a frustrating 87; he bounced back to knock 14 strokes off that's core with a 3-over 73 Tuesday, giving him a 21-over 231 total, tying him for 52nd place.  He had three birdies and 10 pars against four bogeys and a double for his Tuesday efforts, and he is sixth in the field in par-5 scoring, playing the six through three rounds at 3-under par.

Heisele improved 14 strokes from one round to the next in the same tournament for the second time in his career, having also done so the only other time he scored a round in the 80s.  In September, he shot an opening round 85 in the New Mexico Tucker Invitational but came back with a second round 71; both comebacks tie for the seventh best marks for stroke improvement from one round to the next in CU history.

"Luke played really solid, and Sebastian came back very nicely," Edwards said.  "Luke's at the end of a very tough two years following the pair of hip surgeries and working hard to get his game back, so it was good to see him post a red number."

Symons' effort wasn't lost on observers.  Only 20 rounds in the 60s have been posted in 177 over the two days, 14 of those coming Tuesday.  Twelve of the 20 have been recorded by the top two teams - Oklahoma State and Texas A&M - each with six.

Sophomore Jason Burstyn is tied for 57th, shooting an 8-over 78 to give him a 24-over total of 234.  He opened the day with a quadruple bogey on the par-3 No. 10 as he had trouble in the bunker, though he did scramble around the remainder of the round to play the last 17 holes at that same four-over par.  He had one par and 12 birdies with four bogeys after his disastrous start, and despite his struggles, he's still 12th in the field in par-5 scoring (2-under).

Two Oklahoma State Cowboy golfers remain atop the leaderboard, with Morgan Hoffman now alone in first place after a 68 Tuesday for a 3-under 207 total; Kevin Tway recorded a 1-over 71 for an even 210 score to stand three strokes back.  Texas A&M's Jordan Russell shot the low third round score of 66 to move into third place, five back at 212.

The Buffs, some 46 shots out of the lead, now know they are out of the NCAA postseason, as a .500 or better record against division competition or a conference title are required to advance.  CU came in with a 61-98-3 record against Division I competition, and if all teams ahead of it were to shoot a score of 300 or higher, the Buffs would need four scores of 64 or better to make up that kind of ground. 

"The guys want to have a good finish," Edwards said.  "We realistic, we know that tomorrow is the last round of the year, and they're as frustrated as we (the coaches) are, but are still working at it."

The fourth and final round will be Wednesday, with the Buffs to tee off beginning at 7:50 a.m. MT, paired with golfers from Kansas State and Iowa State.  It will be the CU's last round as a member of the Big 12 before the Buffaloes join the Pac-12 Conference this July 1.