Locals Shine

Four players with significant Colorado ties notched top-12 individual finishes Sunday in NCAA Division I golf action.

University of Colorado senior Yannik Paul used a 6-under-par 30 on his front nine to shoot a 5-under 67 and tie for fifth place in the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate in Palm Desert, Calif. Also in that event, former Colorado state high school champion Spencer Painton and CU teammate John Souza tied for 12th place in the 135-man field, with Painton finishing his round birdie-eagle.

In addition, Colorado resident Josh Seiple, who plays for the University of Mississippi, shared 11th place individually out of 99 players in The All-American tournament in Humble, Texas.

In Palm Desert, against a field that featured six teams ranked in the top 40 nationally, CU finished third out of 23 schools. The Buffs shot under par all three rounds (287-278-280) for a 19-under-par 845 total that left them 28 strokes behind champion Cal. Texas Tech (837) was second. The University of Denver (878) placed 10th.

Paul (pictured) recorded his second top-five individual showing of the season, sixth of his career and second in the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate. On Sunday, he birdied the 18th hole, giving him seven for the day, en route to a 9-under-par 207 total, leaving him five out of the top spot.

Painton went 72-71-68 and Souza 70-69-72 for 211 totals.

In Texas, Seiple had stellar first and final rounds (67-66) sandwiched around a second-day 77. His 66 on Sunday was bogey-free, with six birdies. The Coloradan finished nine strokes behind individual champion Keenan Huskey of South Carolina.

Sunday marked Seiple’s second 11th-place finish of the season.

Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate
Feb. 16-18, 2018 (final) in Palm Desert, Calif.
3. (out of 23 teams) Colorado 287-278-280—845

5. Yannik Paul 71-69-67–207
12. Spencer Painton 72-71-68–211
12. John Souza 70-69-72–211
44. Daniel O’Loughlin 74-69-76–219
50. Trevor Olkowski 75-72-73–220
83. Cole Krantz (competing only as individual) 76-77-72–225
83. Victor Bjorlow (competing only as individual) 75-75-75–225
131. Wilson Belk (competing only as individual) 82-79-79–240

10. Denver 304-292-282–878
38. Chris Korte 74-74-70–218
44. Isaac Petersilie 77-71-71–219
44. Jake Kelley 75-75-69–219
64. Jackson Solem 78-72-73–223
83. Eric Hagen 78-75-72–225
83. John Sand (competing only as individual) 79-74-72–225
127. Roy Kang (competing only as individual) 80-78-81–239

Also
53. Coloradan Glenn Workman, Wyoming 75-71-75–221