For one last time the CU men’s golf team played as a member of the Big 12 Conference. That was just about the only highlight for the Buffs, who remained near the bottom during the four-day conference tournament.
A final round score of 317, which is 37-over-par at the Prairie Dunes course in Hutchinson, Kan., allowed for a 10th place finish. National No. 1 Oklahoma State sailed through the course, winning the tournament by 13 strokes. Three Cowboys scored among the top-four in individual rankings.
Senior Luke Symons, who came into the day leading the Buffs at 23rd, fell back to 30th overall after marring two holes with triple bogeys. Symons’ nine birdies were tops among the black and gold in the farewell tournament.
“It’s kind of strange to think about playing without Luke in the line-up,” said coach Ray Edwards to CU Buffs. “He was a hard worker, a good team guy, a good leader, someone who was fun to be around, and the guys really enjoyed him. It’s always hard to replace someone like that going forward.”
The last round proved to be the most difficult, as winds reached 30 mph. An average round score of 77.5 was seven strokes over the par-70, which only one golfer reached, Peter Uihlein of OSU.
“Today was just a real struggle for the guys overall,” Edwards said. “That was the case for the entire field, all the players had to fight through a really tough day. We basically stayed in the same position, so it was a rough end to the event.”
An ending as unforgiving and anticlimactic as the entire season paves way for new grounds towards the Pac-12 Conference. And the competition only gets tougher, as currently there are seven Pac-12 teams in the top-30 nationally.
Contact CU Independent Sports Editor Michael Krumholtz at Michael.krumholtz@colorado.edu.
