WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Two rounds into the NCAA regional, the Colorado men’s golf team has yet to get its game on track.
The Buffaloes followed a rough first round with a rough second round on Tuesday, slipping to last place in the Central/Purdue Regional at Kampen Golf Course.
With one round to play, the Buffs (plus-36, 612) are 42 shots behind first-place New Mexico and 33 shots out of the coveted top five spots, which earn a trip to the NCAA Championship.
“It’s kind of one of those golf courses, if you don’t drive it well, it’s going to be very difficult to play well,” head coach Roy Edwards said. “Then, if you don’t do that, you’ve really got to scramble well. If you don’t do both of those things, you’re going to have a bad day. That’s just kind of where we were at, unfortunately. I was proud of the fight in the guys and all of that; it wasn’t a lack of effort. They just didn’t perform.”
After going 16-over par on Monday, the Buffs sputtered to 20-over on Tuesday. Ethan Freeman and Spencer Painton led the Buffs, both at 4-over 76.
New Mexico was 6-under for the day (and 6-under for the tournament) to take a three-shot lead over second-place UNLV and a nine-shot lead over three teams tied for third (Florida, Purdue and Auburn).
Trent Wallace of Illinois State moved into the individual lead at 6-under for the event. New Mexico’s Andrej Bevins and UNLV’s Shintaro Ban are just one shot back, and nine players overall are within four shots of the lead.
While advancement is likely out of reach, the Buffs are hoping for a strong finish Wednesday. They are within nine shots of moving into the top 10.
“We’re certainly disappointed in today and yesterday,” Edwards said. “But, we should be focused on competing tomorrow and moving up the board and finishing the season with as positive a note as possible.”
