The University of Colorado men’s golf team did something on Saturday that it hadn’t accomplished in 2 1/2 years.
At the Kansas State Bighorn Invitational in Palm Desert, Calif., the Buffs had three individuals finish in the top six of a large-field NCAA Division I tournament for the first time since September 2015.
Sophomore Daniel O’Loughlin from England (pictured in a CU photo by Chip Bromfield) placed a college career-best second, while seniors Spencer Painton of Colorado and Yannik Paul of Germany tied for sixth.
With a strong final round — a 9-under-par 279 at The Canyons at Bighorn Golf Club — the Buffs placed third in the 12-team field, 19 strokes behind champion Illinois and nine back of runner-up Mississippi State.
The last time before Saturday that CU had put three individuals in the top six in a large-field DI tournament — featuring 10 teams or more — was at the 2015 Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational in Erie, where Jeremy Paul, Ethan Freeman and Ross Macdonald all placed in the top five individually.
O’Loughlin recorded six birdies on Saturday and closed with a 3-under-par 69 to post an 8-under 208 total, which left him three strokes behind individual winner Bryan Baumgarten of Illinois.
Painton, a former Colorado 5A state high school champion, notched his second top-six individual finish of the season. He carded six birdies on Saturday, with nine 3s on his card, in a round of 68. He ended up at 209.
Also at that figure was Paul, who recorded his third top-six showing of the season. Paul had five birdies in a round of 71 on Saturday.
Meanwhile, two of the other Colorado-based Division I men’s teams squared off in a dual match Friday in Bremerton, Wash., with Colorado State and the University of Denver tying with 2.5 points each. Each team won two matches and halved one.
Posting individual victories were Chris Korte and Eric Hagen of DU, and Jack Ainscough and Max Oelfke of CSU. The match results are below.
K-State Bighorn Invitational
March 23-24, 2018 (final) in Palm Desert, Calif.
3. (out of 12 teams) Colorado 283-281-279–843
2. Daniel O’Loughlin 72-67-69–208
6. Spencer Painton 72-69-68–209
6. Yannik Paul 65-73-71–209
39. John Souza 74-75-71–220
65. Victor Bjorlow 80-72-82–234
Colorado State-Denver Dual Match
March 23, 2018 (final) at Gold Mountain GC in Bremerton, Wash.
CSU 2.5, DENVER 2.5
Chris Korte, DU, def. AJ Ott, 3 and 1
Eric Hagen, DU, def. Jake Staiano, 2 and 1
Jack Ainscough, CSU, def. Jackson Solem, 5 and 3
Max Oelfke, CSU, def. Isaac Petersilie, 4 and 3
Parathakorn Suyasri, CSU, halved with John Sand, DU
