CSU, UNC, DU men all notch top-5 finishes at Ping Cougar Classic; Kupcho’s Wake Forest squad runs win streak to 3
By Gary Baines – 04/20/2019
It isn’t often that three Colorado-based Division I college golf teams finish in the top five of the same large-field tournament — especially one held outside the Centennial State.
But Saturday was such an occasion.
At the Ping Cougar Classic, the Colorado State men placed third in the 15-team field, while Northern Colorado was fourth and the University of Denver fifth.
All in all, there are worse ways to perform with all three teams having conference championships as their next tournaments.
It probably doesn’t hurt that the tournament was held in Provo, Utah, where the elevation is not much different than where CSU, UNC and DU are based.
CSU, playing its second tournament of the week, finished at 17-under-par for three rounds, seven strokes behind champion — and host — BYU. UNC checked in at 15 under, while DU, which led after two rounds, ended up at 14 under.
Seven local freshmen or sophomores joined UNC senior Joshua Matz in posting top-15 individual finishes in the 90-man tournament.
CSU sophomore Parathakorn Suyasri placed second, matching a career-best for a large-field tournament and ending up eight strokes behind champion Peter Kuest of BYU. Ram freshmen Davis Bryant and Oscar Teiffel placed seventh and 10th, respectively. It was Teiffel’s third top-10 in large-field events as a college player and Bryant’s second.
DU redshirt freshman Esteban Missura and sophomore John Sand tied for eighth place — a career-best for Sand — and freshman Cal McCoy was 14th.
And for UNC, Matz shared 10th place — his sixth top-10 in large-field tournament this season — and freshman Jack Castiglia tied for 14th.
Kupcho’s Wake Forest Squad Wins Third Straight Tourney: Westminster resident Jennifer Kupcho, fresh off her victory in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and two straight college wins, finished 12th on Saturday in her final Women’s ACC Championship.
Kupcho, the defending NCAA individual champion and the No. 1-ranked women’s amateur in the world, posted rounds of 72-74-73 for a 3-over-par 219 total. That left the Coloradan 14 strokes behind champion — and Wake Forest teammate — Emilia Migliaccio in Greensboro, N.C..
Wake Forest earned its first ACC team title since 2010 in prevailing by eight strokes over Florida State. The Demon Deacons have now won three consecutive tournaments.
Kupcho, who had placed in the top five in each of her previous ACC Championships, now likely has two college tournaments remaining before joining the LPGA Tour: the NCAA Regionals and, if she and/or Wake Forest qualify, the NCAA Championship Finals.
PING COUGAR CLASSIC
April 19-20, 2019 (final) in Provo, Utah
3. (out of 15 teams) Colorado State 277-288-282–847
2. Parathakorn Suyasri 69-71-67–207
7. Davis Bryant 67-69-74–210
10. Oscar Teiffel 71-71-70–212
52. AJ Ott 73-77-71–221
58. Jake Staiano 70-78-75–223
30. Jack Ainscough (competing only as individual) 70-73-74–217
4. Northern Colorado 282-285-282–849
10. Joshua Matz 75-69-68–212
14. Jack Castiglia 73-71-69–213
22. Coby Welch 66-78-71–215
27. Li Chen 71-71-74–216
46. Nick Sharp 72-74-74–220
5. Denver 275-283-292–850
8. Esteban Missura 68-71-72–211
8. John Sand 68-68-75–211
14. Cal McCoy 69-72-72–213
30. Carson Griggs 70-72-75–217
60. Eric Hagen 75-76-73–224
22. Roy Kang (competing only as individual) 67-73-75–215
9. Air Force Academy 290-297-286–873
18. Joshua Wu 72-72-70–214
27. Andy Germann 72-73-71–216
41. Jonathan Farmer 73-76-70–219
60. Anson Kuznik 73-76-75–224
86. Bryant Falconello 78-76-78–232
Also
18. Coloradan Tyler Severin, Wyoming 73-71-70–214
WOMEN’S BIG SKY
April 19-21, 2019 in Boulder City, Nev.
3. (out of 11 teams) Northern Colorado 299-300–599
1. Beah Cruz 69-73–142
5. Marisa Hisaki 73-73–146
30. Morgan Sahm 80-76–156
39. Jenna Chun 77-82–159
39. Nicole Polivchak 81-78–159
Also
21. Coloradan Delaney Elliott, Montana State 71-81–152