PUEBLO — Four members of the University of Colorado men’s golf team ventured 100 or so miles down Interstate 25 to participate in the Southern Colorado Masters, three of whom returned with top 10 finishes Tuesday.
Sophomore Ross Macdonald led the Buffalo charge as he tied for fourth with a 4-under 209 score for 54 holes on the 6,522-yard, par-71 Pueblo Country Club course layout. He hung around the leaderboard much of the two days, as he carded a 2-under 69 to open play and finished off with his low college round, a 4-under 67. Those were his sixth and seventh subpar rounds of his CU career, all of which have also been in the 60s. He led the 48-man field in par-4 scoring, playing the 27 combined at 5-under par.
Sophomore Victor Bjorlow tied for fifth with a 2-under 211 (71-67-73), with his second round 67 also a college single round best. He, too, flirted with medalist honors for good portion of the event. He had two eagles and 13 pars to lead the Buffs in subpar holes here, with his day diminished by two doubles bogeys, which came on his first and last holes of the round. Still, he played the par-5 holes the best in the field at 7-under along with two others.
Freshman Cole Krantz tied for 10th with an even-par 213 effort (69-71-73), which included his first round in the 60s at Colorado. He was right behind Bjorlow, playing the par-5s at 6-under, tied for fourth-best.
All three set personal collegiate scoring bests for a 54-hole tournament. While Macdonald and Krantz had their best finishes in the individual standings.
Junior Wilson Belk tied for 34th with a 13-over 226 score, the bulk of his overage coming in the second round when he struggled to an 83. He sandwiched that round with an opening 73 and a closing 70, the latter his low gross score of the season.
“We saw some good things from the guys who played in Pueblo this week,” CU head coach Roy Edwards said. “Ross played well today and overall, Victor had a nice second round, Cole was solid the whole tournament and Wilson had a nice comeback from a rough afternoon yesterday. We really appreciate (CSU-Pueblo) Coach Josh Koschke for having us down.”
Host CSU-Pueblo won the tournament with a 13-under par 839 team score, with Colorado Mines claiming runner-up honors at 5-under 847. The ThunderWolves’ Nathan McCann made it a sweep by claiming medalist honors with a 9-under 204 score, including a final round 66. Krantz’ older brother Brett tied for second, four strokes back.
Colorado, ranked No. 43 nationally, returns to action as a fill team this weekend in the Arizona State Thunderbird Classic in Tempe (Saturday and Sunday, April 14-15), its final tournament ahead of the Pac-12 Championships in Los Angeles later this month (April 23-25).
