ERIE — The nearby Rocky Mountains remained just a rumor to many out-of-state visitors Thursday during the opening round of the NCAA’s “Colorado Regional” men’s golf competition with wet, gloomy conditions obscuring the panoramic views from Colorado National Golf Club — and ultimately causing a suspension of play during midafternoon.
A total of 33 golfers among a field of 75 must complete their first round today, beginning at 8 a.m. Most players called off the course because of the inclement weather had three holes or fewer remaining when the horn sounded.
The wind and cold must have sent Southern squads scurrying for some fleece to wear under their rain jackets. But top-seeded Oklahoma State and Colorado State did not complain. OSU, the nation’s top-ranked team, played like it was a walk in a sunny park and almost lapped the field at 12-under par.
The Rams, seeded 11th among 13 teams here, also ignored the weather and focused instead on pelting the soften greens with iron approach shots.
The result: CSU sits in fourth place at 5-under, with three holes needed this morning to complete its first round. The magic number at each of the six 54-hole regionals is five — the top five teams advance to the NCAA Championships (May 31-June 5).
CSU’s Zahkai Brown, a sophomore from Pomona High School, led the charge for the Rams. He also topped the scoreboard at 7-under par, with two holes left. His putting was stellar.
“We get this weather all the time up in Fort Collins,” Brown said. “I saw players from Northwestern and San Jose State actually fly the green on a hole because it’s windy and it’s raining. (With the elevation) the ball still goes here in the cold. Being from Colorado, I know that.”
Last year, Colorado State placed eighth in a regional, but just four strokes from advancing. The Rams also barely missed out in 2009.
“It’s a good start for us,” CSU coach Jamie Bermel said. “You can’t qualify (for nationals) the first day, but you can certainly shoot yourself in the foot. We don’t need to be first. We just need to be inside the top five.”
Oklahoma State battled fourth-seeded Arizona State for the top spot during much of the day, but OSU pulled away at the end. The Cowboys finished four strokes better than third-seeded Auburn and six ahead of fading Arizona State.
OSU features two of the NCAA’s top players in No. 1 Peter Uihlein and No. 3 Kevin Tway, son of tour player Bob Tway. But on this day, Sean Einhaus earned team bragging rights. A sophomore from Borken, Germany, Einhaus shot a 6-under 66.
“My iron play was really good, so I had a lot of birdie opportunities,” Einhaus said.
He chipped in a birdie on the 233-yard, par-3 14th.
“We get some pretty bad weather in Stillwater, so we’re used to this,” Einhaus said. “I think we feel pretty comfortable playing in this kind of weather. Obviously, we’d prefer it to be 80 degrees and sunny. But it is what it is. You just accept it and try to do your best.”
The biggest disappointment of the day had to be Georgia. The Bulldogs are seeded No. 2 here but sit in 11th place.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
NCAA Colorado Regional
AT COLORADO NATIONAL GOLF CLUB
Erie
7,753 yards, par 72
PARTIAL FIRST ROUND
Play suspended by lightning with 33 players on the course
Team standings — par 288
1. Oklahoma State 276 (-12); 2. Auburn 280 (-8); 3. Arizona State 282 (-6); 4. Colorado State DNF (-5); 5. Clemson 289 (+ 1); 6. TCU DNF (+2); 7. Chattanooga 291 (+3); 8. Northwestern DNF (+4); 9. (tie) Denver DNF (+5) and San Jose State (+5)
11. Georgia 294 (+6); 12. New Mexico State (+7); 13. North Florida (+17).
Individual standings
Sean Einhaus, Oklahoma State 34-32-66
Niclas Carlsson, Auburn 36-31-67
T.J. Mitchell, Georgia 36-33-69
Jesper Kennegard, Arizona State 36-33-69
Scott Pinckney, Arizona State 35-34-69
Talor Gooch, Oklahoma State 35-35-70
Kyle Kopsick, Auburn 37-33-70
Morgan Hoffmann, Oklahoma State 36-34-70
James Byrne, Arizona State 35-35-70
Peter Uihlein, Oklahoma State 35-35-70
Chris Robb, Chattanooga 32-38-70
Michael Hebert, Auburn 37-34-71
Jack Perry, Northwestern 35-36-71
Harris English, Georgia 36-36-72
Kevin Tway, Oklahoma State 35-37-72
Thomas Bradshaw, Clemson 36-36-72
Jacob Burger, Clemson 36-36-72
Blayne Barber, Auburn 37-35-72
Pontus Gad, TCU 36-36-72
Eli Cole, TCU 37-35-72
Crawford Reeves, Clemson 35-37-72
Joseph Byun, North Florida 39-33-72
Kory Harrell, Colorado State 36-36-72
Benni Weilguni, Chattanooga 37-36-73
Collin Pratt, New Mexico State 37-36-73
Corbin Mills, Clemson 37-36-73
Stephan Jaeger, Chattanooga 37-36-73
Dominic Bozzelli, Auburn 40-34-74
Russell Henley, Georgia 38-36-74
Phil Francis, Arizona State 38-36-74
Steven Fox, Chattanooga 37-38-75
Zach Fullerton, New Mexico State 38-38-76
Justin Shin, New Mexico State 39-37-76
McCuen Elmore, Clemson 37-40-77
Davis Bunn, Chattanooga 38-39-77
Chris Kennedy, North Florida 41-36-77
Daniel Jennevret, TCU 37-40-77
Bryden Macpherson, Georgia 38-41-79
Hudson Swafford, Georgia 41-38-79
Thomas Buran, Arizona State 39-41-80
Jacob Davidson, North Florida 40-40-80
Justin Estrada, San Jose State 38-42-80
Did not complete first round
Player Score Thru
Zahkai Brown, Colorado State -7 16
Cody Schweinefus, Drake -2 15
Andrew Wyatt, Nebraska -2 14
C.G. Mercatoris, Robert Morris -1 15
Ryan Peterson, Colorado State -1 15
Tim Madigan, New Mexico State E 16
Mark Hubbard, San Jose State E 15
Geoff Gonzalez, Cal Poly E 14
Michael McGowan, North Carolina E 14
Derek Plucienski, So. Mississippi E 13
Johan de Beer, TCU +1 17
Daniel Semmler, San Jose State +1 17
Tom Hoge, TCU +1 16
Matt Hovan, San Jose State +1 16
Eric Chun, Northwestern +1 16
Ole Ramsnes, Denver +1 14
Troy Anderson, Denver +1 12
Gabe Maier, Wyoming +1 12
Michael Whitehead, Rice +1 12
Gaston De La Torre, New Mexico St. +2 17
Nick Losole, Northwestern +2 17
Chun-Ji Kim, Denver +2 15
David Lipsky, Northwestern +2 15
Mike Sorenson, Colorado State +3 16
Jay Myers, San Jose State +3 16
Klinton Krieger, Denver +3 14
Steven Lecuyer, Central Arkansas +3 13
Kirby Pettitt, Colorado State +4 17
Jarred Bossio, Idaho +4 14
Kevin Aylwin, North Florida +5 16
Josh Dupont, Northwestern +6 16
Oscar Arvidsson, Denver +6 13
Joey Marino, North Florida +7 17
