The CU men’s golf team moved up a spot to take eighth place at the inaugural Pac-12 Conference Championships in Corvallis, Ore.
Coming into the tournament, Colorado was ranked No. 72 by Golfweek and Golfstat, while six other teams were ranked in the top 12. The Buffs finished with a 1,471 team score — the third best in school history in a 72-hole meet in relation to par.
The men's golf team took eighth at the Pac-12 Tournament over the weekend in Oregon. (CU Independent Illustration/Josh Shettler)
No. 8 California and No. 7 Oregon forced a playoff situation for the tournament title. In the second playoff hole, the Cal Bears beat the Oregon Ducks by five shots. Just 43 strokes separated the top eight teams.
Junior Jason Burstyn was Colorado’s top finisher at 26th place. His 292 score was the third best ever by a Buff in a 72-hole conference championship. He had 47 pars and tied for second for the most birdies (11) and the fewest bogeys (13).
Freshman David Oraee finished right behind Burstyn, tied for 27th. His score of 293 was the best 72-hole score by a CU freshman and tied him for sixth among the freshmen in the competition.
“I’m also very proud of the way Jason [Burstyn] and David [Oraee] finished off their weeks,” assistant coach Jonathon Levy said to the Sports Information Department. “Those two were the backbone of our team in this tournament and I think their performances are a great barometer of what we can expect next year.”
The Buffs will find out on May 9 if they have secured one of 81 team or 45 individual bids to one of the six NCAA Regional sites.
“Hopefully, with this finish, we did enough to secure our NCAA Regional bid,” Levy said. “We hung close with Washington who is ranked No. 12 in the country and beat Arizona significantly, who is also ranked ahead of us, so that should help our cause, and we’re excited for the opportunity to continue our season in May.”
Statistics and quotes courtesy of the University of Colorado Sports Information Department.
Contact CU Independent Sports Editor Marlee Horn at Marlee.horn@colorado.edu.
