David Oraee aspires to become a doctor, but someone may talk him into also pursuing a side career in golf instruction. The Colorado senior has a wonderful message for golfers: Consistency. Consistency. Consistency.
“I have always prided myself in being able to stay away from big numbers,” said Oraee, a Greeley native.
Oraee’s golf game has been a model of consistency for four years, to the extent that CU coach Roy Edwards had to shake his head in amazement when informed of some numbers.
For the 2,520 holes that Oraee has played in college golf, he has posted only seven scores worse than double bogey: six triple bogeys and one quadruple bogey. He has not recorded a triple bogey, or worse, since his sophomore year.
Ranking second on the CU team this year with a stroke average of 71.8, Oraee doesn’t make a ton of double bogeys either. He has made only 70 double bogeys in four years.
Oraee learned to play as a youngster from his older brother, Daniel, at Greeley Country Club. Playing smart was a major focus of his brother’s teaching. Daniel Oraee is a physician in Tulsa, Okla.
“My brother was really big on damage control — to minimize your mistakes,” Oraee said. “I was really brought up in playing stress-free golf. I keep things from getting away from me. The only big numbers I make is if something catastrophic happens like if I hit a ball out of bounds or do something goofy.”
Two factors enable Oraee to avoid ugly scores: 1) Unlike many young players, he focuses on “course management,” which is how to play each hole and the course as a whole, and 2) he enjoys practicing his short game.
Oraee said he always has a list of strategy “checks” that he mentally goes through before hitting a shot.
“I decide where to miss, where is the best place to hit the next shot from, things like that,” Oraee said. “That really helps me minimizing a big mistake.”
Oraee is known as an adept scrambler, often relying on his short game — chipping, pitching and putting — to save par.
“I work a lot on the short game and don’t spend a lot of time on the swing itself,” Oraee said. “I work on different shots and how they will react on the greens. And putting is huge. You can save a lot of strokes by making putts.”
Edwards said Oraee has been a coach’s dream: a top student and good teammate who has improved every year. Oraee averaged 74.5 strokes per round as a freshman, 74.1 as a sophomore and 73.2 as a junior before making a big jump as a senior. College golf has fall and spring seasons, and Oraee’s combined 2014-15 stroke average of 71.8 is chasing sophomore Jeremy Paul (71.7) for best on the team.
In the fall, Oraee recorded his first college victory, winning CU’s Mark Simpson Invitational at Colorado National Golf Club in Erie. Oraee won by a five-stroke margin, posting scores of 64-67 in the 36-hole event. His tournament score of 13-under par was a school record.
“David has improved every semester, which is really hard to do,” Edwards said. “He’s really been very coachable. He’s a hard worker and an astute learner. And he’s obviously a competitor. When you combine those things together, you get a very good player and somebody that is going to develop over time.”
At Greeley West High School, Oraee earned all-state honors all four years and won the state Class 5A individual title as a senior. He picked CU after also considering Oregon, Louisville, Kansas and Colorado State.
“When I first started the recruiting process, I didn’t think I wanted to be close to home,” Oraee said. “I’m glad I made the decision to do that.”
Tom Kensler: tkensler@denverpost.com or
