The CU men’s golf team struggled early Saturday and fell two spots further from leading Stanford to eighth overall after the third round at the 57th Annual Pac-12 Conference Championships.
No. 4 and two-time defending champion Stanford turned in the only under par team score of the day, standing at 29-under par with a 1,034 overall score through 54 holes. No. 13 California is the only school within striking distance of the Cardinal, 12 strokes back at 1,048.
No. 2 USC is third with a score of 1,067. No. 10 Arizona State and No. 24 Washington are tied for fourth with 1,075. CU fell from sixth to eighth in ending the day with a 1,094 total.
CU posted the third worst score of the day (16-over 371). The six Buffs competing scored five bogeys and two doubles with four pars and a bogey on the first two holes, sending the Buffs to 5-over on the day when eliminating the highest score in the 6-for-5 scoring format.
Junior Jeremy Paul entered the day tied for third place and three shots behind Cal’s K.K. Limbhasut for the lead. He turned in a 3-over 74 which left him at 4-under 209 to leave him tied for eighth. He opened with back-to-back bogeys on the 7,209-yard, par-71 Salt Lake Country Club Course layout and ended the round 11 out of the lead.
Senior Philip Juel-Berg recorded CU’s best score in the third round, a 1-under 70 that gave him a 219 total that has him tied for 34th.
Sophomore John Souza shot a 74 for a 220 total, which has him tied for 37th.
Junior Ethan Freeman is tied for 45th after posting a 5-over 76
CU’s two freshmen competing, Wilson Belk and Ross Macdonald, both were 8-over through 36 holes but struggled to high scores again.
Macdonald fired a 6-over 77 for a 226 score (13-over) that has him tied for 52nd
Belk only had three pars in his first 12 holes on his way to a 7-over 78, as he’s in at 229, tied in 57th place.
Limbhasut maintained his lead for the third straight round with a third consecutive 66; his 198 total is 15-under par and good for a six-stroke lead over a trio of players all tied at 9-under 204.
The fourth and final round is set for an 8 a.m. MDT start today. CU will be paired with Oregon and Washington State and will tee off on No. 10 between 8 and 8:55.
Pac-12 Championships
Team scores
1. Stanford…………………………….. 352-336-348—1036
2. California…………………………… 350-343-355—1048
3. Southern California…………….. 356-348-363—1067
4. Arizona State……………………… 359-352-364—1075
5. Washington……………………….. 360-355-360—1075
6. UCLA………………………………… 358-365-360—1083
7. Oregon………………………………. 370-356-366—1092
8. COLORADO………………… 360-363-371—1094
9. Washington State………………. 380-365-357—1102
9. Arizona………………………………. 361-367-374—1102
11. Utah………………………………….. 378-363-364—1105
12. Oregon State……………………… 371-365-372—1108
Buffalo individuals
T8. Jeremy Paul………………………….. 67-68-74—209
T34. Philip Juel-Berg……………………… 72-77-70—219
T37. John Souza……………………………. 76-70-74—220
T45. Ethan Freeman………………………. 75-73-76—224
T52. Ross Macdonald……………………. 72-77-77—226
T57. Wilson Belk…………………………… 74-75-78—227
Top 10 individuals
1. K.K. Limbhasut, California…………. 66-66-66—198
T2. Jon Rahm, Arizona State………….. 70-66-68—204
T2. Jonathan Garrick, UCLA…………… 67-68-69—204
T2. David Boote, Stanford………………. 68-66-70—204
5. Franklin Huang, Stanford………….. 66-72-68—206
T6. Jordan Gumberg, Arizona…………. 68-71-69—208
T6. Sebastian Crampton, California… 67-71-70—208
T8. Jeremy Paul, Colorado…….. 67-68-74—209
T8. Maverick McNealy, Stanford……. 69-71-69—209
T10. Justin Suh, USC………………………. 70-69-71—210
T10. Corey Pereira, Washington………. 72-69-69—210
