On a day that featured a squall of snow in the afternoon, and sleet and wind chills that dipped into the mid-20s in the evening, perhaps it wasn’t surprising that a few Colorado kids warmed up in the cold.
Wyndham Clark of Highlands Ranch, the top-ranked men’s college player in the nation, withstood the conditions Friday at Boulder Country Club to stand 2 under par through 34 holes before play was suspended due to darkness. That was good for a share of the individaul lead with Washington’s Carl Yuan almost halfway through the Men’s Pac-12 Conference Championship.
Also in the top 10 competing in a field that includes three of the top eight teams in the nation are two other former Colorado state high school champions. The host University of Colorado’s Ethan Freeman shares sixth place at 2 over par through 34 holes, while junior teammate Spencer Painton is tied for 10th place at 5 over through 36 holes. (Clark is pictured above in green, with Freeman in gold.)
“Ethan and I for sure in high school golf have experienced stuff like these (weather conditions),” said Clark, who played the first two rounds with Freeman. “State always seemed to be 30-something degrees and maybe a snowstorm. We’ve definitely gotten our fair share of practice in this sort of thing. For guys from USC who have never seen worse weather than about 60 degrees, this is definitely a rude awakening. So it’s certainly an advantage for us.”
But that didn’t make it any more fun for the local guys.
“I’ve never played a tournament in snow,” Painton (left) said after rounds of 73-72 for a 5-over-par 145 total. “I’ve practiced in snow, but this crazy.”
CU, hosting its first men’s conference championship since 1972, sits in sixth place out of 12 teams, with one round scheduled for Saturday and another on Sunday. The Buffs are 33 over par and trail Clark’s Oregon squad — the defending NCAA champ — by 17 strokes.
That bad news is that four groups didn’t finish their second rounds on Friday, and the championship is not official until 36 holes are complete. With snow covering the ground at BCC at 9 p.m. Friday and more of the white stuff in the forecast overnight and on Saturday, the weekend is certainly problematic. If the course is ready on Saturday — which is a very big if — the second round will resume at 10 a.m. and the third at noon.
But on Friday, competitors were just trying to make the best of a bad situation. The first-round start was delayed 30 minutes by frost, and then there was a 32-minute suspension when snow started falling in the early afternoon.
“Even though you’re cold too, you have that advantage (of having more exposure to low temperatures as a Coloradan),” said Freeman, a two-time 3A state high school champ. “It just helps you push forward a little bit. The California schools had to (adjust) to the altitude and it’s cold and it’s windy. We’re already at our altitude yardages, so for us it’s one less thing to worry about, which is a big advantage.”
And it didn’t hurt for Freeman to be paired Friday with Clark, who is a friend. Clark sets a high stardard, having won the 2010 CGA Amateur at Boulder CC as a 16-year-old and capturing two individual college titles this season. The former Big 12 Player of the Year at Oklahoma State is certainly in position to notch his 10th top-10 finish of the season.
“Wyndham is a great guy,” Freeman said. “We’ve been friends forever. It’s fun competing with a good friend and also one of the best guys in the conference. You also know he’s going to be near the lead. It helps you to stay focused and know every shot really counts out there.”
Both Clark and Freeman played well during the most difficult conditions late in the day. Clark birdied three of four holes in the stretch from No. 12 through 15 in the evening, while Freeman was 3 under from 10 through 13.
“Obviously I would have loved to have finished (the second round) and be in the spot I am, just in case we can’t finish (the 72-hole tournament),” Clark said. “But I wouldn’t want to have finished and make bogeys coming in.
“It’s awesome that we’re in the lead. Oregon has never won a Pac-12 Championship (aside from divisional titles), so that’s something that’s on our minds to try and win the first championship.
“(Winning individually) would be awesome too — the cherry on top.”
As for host CU, coach Roy Edwards was happy to be in the middle of the pack after a rough start to the day. The Buffs’ six players went a combined 21 over par from the third through eighth holes of the day. They struggled somewhat on the same stretch (3-8) in round 2 — going 15 over — but other than that they very much held their own.
“I felt good,” Edward said. “We were a little tight this morning, which I expected a little bit because it’s a golf course we play all the time and it’s the Pac-12 Championship. We got off to a bit of a rough start, but since then the team’s played well.”
New TPC Colorado G.M. Collins, a Former Pac-8 South Champion, on Hand: Among the spectators Friday at Boulder Country Club was Coloradan Larry Collins, the Pac-8 South co-champion in 1977 as a University of Southern California golfer. Collins (left), a former director of golf at Boulder Country Club and for the last 18 years the director of golf at the 27-hole Omni Interlocken Golf Club in Broomfield, on Friday was named the general manager at the under-construction TPC Colorado course in Berthoud. The semi-private TPC Colorado is expected to open in the spring of next year and is said to be in the running to host a Web.com Tour event in the future.
Collins worked in the TPC network earlier in his career, as head professional at TPC Southwind, TPC Sawgrass and the former TPC at Star Pass.
State and Regional Golf Associations Pitch In: Eight state and regional golf associations, plus the USGA and the PGA of America, are helping out in various capacities at this weekend’s Pac-12 tournament at Boulder CC. The CGA and the CWGA are among them, along with folks from Northern California, Utah, Arizona, Southern California, Nebraska and the Pacific Northwest.
Notable: Senior Jeremy Paul, who holds the CU career scoring average record, was on hand Friday at Boulder Country Club less than two weeks after the school announced that he had turned pro, foregoing his eligibility for the 2017 Pac-12 tournament and the NCAA Championship. Paul missed the cut in a Web.com tournament last week… Sophomore Nathan Wunderli of Utah made a hole-in-one on the 204-yard sixth hole during the second round on Friday afternoon.
Men’s Pac-12 Championship
April 28-30, 2017 at Par-70 Boulder CC
Team Scores
1. Oregon +16
2. Washington +19
3. Stanford +26
4. California +31
4. Southern California +31
6. Colorado +33
7. UCLA +35
8. Arizona State +36
9. Arizona +41
10. Washington State +46
11. Oregon State +52
12. Utah +56
CU Individuals
6. Ethan Freeman +2 through 34 holes
10. Spencer Painton +5 through 36
25. Yannik Paul +7 through 36
42. John Souza +10 through 36
49. Wilson Belk +11 through 36
58. Victor Bjorlow +13 through 36
Also
T1. Coloradan Wyndham Clark, Oregon -2 through 34
67. Coloradan Kyler Dunkle, Utah +15 through 36
For live scoring from the Pac-12 meet, CLICK HERE.
UNC Third at Big Sky Tourney: Also starting Friday was the Men’s Big Sky Championship in Boulder City, Nev., and after round 1 the University of Northern Colorado holds third place in the eight-team field.
The Bears shot an 18-over-par 306 on Friday, leaving them three strokes behind leader Weber State.
UNC’s Joshua Matz shares the individual lead with Kyler Dearden of Weber State as both matched pars with 72s.
The tournament continues through Sunday.
Men’s Big Sky Championship
April 28-30, 2017 in Boulder City, Nev.
3. (out of 8 teams) Northern Colorado 306
T1. Joshua Matz 72
4. Coby Welch 74
16. Andrew Romano 79
25. Sam Marley 81
30. Li Chen 83
