Wednesday proved an agonizingly close near-miss on several fronts for Colorado men’s college golf teams and local players.
With the top five team finishers at NCAA Division I Regional tournaments advancing to the national finals, several locals were definitely in the mix to extend their season, though all fell short:
— Colorado State finished seventh in the Reunion, Fla., Regional, ending up just four strokes out of fifth place. The Rams, seeking their first berth in nationals since 2011, posted a three-day total of 16-under-par 848, but it wasn’t good enough as Kent State secured the fifth and final spot (844) and Arizona placed sixth (846). Junior Jake Staiano, the 2017 CGA Player of the Year, and senior Max Oelfke led the way for CSU individually, tying for 14th at 4-under-par 212.
— The University of Colorado also recorded a seventh-place showing, in its case out of 13 teams at the Stockton, Calif. Regional. The Buffs finished 10 strokes behind fifth-place Oregon, CU’s Pac-12 opponent which was tied with the Buffs entering the final day. The showing was CU’s second-best at Regionals since the Buffs finished 10th out of 27 teams in 2002 and last advanced a team to the NCAA Finals (CU was sixth out of 14 teams in the 2015 Regionals). Colorado finished at 2-under-par 862 for three rounds. Buffs senior Yannik Paul paced the team individually in his college finale, placing 12th at 4-under-par 212. Paul set a CU record for single-season stroke average, with 70.24. Kansas, coached by former CSU coach Jamie Bermel, won the regional title by one stroke over Stanford.
— Junior Josh Seiple, a junior from Colorado who plays for Ole Miss, fell just short of returning to the NCAA Finals. His Mississippi team finished sixth in the team competition at the Bryan, Texas Regional, three strokes behind fifth-place Kentucky. Individually, Seiple placed 57th (74-73-80–227).
Meanwhile, the University of Northern Colorado finished 10th out of 13 teams in the Bryan Regional, UNC’s first regional appearance since 2014. The Bears recorded a 30-over-par 894 total, ending up 20 strokes out of fifth place. Big Sky Conference Player of the Year Joshua Matz led the Bears individually by placing 19th at 1-over-par 217.
In addition to the top five team finishers, the top individual not on one of those teams from each regional advances to the NCAA Finals, set for May 25-30 in Stillwater, Okla.
Men’s NCAA Division I Regionals
May 14-16, 2018 (final) in Stockton, Calif.
7. (out of 13 teams) Colorado 290-282-290–862
12. Yannik Paul 71-69-72–212
16. Daniel O’Loughlin 73-69-71–213
19. Spencer Painton 71-70-73–214
67. John Souza 75-74-77–226
72. Ross Macdonald 75-80-74–229
May 14-16, 2018 (final) in Reunion, Fla.
7. (out of 14 teams) Colorado State 288-277-283–848
14. Jake Staiano 71-68-73–212
14. Max Oelfke 73-70-69–212
39. AJ Ott 71-75-70–216
39. Jack Ainscough 76-68-72–216
39. Parathakorn Suyasri 73-71-72–216
May 14-16, 2018 (final) in Bryan, Texas
10. (out of 13 teams) Northern Colorado 306-287-301–894
19. Joshua Matz 71-75-71–217
50. Andrew Romano 79-70-76–225
50. Coby Welch 78-73-74–225
67. Li Chen 78-69-85–232
75. Marcus Tait 84-83-80–247
Also
57. Coloradan Josh Seiple, Mississippi 74-73-80–227
May 14-16, 2018 (final) in Norman, Okla.
50. Chris Korte, Denver (competing only as individual) 76-70-78–224
