CU Men Finish Second at Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate

Final-Round surge by Kansas clips Buffs by three strokes.

David Plati

The University of Colorado men’s golf team flirted with the top spot much of the day but eventually settled for a second place finish in the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate, which was completed at The Classic Club golf course in Palm Desert, Calif.

No. 46 Kansas hung on for the team victory, finishing up with a 2-over par 866 score, while the Buffaloes, ranked No. 69, moved up a notch to finish second, three back at 869. No. 36 Texas Tech dropped a spot into third with an 870 total, while No. 51 TCU placed fourth (874); Cal Poly rounded out the top five with an 878 after it recorded the only subpar team round of the day.

Colorado scored Sunday’s next best round – and even-par 288 – and had a brief one shot lead with roughly six holes to play, and several times pulled into a share of the lead with either KU or Tech over the entire round.  CU’s designated scorers played the last six holes even, while the Jayhawks and Red Raiders both collectively played the same at 4-under.

Senior Philip Juel-Berg recorded his fourth-career top five finish, as he tied for third to lead the Buffaloes here this weekend.  He wrapped things up with a 1-under par 71 for a 212 total (4-under) on the 7,322-yard, par-72 Classic Club course layout.  He had a solid performance from start to finish, scoring 10 birdies and 39 pars against just four bogeys and a double; he tied for the 10th-most birdies and the seventh-most pars.  He was consistent across the board, as he was fifth in par-3 scoring (1-under), sixth on the par-4’s (1-over) and 11th for the par-5’s (4-under).

With all three rounds for Juel-Berg here of even par or better, it gives him 61 for his career, adding to his school record that he established during the course of the fall season.  He also lowered his season stroke average to 71.13 in the process, trailing only junior Jeremy Paul who owns a 70.96 mark.

Paul tied for 11th here after closing with a second straight 1-over 73, which gave him a 1-over 217 for the meet.  He was 1-under through 10 but scored a rare double bogey on the 11th; how rare was that double?  It was just his fifth hole worse than bogey this season out of 414 overall.  He had eight birdies and 38 pars on the weekend, the latter 12th in the field.

Freshmen Ross Macdonald fashioned a 1-over 73 Sunday to close at 7-over 223, tying him for 35th.  He had three birdies and 12 pars against two bogeys and a double, finishing with six birdies and also had 38 pars overall.  He was 3-over through 10 holes but recorded all three of his birds over the final eight holes.

Junior Ethan Freeman finished with a 1-under 71 that gave him a 14-over 230, tying him for 76th; his story was his last two rounds.  After an opening round 86, his even-par play over the final 36 holes tied for the 11th-best in the field.  He had a team-high five birdies Sunday, with 10 pars against two bogeys and a double.  He was 15-over par for his first 27 holes here but 1-under for the second 27, with his 13-stroke improvement after his first round to a second round 73 tied for the 15th-best in school history.

“We’re disappointed we didn’t win, but we had a strong event,” CU head coach Roy Edwards said. “We just didn’t get the putts to fall that we probably needed to close it out.  But we still beat some very good teams and we’re certainly proud of the effort we gave here.  It was a strong event overall.”

Gonzaga’s Sean Walsh held on to his second round lead to claim medalist honors, closing with a 70 for a 7-under 209.  That was good for a two-stroke win over TCU’s Chelso Barrett (69-211) and three shots ahead of Juel-Berg and Kansas’ Charlie Hiller (70-212).

The Buffaloes will be off for a little over a month, returning to competition March 24-26 in Stanford’s “The Goodwin.”  Edwards also noted that, “We had a good start to the first portion of the spring and now we can concentrate on academics for a solid month before we get back at it.”

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS  (*—played an individual)                                         

   T3.  Philip Juel-Berg……………………… 72-69-71—212

T11.  Jeremy Paul………………………….. 71-73-73—217

T14.  *John Souza………………………….. 76-71-72—219

T35.  Ross Macdonald……………………. 73-77-73—223

T76.  Ethan Freeman………………………. 86-73-71—230

T101. Wilson Belk…………………………… 73-81-83—237

T101. *Pierce Aichinger………………….. 82-78-77—237

TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS

   1.  Sean Walsh, Gonzaga………………. 68-71-70—209

   2.  Chelso Barrett, TCU…………………. 68-74-69—211

  3.  Philip Juel-Berg, Colorado.. 72-69-71—212

   T3.  Charlie Hiller, Kansas……………….. 70-72-70—212

   5.  Hurly Long, Texas Tech……………. 75-66-72—213

   T5.  Daniel Hudson, Kansas…………….. 70-71-72—213

TEAM SCORES

  1.  Kansas……………………… 285-290-291—866

2. COLORADO………….. 289-292-288—869

  2.  Texas Tech……………….. 291-289-290—870

  4.  TCU…………………………. 288-295-291—874

  5.  Cal Poly……………………. 295-298-285—878

6.  Wyoming………………….. 303-290-292—885

7.  Oral Roberts………………. 302-296-290—888

  8.  Arkansas-Little Rock…….. 296-307-288—891

  9.  Texas-Arlington………….. 306-297-292—895

  9.  Old Dominion……………… 296-302-297—895

  9.  Gonzaga…………………… 297-297-301—895

12.  UC-Irvine…………………… 306-302-290—898

12.  Southern Illinois………….. 309-293-296—898

14.  South Dakota State……… 298-301-300—899

15.  Idaho……………………….. 298-308-295—901

16.  CSU-Northridge…………… 310-301-293—904

16.  UC-Riverside……………… 307-299-298—904

18.  Nebraska………………….. 304-306-299—909

19.  Denver……………………… 300-305-309—914

20.  Southern Utah……………. 310-295-311—916