KOHALA COAST, Hawai'i — The University of Colorado men’s golf team slipped four spots into 14th place after a lackluster second round here Thursday in the Amer Ari Mauna Lani Invitational.
No. 12 Washington took over the lead, turning in a 1-under 287 team score for a 578 total, good for a two shot lead over No. 2 Stanford (580). No. 3 Oregon is in third at 581, with No. 1 Oklahoma State well within range with a 584 score. No. 8 Texas and No. 14 UCLA are tied for fifth at 589.
The five participating Buffs put every score from 75 to 79 into the books, and while jumping the total team birdie count from the first round from five to 15, CU also had 10 more holes of bogey or worse essentially keeping things stuck in neutral. Colorado, ranked No. 83 out of 303 schools through the fall season, recorded a 306 score for the second round, giving the Buffs a 610 total.
The 6,913-yard, par 72 Mauna Lani North Course continued to prove tough for some of the best teams and players in the country Thursday. A field which includes six top 10 teams and 13 in the nation’s top 29 has produced just 21 subpar rounds, with another 15 matching par, out of 240 played here this week. Just two rounds in the 60s have been scored.
Sophomore Kevin Kring continued to pace the Buffs, though dropped from sixth to 34th in the standings mainly due to a disastrous two straight holes midway in his second round. Cruising along after nine holes at 1-under for the tournament and even on the day, he double bogeyed No. 5, a 184-yard par-3, and got into trouble on No. 6, a relatively short 404-yard par-4 and had to take a quadruple bogey. He rebounded to play his final seven holes at just 1-over.
Junior Michael Imperato logged a 4-over 76 for a 153 two round total, tying him for 54th, while freshman Derek Fribbs posted CU’s best score of the day, a 3-over 75, giving him a 154 score to tie for 63rd. Imperato had three birdies and nine pars against five bogeys and a double, while Fribbs was CU’s most consistent performer Thursday with two birdies, 11 pars and five bogeys.
Senior Justin Bardgett is having some trouble getting untracked out of the spring chute. Coming off a fall where he recorded the fifth-lowest fall stroke average in school history (71.86), he had a second round 78 for a 155 total, tying him in 68th place. He had nine holes of par or better, including four birdies, but eight bogeys and a double undid that side of his ledger.
Sophomore Sebastian Heisele stands at 79-77—156 through 36 holes, tied for 74th, scoring three birdies and eight pars with six bogeys and a double his second time around the Mauna Lani North layout. He closed the day 4-over on his last three holes, an issue that has plagued the Buffs this week.
“It was really kind of a replay of yesterday (Monday), we let a lot of shots get away from us, and again toward the end as well,” CU head coach Roy Edwards said. “Derek was playing a decent round and then ran into trouble on back-to-back holes that really cost him, or he’d still be hanging around the leaders. We have to get Justin and Sebastian playing better, they are guys who can lead us, but they just haven’t been able to get things going the first two days here. But I’m confident that they can close strong.”
Conditions were tough again with high winds and tough pin placements, but Edwards was not about to cite those as an excuse. “While it’s clear we’re very rusty, several teams here are. We’re doing the easy things poorly, a lot of three putts, double bogeys where you shouldn’t make more than bogey, and bogeys that should be pars. It’s not about hitting great shots all the time, it’s about managing your game. We’ve just made it too hard on ourselves and we’re better than that.”
The final round is set for a 10:30 a.m. Mountain Time shotgun start Friday. The Buffs will be paired with No. 4 Florida State, No. 6 Arizona State and UC-Davis for the final 18 holes.
T34. Kevin Kring................................... 71-79—150
T54. Michael Imperato........................ 77-76—153
T63. Derek Fribbs................................ 79-75—154
T68. Justin Bardgett........................... 77-78—155
T74. Sebastian Heisele....................... 79-77—156
1. Kevin Tway, Oklahoma State .... 72-68—140
2. Nick Taylor, Washington............ 70-71—141
3. Sihwan Kim, Stanford................. 72-70—142
T4. Bobby Hudson, Texas................. 70-73—143
T4. Gregor Main, UCLA..................... 73-70—143
1. Washington............................. 291-287—578
2. Stanford................................... 297-283—580
3. Oregon..................................... 291-290—581
4. Oklahoma State...................... 299-285—584
5. UCLA....................................... 288-301—589
5. Texas....................................... 297-292—589
7. Southern California................. 293-301—594
7. Texas Tech.............................. 296-298—594
9. Georgia Tech........................... 304-291—595
10. Oregon State........................... 302-298—600
11. San Francisco......................... 312-294—606
12. TCU.......................................... 310-297—607
13. Florida State............................ 306-302—608
14. COLORADO............................. 304-306—610
15. Arizona State........................... 313-298—611
16. UC-Davis................................. 306-306—612
17. Hawai'i..................................... 311-302—613
18. San Jose State........................ 308-318—626
19. Rhode Island............................ 324-311—635
20. Sonoma State......................... 331-306—637
21. Hawai'i-Hilo............................. 316-328—644
22. CSU-East Bay.......................... 316-340—656
