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| Golfers Slip, Finish 10th At Pac-12 Championships Release: 05/01/2013 Courtesy: David Plati, Associate AD/Sports Information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
LOS ANGELES — The University of Colorado men’s golf team finished in a disappointing 10th place here Wednesday as the Pac-12 Conference Championships came to a close. No. 1 California led from wire-to-wire, the field unable to counter the Bears opening round of 12-under par. The Golden Bears won by 12 strokes, posting a team score of 1,406, outdistancing host and No. 3 UCLA (1,418); the Bruins had whittled a nine stroke Cal lead to two entering the final round. No. 4 Washington claimed third place honors with a 1,432 total; in fact, the top three teams never changed in the standings at the end of each round. The Buffaloes, ranked No. 60, slipped from seventh into a 10th place finish, turning in a 27-over score of 377 in the final round that gave CU a 1,487 stroke total. Arizona and Oregon State tied for eighth, one stroke ahead. Colorado again struggled down the stretch for the third time in four rounds, its five scorers for the day losing 10 strokes to par on the final three holes. USC lost just four and Oregon State seven, teams Colorado were paired with in the final round as all three entered the final round tied for seventh place. And Arizona was able to leapfrog CU into an eighth place tie with OSU by playing those holes at 1-over. "Today was disappointing,” head coach Roy Edwards said. “We got off to a pretty good start but really made a lot of unforced errors on the back nine. We had five bogies on the two par-5s on the front and that is inexcusable. We had an opportunity to erase any doubt about making the NCAA championships this week but we didn't do that. I am confident we have done enough but now it is out of our control." Freshman Philip Juel-Berg became the eighth freshman in school history to post the best team score in a conference championship. He finished up with a 5-over 75 that gave him a 70-70-77-75—292 scorecard (12-over par) on the 7,236-yard, par-70 Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course layout. The 292 score tied him for 24th and matched the best score by a Buffalo in a 72-hole league title meet, which teammate Jason Burstyn recorded last year in Corvallis, Ore., in the inaugural Pac-12 Championship. He led the entire field with 50 pars, while also posting five birdies and 17 bogeys. Of the 16 freshmen in the field (including three redshirts), Juel-Berg finished fifth. Juel-Berg joined Dale Douglass (tie-eighth, 1956 Big 7), Blake Stirling (tie-17th, 1971 Big 8), Steve Jones (third, 1978 Big 8), Rick Cramer (second, 1979 Big 8) and Knut Ekjord (tie-11th, 1995 Big 8) as freshmen to outright lead the Buffs in a league championship; all were true frosh. In 2000, freshmen Kane Webber (true) and Stephen Carroll (a redshirt) along with sophomore Matthew Zions, all tied for 11th to lead CU in that season’s Big 12 title meet. Junior Johnny Hayes also shot a 5-over 75, which gave him a 15-over 295 total that tied him for 32nd. He had a birdie, 12 pars, four bogeys and a double for his round; he turned at 5-over but was one of the few players in the field to play either nine under par when he had both of his birds and just one bogey on the front side. Senior Derek Fribbs also fashioned a 5-over 75 for a 296 score (16-over), closing with two birdies and nine pars against seven bogeys, four of which came on the front nine after he made the turn at just 1-over. He tied for 35th place in posting CU’s only eagle this week (and one of just nine overall by the field), seven birdies, 39 pars and 25 bogeys. Juel-Berg and Fribbs did not score worse than a bogey over the duration of the tournament, and in general, the Buffs did avoid big numbers, with 12 double bogeys, one triple and one quadruple in 432 holes of play. Sophomore David Oraee turned in a 7-over 77 for his final round, giving him a 19-over 299 score for the week, tying him for 42nd. He had two birdies, eight pars seven bogeys and a double, the latter of which came in his last hole of the day, the par-3 No. 9 which the field played over par all four rounds to the tune of at least a third of a stroke (+0.33). Redshirt freshman Drew Trujillo wrapped things with yet another 5-over 75 by a Buff on Wednesday for a 308 score (28-over), which was good for 63rd place. It was his second best round of the four here, though he was on target for his best until he bogeyed the last two holes. He had a birdie, 12 pars, four bogeys and a double on Wednesday. He played his last 32 holes at just 8-over, settling down midway through the tournament. CU’s No. 1 player and stroke average leader, senior Jason Burstyn, never got much going here this week and struggled to his worst finish of the season. He closed things out with a second straight 9-over 79 which gave him a 313 total, or 33-over par, which tied him for 66th. Hoping to get off to a good start, which he actually had done in rounds one and three with birdies, he opened with a par on No. 10 but then scored a double on the par-3 No. 11 and a bogey on No. 12. The five par-3 holes here were his nemesis in the tournament, as he collectively played the 20 of those uncharacteristically at 18-over par. Despite his troubles, he led the Buffaloes with nine birdies here. “Jason had a very uncharacteristic week and this is a great learning experience for all the guys,” Edwards said. “As always, they gave tremendous effort, but we just need to have a continued better course management approach.” Cal’s Max Homa rode his first round, course record 61 to medalist honors, finishing with a 9-under 271 in defeating teammate Michael Weaver by five strokes. Homa played the last 54 holes even after opening with an astonishing round that sent the college golf world in a buzz. Colorado now awaits its fate for a berth in the NCAA Championships. Deserving last year, CU was left on the outside looking in despite owning a similar record against Division I competition, so nothing is concrete. The selection committee will work through the week and the announcement of those who have qualified will be made next Monday evening. NOTES: UCLA’s Jonathan Garrick took home the top freshman honors, finishing in a tie for fifth (1-under 279) … Juel-Berg finished fifth in par-4 scoring, playing the 44 of those at 2-over for the week (or 4.05 per) … Hayes was 19th in par-3 scoring (3.25, +5) and was 13th in par-5 scoring (4.67, -4); his 45 pars were the eighth-most … The average score in the final round was 74.88, the highest of the four … No. 2 played as the toughest hole Wednesday (+0.64 to par); all six Buffs bogeyed it … CU handled the toughest hole the first three days well though; No. 11 was the hardest in the first round (CU was +2), followed by No. 18 in the second (+1) and No. 7 in the third (+3) … The Pac-12 Network will air highlights of the championship on Saturday, May 11, at Noon MDT.
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