Outstanding Final Day Helps Bears to Fourth Place Finish at Purple & Red Invitational
Sept. 19, 2006
Final Results in PDF Format
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LAYTON, Utah - The University of Northern Colorado men's golf team fired a third round low combined score of 277 (-11) to jump from ninth place and finish fourth overall out of 17 teams at the Purple & Red Invitational hosted by Weber State University and the University of Utah and held at Valley View Golf Course.
The final round score was seven shots lower than the next closest team on Tuesday (Cal Poly) as the Bears finished at +3 for the event, just four strokes behind Hartford and Utah, who tied at -1; Hartford won the tournament on a tie-breaker while Cal Poly finished third, three strokes ahead of the Bears.
Northern Colorado's four individual golfers who had scores count on the final day of play were fantastic, with senior Jon Stecher leading the way with a final round 67 (-5). Stecher had rounds of 77, 70 and 67 at the event to finish tied for seventh overall.
Stecher tied with three golfers, including Nic Van Vuuren of Utah Valley State, last season's Division I Independent Championships medalist. Cal Poly's Dave Lewinski was the individual medalist, finishing at -8, six strokes ahead of Stecher.
Sophomore Jordan Ensrud fired a final round 68 (-4) to finish at 217 (+1) for the three-day event; he tied for 15th overall. Junior Eric Higgins was 23rd overall after a final round 72 (E); he had rounds of 73, 73 and 72 in the two-day event. Senior Kyle Sullivan tied Higgins for 23rd overall after his final round score of 70 (-2).
Sophomore Derek Hofmeister finished 87th overall (238, +22).
"Our guys did a really great job today," Bears head coach Wally Goodwin said. "This was a really hard course to play and I am really impressed with our results. The guys were terrific and never lost their composure."
As a team that Bears topped 13 schools including day one leader San Francisco, regional rival Wyoming and three schools associated with the Big Sky Conference - Weber State (A & B teams), Sacramento State and Idaho State.
Northern Colorado is back in action on Oct. 8-9 when they travel to metropolitan Chicago (Glencoe, Ill. - Skokie Country Club) to compete in the Windon Memorial hosted by Northwestern University. Coach Goodwin served as head coach at Northwestern from 1981-87.
Northern Colorado Individuals
7. Jon Stecher 77-70-67 214 (-2) 15. Jordan Ensrud 74-75-68 217 (+1) 23. Eric Higgins 73-73-72 218 (+2) 23. Kyle Sullivan 75-73-70 218 (+2) 87. Derek Hofmeister 81-78-79 238 (+22)
Team Finishes
1. Hartford 283-288-292 863 (-1)
2. Utah 295-279-289 863 (-1)
3. Cal Poly 293-287-284 864 (E)
4. Northern Colorado 299-291-277 867 (+3)
5. San Francisco 282-286-302 870 (+6)
6. Southern Utah 289-295-288 872 (+8)
Weber State 292-288-292 872 (+8)
8. Portland 290-291-299 880 (+16)
9. Weber State 'B' 295-290-296 881 (+17)
Gonzaga 295-296-290 881 (+17)
11. Boise State 298-295-289 882 (+18)
12. Utah Valley State 299-293-292 884 (+20)
13. Idaho 305-290-293 888 (+24)
14. Utah State 299-299-298 896 (+32)
15. Wyoming 303-295-301 899 (+35)
16. Sacramento State 306-292-305 903 (+39)
17. Idaho State 307-307-309 923 (+59)
