Saturday, February 18
Palm Springs, Calif.
All Day
Colorado
vs
Second Round
Jeremy Paul carded a career-best 64 to pace four Buffs in the 60s Saturday.
Photo by: Chip Bromfield, ProMotion Ltd.
Golfers Shoot NCAA Season-Best Round, Now Second In Wyoming Meet
February 18, 2017 | Men's Golf
Jeremy Paul's 64 leads four Buffs in the 60s
PALM DESERT, Calif. — The University of Colorado men's golf team didn't finish the first round the way it would have liked on Friday, so the Buffaloes took it out on the course and 21 other teams here Saturday in the second round of the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate.
Colorado turned in a 22-under par 266 second round score, the best in the nation this season in relation to par as well as shattering the school record by five strokes. CU, ranked 21st by Golfweek and 24th by both the Golf Coaches Association of America and GolfStat, used the effort to post a 19-under score of 557 through two rounds and move into second place behind No. 10 Oregon.
The Ducks did their best to hold the Buffs at bay, firing a 17-under 271 to finish 36 holes with a 23-under total of 553 and a four-stroke advantage heading into Sunday's third and final round. No. 32 Kansas holds third at 7-under 569, with No. 5 Texas Tech (570) and No. 66 TCU (577) rounding out the top five.
Colorado started on No. 10 and thus played the front nine holes last, and had its struggles, the four scorers playing those holes at 6-over par (and all five at 10-over). But talk about a complete 180 degree turn Saturday, and the four scorers were 15-under par on that side (with nearly as many birdies – 15 – as pars, 21).
The best single round in a major tournament this season in relation to par had been a 21-under par 267 by Duke in the second round of the Bridgestone Golf Collegiate in Greensboro last October. There are two 264 scores by Kent State and Clemson, but those were 20-under on par-71 layouts; there was one other 266, by Georgia but also on a par-71 course.
Colorado was able to tear it up due to four players scoring in 60s in the same round, marking just the fifth time in program history that has occurred. However, the four combined for 22-under par whereas the previous collective best was 17-under in the 2015 Air Force-Miranda Invitational. All four players finished the day in the top 14, the most by any school.
Senior Jeremy Paul was flirting with a school record single round score, as he was 9-under heading into the par-5 18th; he had nine birdies and eight pars at that point and entered this meet as one of the nation's top par-5 hole players. Poised to add to his growing list of school records, unfortunately his second shot veered into the lake. He rallied to score a bogey and finish with an 8-under 64, still his personal best that tied five other players for the second lowest score in CU history. With a 7-under 137 total through two rounds on the 7,322-yard, par-72 Classic Club course layout, he is tied for third individually.
"Jeremy had just a spectacular round," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "He may have made the best birdie I've ever seen, hitting it from within the trees over a lake to within 15 feet and he made the putt on No. 7. That really got him going as he birdied six of the next seven holes. It was just an unfortunate end to a great day for him, but a 64 on this course is nothing short of a tremendous round."
The 8-under par did match the school mark for the best round in relation to par, tying him with four others.
Senior Ethan Freeman sizzled from the start, and thanks to five birdies, he scored a 31 on the front nine en route to a 6-under 66; that gave him a 36-hole total of 141 that has him tied for eighth. He added an eagle on the back side with a lone bogey to go with 11 pars in scoring the second-best single round score of his career.
Junior John Souza carded 5-under 67 for a 142 total, tying him for 12th. He had six birdies, four on the front side, and 11 pars, with his lone blemish a bogey on No. 17 or he would have matched Freeman's round.
Junior Yannik Paul was the fourth Buffalo to put up a round in the 60s, as he turned in a 3-under 69 for a 143 total, as he is tied for 14th. He birdied his last two holes to get under 70, and had four total on the day with just a single bogey while scoring 13 pars.
Junior Spencer Painton is tied for 20th individually after carding a 3-over 75, giving him an even-par 144 score. He struggled to a 4-over 40 on the front side, but rallied to play the back nine at 1-under. He had two birdies, 12 pars, three bogeys and a double for his round.
