Buff Golfers Finish Fifth at Nebraska Fairway Club Invitational

LINCOLN, Neb. - The University of Colorado men's golf team finished in fifth place here Tuesday in the Nebraska Fairway Club Invitational, the Buffaloes first competition of the fall 1999 season.

Kansas ran away with the win in the 11-team field with a team score of 853, as the Jayhawks put up an impressive 12-under par 272 score in the final round with all five of their players breaking 70, a rarity in a collegiate golf tournament.

In a distant second was Missouri (888), with California and Colorado State tying for third (890), the Buffaloes fifth (897) and host Nebraska sixth (898).

Kansas' Ryan Vermeer cruised to medalist honors with a 68-67-67-202, winning by nine strokes over teammate Andy Stewart (211). Colorado was paced by redshirt freshman Stephen Carroll, as the Australian native turned in a 76-74-70-220 performance, tying for eighth in his first collegiate competition.

Junior Matt Call tied for 13th (73-73-75-221), after having been in a sixth-place tie after two rounds on the 6,762-yard, par-71 Firethorn Golf Club course layout.

"I guess I was a little bit disappointed, because I think we're a better team than what we showed," head coach Mark Simpson said. "Ben (Fiala) struggled all three rounds, and that hurt us a bit. Steve Carroll turned in a positive for us though, finishing eighth in his first collegiate meet. Matt (Call) and Matt (Zions) never really got rolling to where they felt they were playing their 'A' games. But it's early, and gives us something to focus on. We lost to Missouri after going 6-0 against them last year, but we beat Nebraska, and we were 1-8 against them."

The Buffs are idle for the next two weeks, resuming play in the CSU Ram Invitational on Sept. 27-28.

Buffalo Individuals
Stephen Carroll 76-74-70--220 t8th
Matt Call 73-73-75--221 t13th
Matthew Zions 74-74-77--225 t22nd
Shawn Wills 80-76-75--231 t38th
Ben Fiala 83-77-81--241 t55th


Team Scores
1. Kansas 295-286-272--853
2. Missouri 298-297-293--888
3. California 298-298-294--890
3. Colorado State 305-291-294--890
5. Colorado 303-297-297--897
6. Nebraska 300-305-293--898
7. Washington State 305-303-297--905
8. Memphis 310-301-301--912
9 Wichita State 318-305-291--914
10. Louisiana-Lafayette 325-296-294--915
10. Air Force 326-296-295--917

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