Derek Tolan knows it sounds like a cliché, but the strategy is working for him, so he’s sticking with it. Focus exclusively on the next shot, then let the chips fall where they may this week at the HealthOne Colorado Open.
That approach has been so effective at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club that not only is the former University of Colorado golfer leading the tournament, but his 36-hole total is the lowest in the five years the Open has been played exclusively at GVR.
Not that that is any big deal to Tolan.
“I’m doing a good job of staying in the present, so whatever the score adds up to, it doesn’t really matter,” said the 23-year-old from Highlands Ranch.
Tolan backed up his first-round 65 with a 5-under-par 66 on Friday to grab a two-shot lead over Phoenix’s Chris Kamin at the halfway point of the Open. Tolan stands at 11-under-par 131 for two rounds, bettering by two shots the previous best 36-hole total shot exclusively at GVR.
Tolan wasn’t alone in taking advantage of the ideal scoring conditions. A total of 46 players stand under par through two rounds, and 1-over-par 143 or better (the lowest total in Open history) was needed to survive the cut and play the weekend.
But only two players — both veterans of the Gateway Tour — trail Tolan by fewer than five shots at the halfway mark. Kamin, who set the course record with a 61 in Wednesday’s pro-am, stands at 133 after a second-round 67. And 2007 champion John Douma, like Tolan a former CU golfer, is at 134 after carding a 66 Friday.
Ironically, Tolan set his scoring mark despite having a poor warm-up session Friday morning before his second round. But knowing that he didn’t have his “A” game just made Tolan play the percentages more, and that strategy paid off with a bogey-free round.
“I knew that I wasn”˜t going to force anything,” he said. “I decided to play on the more conservative side. “¦ That’s something I’m real good at — putting up a score. I do my best to shoot as low as I can with whatever I have.”
Tolan’s 131 total is on pace to break the 72-hole scoring record for the Colorado Open, which stands at 267.
With Tolan having won twice in college tournaments as a CU senior and the San Juan Open since turning pro, his play this week isn’t catching CU golf coach Roy Edwards off guard.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” said Edwards, who attended the Open on Friday. “Anything he does will not surprise me. It’s neat to see him playing well. And he hasn’t hit a plateau in the last year.”
Kamin, winner of five Gateway Tour events in his career, also played a bogey-free round on Friday, but felt his score could have been much lower than 67 had he drained some putts.
“I feel like I left some out there,” he said. “But hopefully I have one good round in me (for the weekend).”
Douma, who recently won an event on the Gateway Tour, has been stellar in recent Colorado Opens, finishing second, second, first and second the last four years. On Friday, he followed the lead of Tolan and Kamin in not making a bogey.
“This tournament has treated me real well,” said Douma, a Denver native who now lives in Phoenix. “I have so many good memories here, and it’s easy to build off those memories.”
COLORADO OPEN NOTES: Utah pro Steve Schneiter needed a call from tournament officials to make his 8 a.m. tee time on Friday. Schneiter, who lost in a playoff to Bill Loeffler in the 1991 Open, arrived at Green Valley Ranch 11 minutes before his tee time. Without warming up, he shot a 65 — tying the best score of the day — and moved up to a tie for fourth place after 36 holes. “¦ Among the notable players who failed to qualify for the weekend were two-time champions Brian Guetz (145) and Jim Blair (disqualified), former CGA Players of the Year Pat Grady (146) and Steve Irwin (146) and reigning CGA Match Play champion Steve Ziegler (146). “¦ Tee times Saturday will run from 7 to 9:01 a.m. off both the first and 10th tees. The leaders will go off No. 1 at 9:01 a.m.
