Golfers In Seventh At Gifford Intercollegiate

               SAN MARTIN, Calif. — The University of Colorado men’s golf team opened its final tournament of the fall season here Monday, with the Buffaloes in seventh place in UCLA’s Gifford Intercollegiate, annually one of the most competitive meets in the nation.

               No. 18 Southern California leads the 10-team field, which features four top 20 teams and eight in the top 38, as the Trojans were the only ones under par in Monday’s first round, posting a 2-under 353 score.  No. 8 UCLA is two back at 355, with No. 4 Texas third (359).  Northwestern, ranked down the line at No. 66, in fourth with 360, while No. 16 Stanford rounds out the top five at 362.

               The Buffaloes, ranked No. 35, closed the first day with a 12-over 367 total in the six-for-five format (each school has six players, with five counting toward the team score); it’s the first one this season for the Buffaloes, and is similar to the format utilized in the Pac-12 Championships.

               Sophomore Jeremy Paul, who is ranked as the nation’s 45th individual (the first CU golfer to crack the top 50 since 2009), paced the Buffaloes Monday as he carded a 3-under par 68 on the 7,360-yard, par-71 CordeValle Country Club course layout.  Tied for fourth, he had very steady round that featured four birdies and 13 pars against a single bogey, and was in the top 10 for each hole configuration: ninth on the par-3s (even), seventh on the par-4s (1-under) and sixth on the par-5s (2-under).

               Junior Philip Juel-Berg is tied for 22nd after recording a 1-over 72, as he had three birdies and 11 pars with four bogeys.  He matched Paul as the only Buffs to play the front nine in red numbers, both carding 35s; CU started the day off the No. 10 tee.

               Sophomore Yannik Paul, the younger of the two identical twins, fashioned a 4-over 75, as he stands tied for 45th.  He had two birdies and 11 pars against four bogeys and a double, opening strong with an even-par 35 on the back nine before running into a little bit of trouble on the front nine.

               Senior David Oraee is tied for 50th, scoring 38s on each side for a 5-over 76; he had two birdies and nine parts and an uncharacteristic seven bogeys; he bogeyed four of his first six holes and then settled down, but closed the day with back-to-back ones on Nos. 8 and 9.

               Sophomore Ethan Freeman also logged a 5-over 76 into the books Monday, as he recorded a birdie, 11 pars and six bogeys overall.  He did play the par-5s at even par for the round.

               Junior Drew Trujillo had a rough day, carding a 9-over 80, being undone by four double bogeys for the most part; tied for 67th, he otherwise had a birdie, 11 pars and a bogey.

              “Jeremy played solid and had a really nice round, and Philip did a good job to shoot 1-over,” CU head coach Roy Edwards said.  “But on the negative side, we just made too many mistakes and got down on ourselves early.  It’s not the first time that’s happened this fall, and we need to stop doing that.  You can’t play your best golf if you continue to dwell on a mistake you’ve made.  You have to move on from it.”

              But Edwards, as always, is optimistic about the next two rounds.

              “This is one of the top six or seven tournaments in the country,” he said.  “It’s a great test for us, and it’s an opportunity for us to beat some of the traditional powers in college golf.  We’d like nothing more than to take advantage of an opportunity like this going into the winter.”

               Texas’ Doug Ghim and UCLA’s Jake Knapp are tied for the individual lead, as both carded identical 5-under par 66 scores; USC’s Paul Smith is one back, followed then by Jeremy Paul in a trio two off the pace.