And despite Painton not joining the other scorers in red numbers Saturday, his first round 69 gave him some cushion and the Buffaloes are the only school with all five designates in the top 20; Kansas and Texas Tech have their fifth man tied for 46th and Oregon's fifth contributor is 60th.Colorado turned in a 22-under par 266 second round score, the best in the nation this season in relation to par as well as shattering the school record by five strokes. CU, ranked 21st by Golfweek and 24th by both the Golf Coaches Association of America and GolfStat, used the effort to post a 19-under score of 557 through two rounds and move into second place behind No. 10 Oregon.
The Ducks did their best to hold the Buffs at bay, firing a 17-under 271 to finish 36 holes with a 23-under total of 553 and a four-stroke advantage heading into Sunday's third and final round. No. 32 Kansas holds third at 7-under 569, with No. 5 Texas Tech (570) and No. 66 TCU (577) rounding out the top five.
Colorado started on No. 10 and thus played the front nine holes last, and had its struggles, the four scorers playing those holes at 6-over par (and all five at 10-over). But talk about a complete 180 degree turn Saturday, and the four scorers were 15-under par on that side (with nearly as many birdies – 15 – as pars, 21).
The best single round in a major tournament this season in relation to par had been a 21-under par 267 by Duke in the second round of the Bridgestone Golf Collegiate in Greensboro last October. There are two 264 scores by Kent State and Clemson, but those were 20-under on par-71 layouts; there was one other 266, by Georgia but also on a par-71 course.
Colorado was able to tear it up due to four players scoring in 60s in the same round, marking just the fifth time in program history that has occurred. However, the four combined for 22-under par whereas the previous collective best was 17-under in the 2015 Air Force-Miranda Invitational. All four players finished the day in the top 14, the most by any school.
Senior Jeremy Paul was flirting with a school record single round score, as he was 9-under heading into the par-5 18th; he had nine birdies and eight pars at that point and entered this meet as one of the nation's top par-5 hole players. Poised to add to his growing list of school records, unfortunately his second shot veered into the lake. He rallied to score a bogey and finish with an 8-under 64, still his personal best that tied five other players for the second lowest score in CU history. With a 7-under 137 total through two rounds on the 7,322-yard, par-72 Classic Club course layout, he is tied for third individually.
"Jeremy had just a spectacular round," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "He may have made the best birdie I've ever seen, hitting it from within the trees over a lake to within 15 feet and he made the putt on No. 7. That really got him going as he birdied six of the next seven holes. It was just an unfortunate end to a great day for him, but a 64 on this course is nothing short of a tremendous round."
The 8-under par did match the school mark for the best round in relation to par, tying him with four others.
Senior Ethan Freeman sizzled from the start, and thanks to five birdies, he scored a 31 on the front nine en route to a 6-under 66; that gave him a 36-hole total of 141 that has him tied for eighth. He added an eagle on the back side with a lone bogey to go with 11 pars in scoring the second-best single round score of his career.
Junior John Souza carded 5-under 67 for a 142 total, tying him for 12th. He had six birdies, four on the front side, and 11 pars, with his lone blemish a bogey on No. 17 or he would have matched Freeman's round.
Junior Yannik Paul was the fourth Buffalo to put up a round in the 60s, as he turned in a 3-under 69 for a 143 total, as he is tied for 14th. He birdied his last two holes to get under 70, and had four total on the day with just a single bogey while scoring 13 pars.
Junior Spencer Painton is tied for 20th individually after carding a 3-over 75, giving him an even-par 144 score. He struggled to a 4-over 40 on the front side, but rallied to play the back nine at 1-under. He had two birdies, 12 pars, three bogeys and a double for his round.
Three other Buffs are competing here as individuals, thus their scores don't count toward CU's team total. Senior Ryan Schmitz shot a 3-under 69 Saturday for a 1-over 145 total (tying him for 25th); he leads the 14 players from all schools entered as individuals. Sophomore Wilson Belk scored a 1-under 71 for a 6-over 150 score to stand tied for 60th, as he recorded seven birdies in the second round. Freshman Victor Bjorlow, after a 5-over 77, is tied for 82nd with a 153 score.
