LA QUINTA, Calif. — The University of Colorado men’s golf team continued to have trouble finishing a round as the Buffaloes stand in sixth place after two rounds of The Prestige At PGA West.

                Co-host Stanford leads the 15-team field after two rounds with a 7-under par team score of 569, good for a one shot lead over UCLA.  UC-Irvine (574), Minnesota (580) and co-host UC-Davis (588) round out the top five, with Colorado tied for sixth with Big 12 colleague Kansas; both are in at 19-over 595.

                “We really struggled coming down the stretch,” CU head coach Roy Edwards said.  “We were in pretty good position, hanging around par as a team, but lost eight or nine strokes over the last four holes.  We definitely have to play the par 5s better tomorrow if we hope to compete and move up in the final round.  Michael played a couple of very solid rounds on a difficult golf course, and I’m proud of the job he did today.  He really deserves a pat on the back for that.”

                Edwards was alluding to CU not taking advantage of scoring on the four par 5 holes; where most teams in the top 10 here are under par, the Buffs played the four collectively at 8-over on Monday, including three double bogeys.  The Greg Norman Course at PGA West is serving as host to the meet, a challenging 7,156-yard, par-72 layout.

                Junior Michael Baird, who transferred to CU from Pepperdine this past June, is pacing the Buffaloes here as he posted two solid scores in recording a 73-72—145 scorecard to stand tied for 16th overall. 

                Senior Blake Moore scored a pair of 75s for a 150 total, tying him for 38th, while junior Patrick Grady is tied for 45th following two 76s he placed in the books for a 152 score.  Sophomore Derek Tolan, tied for 18th after a morning round of 1-over 73, had to endure back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 8 and 9 en route to an 80 the second time around the Norman track; his 153 total has him tied for 48th.  Rounding out the CU scores on the day was freshman Luke Symons, who rebounded with a 75 after opening with an80 for a 155 total, placing him 56th, though he closed with three straight bogeys after being in position to shoot even par.

                UC-Irvine’s Jay Choe leads the race for medalist honors, as he recorded a 7-under par 137 to lead Stanford’s Zack Miller by one shot.  Nine players are currently under par with another six in at even.

The final round will commence at 8:30 a.m. mountain time Tuesday morning.  Colorado will be paired with Notre Dame, which it played with Monday, and California.

 BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS