SANTA ROSA, Calif. — The University of Colorado men’s golf team recorded its best single-round score of the four this week, as the Buffaloes moved up two spots Wednesday to finish in a tie for ninth at the 61st Annual Pac-12 Championship.
The 71st-ranked Buffs shot an 8-under 352 team score – tying the school best in relation to par for a 6-score-5 conference tournament (all Pac-12 meets) and the third overall. It gave CU a 72-hole total score of 1,451 (11-over par) and enabled the Buffaloes to jump over Washington State and catch No. 50 Utah in the standings.
No. 17 Arizona won its first conference meet since 2004, when the conference was known as the Pacific 10. The Wildcats, with a 41-under par team score of 1,399, held on to their four-stroke lead heading into the day, as No. 8 Arizona State couldn’t make up any ground and remained four back at 1,403. Both schools had to hold off defending champion and No. 32 Stanford, which might have put up the best single round of the year in college golf. The Cardinal had a 24-under par 336 Wednesday, finishing 35-under par with a 1,405 team score.
Senior Daniel O’Loughlin tied for 13th with a 6-under par 282 score, the 19th time in 42 events he finished an event with a subpar score. He recorded his fourth subpar round of the week with a 1-under 71 on the 6,785-yard, par-72 Mayacama Golf Club course layout.
Senior Victor Bjorlow would have tied the course record had it not been broken an hour before by Stanford’s Henry Shimp. Bjorlow finished with his career-best score of 7-under par 65, as he had eight birdies and nine pars with a single bogey (the latter of which he opened his round).
It is the best-ever by a Buffalo in a conference meet, topping a 4-under 66 shot by Matt Call in the third round of the 1999 Big 12 Championship.
Sophomore Adam Matteson closed strong with a 2-under 70, as his 5-over 293 total tied him for 46th place.
Junior John Paterson recorded a 1-under 71 that enabled him to tie for 49th with a 6-over 294 total.
Sophomore Kristoffer Max tied for 63rd after wrapping with a 6-over 78, which put him at 14-over 302 for the week.
Junior Cole Krantz finished with a 4-over 76 that tied him for 67th with an overall score of 19-over 307
Arizona’s Brad Reeves claimed medalist honors, as he defeated Stanford’s Shimp after winning a two-hole playoff. Both finished 72 holes with 16-under 272 score, as Reeves was a tri-leader heading into the day and shot a 68 with Shimp catching him after firing a course record 8-under 64.
Pac-12 Championship
TEAM SCORES – 1. Arizona 344-352-355-348—1399, 2. Arizona State 346-349-360-348—1403, 3. Stanford 358-357-354-336—1405, 4. Washington 360-361-353-345—1419, 5. Oregon 355-350-358-359—1422, 6. Oregon State 357-363-344-364—1428, 7. California 359-371-351-353—1434, 8. Southern California 356-364-360-367—1447, 9. COLORADO 367-370-362-352—1451, 9. Utah 363-373-359-356—1451, 11. Washington State 374-362-361-368—1465, 12. UCLA 368-368-381-355—1472
CU INDIVIDUALS – T13. Daniel O’Loughlin 71-70-71-70—282, T32. Victor Bjorlow 78-74-71-65—288, T46. Adam Matteson 76-71-76-70—293, T49. John Paterson 74-77-72-71—294, T63. Kristoffer Max 74-78-72-78—302, T67. Cole Krantz 72-80-79-76—307
TOP SIX INDIVIDUALS – T1. **Brad Reeves, Arizona 66-71-67-68—272, T1. Henry Shimp, Stanford 71-69-68-64—272, 3. Yuki Moriyama, Oregon 65-69-70-69—273, T4. Chun An Yu, Arizona State 69-69-69-69—276, T4. Rhyggs Johnston, Arizona State 67-66-71-72—276, 6. Jan Schneider, Washington 70-70-68-70—278
**–won playoff on second hole.