"It was one of those special days," Edwards said. "Things kind of fell into place from start to finish, and we had a few breaks here and there. So you have to enjoy these days when they come around because you don't shoot this low very often. Simply just a great day by the guys, they were awesome.
"We knew we needed a good round today to get back in it," he added. The course was set a bit easier and there was no wind, just some light rain. (Tomorrow) is going to be exciting, we're certainly expecting a shootout."
Oregon's Norman Xiong remained the individual leader, as the midyear enrollee and 17-year old freshman shot a 65 for a 12-under 132, leading TCU's Stefano Mazzoli by four shots and three others by five including CU's Paul. The story of his round was that he shot a 29 on the front nine with seven birdies before cooling off a bit.
The final round will us set for Sunday, with the Buffaloes teeing off last with the other leaders, Oregon, Kansas and Texas Tech in a mini Pac-12-Big 12 challenge. All will start on the No. 1 team beginning at 9:40 a.m. MST.
NOTES: The average score for the second round was 73.31, well down from 76.53 for the first round ... Edward McGlasson owns the school record for a single round with an 8-under 63, which he set over two days due to weather issues in the 2005 PING-Arizona Intercollegiate. The five previous rounds of 64 were shot by McGlasson (in 2006), John Nyuli (1989), Kevin Kring (2009), Beau Schoolcraft (2012) and David Oraee (2014); Nyuli's and Schoolcraft's were 6-under par, the others were all 8-under ... CU's single round best had been a pair of 17-under 271s, in the 2015 Hawaii-Hilo Amer Ari Invitational and the 2015 Air Force Falcon Invitational, both also occurring in the second round; the Buffs had a 270 as their previous low gross, but it was on a par-70 course in the 2011 Wyoming Cowboy Classic. CU also had two 9-under 271s on par-70 layouts ... And one year in the Maxwell Intercollegiate, CU scored a 268 in a unique format, as it was calculated by hole instead of by round ... Barring a major collapse Sunday, CU will finish in the top five for the eighth straight meet, a school record for the most in a row as well as tying the most in a single season ... The Buffs finished second here in 2014 and 2016, by three strokes both times.
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS (*—playing as an individual)
| T3. | Jeremy Paul | 73-64—137 |
| T8. | Ethan Freeman | 75-66—141 |
| T12. | John Souza | 75-67—142 |
| T14. | Yannik Paul | 74-69—143 |
| T20. | Spencer Painton | 69-75—144 |
| T25. | *Ryan Schmitz | 76-69—145 |
| T60. | *Wilson Belk | 79-71—150 |
| T82. | *Victor Bjorlow | 76-77—153 |
TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
| 1. | Norman Xiong, Oregon | 67-65—132 |
| 2. | Stefano Mazzoli, TCU | 69-67—136 |
| T3. | Jeremy Paul, Colorado | 73-64—137 |
| T3. | Edwin Yi, Oregon | 70-67—137 |
| T3. | Wyndham Clark, Oregon | 72-65—137 |
TEAM SCORES
| 1. | Oregon | 282-271—553 |
| 2. | COLORADO | 291-266—557 |
| 3. | Kansas | 293-276—569 |
| 4. | Texas Tech | 292-278—570 |
| 5. | TCU | 289-288—577 |
| 6. | Arkansas-Little Rock | 300-281—581 |
| 7. | Wyoming | 297-287—584 |
| 8. | Nebraska | 300-286—586 |
| 9. | CSU-Northridge | 302-286—588 |
| 10. | UNC-Wilmington | 304-287—591 |
| 11. | South Dakota State | 305-289—594 |
| 11. | CSU-Fullerton | 293-301—594 |
| 13. | Denver | 304-293—597 |
| 13. | Loyola-Marymount | 299-298—597 |
| 15. | Fresno State | 305-293—598 |
| 15. | Texas-Arlington | 310-288—598 |
| 16. | Old Dominion | 304-295—599 |
| 18. | Stephen F. Austin | 307-296—603 |
| 18. | Gonzaga | 303-300—603 |
| 20. | UC Riverside | 312-293—605 |
| 21. | Oral Roberts | 311-296—607 |
| 22. | Southern Utah | 322-299—621 |
Players Mentioned
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