Huskers, Rogers Narrowly Miss Big 12 Titles

Hutchinson, Kan.--The Nebraska men's golf team narrowly missed their first conference championship in 62 years on Tuesday, finishing two shots behind Kansas at the Big 12 Men's Golf Championships at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan. Husker senior Jamie Rogers also fell just short of a conference title on Tuesday, finishing three rounds of play at even-par 210, just one shot from the team title.

Nebraska entered Tuesday's third and final round, two shots behind Kansas in the team race and things stayed tight throughout the day. The Huskers picked up two shots on KU on the front nine, evening the team race, but Kansas played the back nine in even par to hang on for the team crown. Both teams shot 287 on Tuesday, with Kansas finishing three rounds at 857, with the Huskers at 859. Texas fired the lowest round of the tournament on Tuesday with a 1-under par 279 to finish third at 862, followed by Oklahoma State at 868 and Colorado at 873.

Rogers got around Prairie Dunes in even-par for the third straight round, despite a strong north wind on Tuesday. Rogers carded three birdies and three bogeys in his round, including birdies on the 16th and 17th holes to put him at even par for the day and tournament. Rogers had an uphill 15-foot putt on the 18th hole to get to 1-under par and force an individual playoff, but his putt was left. Texas freshman David Gossett took the medalist honors with a 209 total, including a 68 in the final round. Rogers finished in a tie for second with Kansas' Chris Thompson who shot a 71 on Tuesday.

Nebraska's Steve Friesen birdied three of the final five holes on Tuesday to post a 71 and finish in a tie for fourth place at 3-over par 213. Rogers and Friesen each earned a spot on the Big 12 All-Tournament team, along with senior teammate Josh Madden who finished in a tie for ninth place at 217, after a 75 on Tuesday. Madden's score on Tuesday did not count toward the team total as Scott Gutschewski and Seth Porter both carded 73s. Gutschewski and Porter finished in a tie for 29th place with a three-round total of 224.

The Huskers' second-place finish ties their best league finish since winning the Big Six title in 1937. It is also their best finish since a second-place Big Eight showing in 1978 and two shots is the closest Nebraska has come to a league title in Larry Romjue's 29 seasons as Nebraska head coach. Romjue was pleased with Tuesday's effort from his 15th-ranked team despite falling just short of the team title.

"We did a great job. Sometimes people forget that second isn't all that bad when you beat the fourth (Oklahoma State) and seventh (Texas) ranked teams in the nation. Two strokes is microscopic, especially in a tournament like this. My hat is off to Kansas, they just played a bit better today."

Rogers was also pleased with his effort as well as the team's finish.

"This is a really good showing for us. We would have loved to win, but Kansas played very well."

Nebraska is now idle until participating in the Perry Maxwell Invitational in Norman, Okla. on May 15-16. The Huskers will also take part in the NCAA Central Regional at Columbus, Ohio on May 18-21.

Team Scores

1	Kansas	286	284	287	857
2	Nebraska	288	284	287	859
3	Texas	294	289	279	862
4	Oklahoma State	291	287	290	868
5	Colorado	288	297	288	873
6	Baylor	291	300	291	882
8	Oklahoma	301	287	301	889
	Iowa State	296	294	299	889
10	Kansas State	304	308	298	910
11	Texas Tech	297	310	309	916
12	Missouri	304	308	316	928

Top Ten Individuals

1	David Gossett, Texas	71	70	68	209
2	Jamie Rogers, Nebraska	70	70	70	210
	Chris Thompson, Kansas	70	69	71	210
4	Steve Friesen, Nebraska	71	71	71	213
	Matt Call, Colorado	75	72	66	213
6	Hunter Haas, Oklahoma	75	69	70	214
7	Russell Surber, Texas	73	71	71	215
	Anders Hultman, Oklahoma State	73	69	73	215
	Josh Madden, Nebraska	71	71	75	217
	Ryan Vermeer, Kansas	68	71	78	217
	Brad Davis, Kansas	74	72	71	217
	Lee Reed, Texas A&M	68	75	74	217
	Ben Fiala, Colorado	69	75	73	217

Championship Notes
* Kansas three-round total of 857 breaks the previous tournament record by 25 strokes (OSU, 882 in 1997). Four other teams broke the old record , including Nebraska (859), Texas (862), Oklahoma State (868) and Colorado (873), while Baylor tied the previous mark at 882.

* Texas' 279 in today's final round is a new single-round team record. The previous low single round was 284, set yesterday by Nebraska and Kansas in round two. The 'Horns 279 is 12 shots better than the previous third round low, a 291 by Oklahoma State in 1998 and the top five teams in the final standings all shot better than 291 on Tuesday. Overall in three rounds, there were 12 team scores lower than 290, the previous single round tournament record.

* Colorado's Matt Call carded a 66 on Tuesday, a new single-round tournament record, bettering the 67 shot by three players, including Oklahoma's Chance Cozby and Baylor's Aaron Pellegrom. Call's 66 on Tuesday is four shots better than the previous third round low, a 70 by Charles Howell last year.

* In the first two years of the tournament there was a total of three rounds in the 60s. On Monday, there was nine rounds in the 60s and on Tuesday there were four more rounds in the 60s for a total of 13 rounds less than 70.

* The par-4 eighth hole played as the toughest hole in Tuesday's third round, averaging 4.77 strokes, followed by the par-4 12th which played to an average of 4.65 and the par-4 11th which averaged 4.63. The easiest hole on Tuesday was the par-5 17th which averaged 4.68 strokes, followed by the par-4 13th hole which averaged 4.00 strokes. Ironically, the 13th played as the second-toughest hole on Tuesday.

* For the tournament the eighth hole played the toughest, averaging 4.49 strokes, followed by the fifth which averaged 4.44. The easiest hole for three rounds was the 17th, averaging 4.82 strokes, while the seventh averaged 5.13 strokes.

* The average score for the tournament was 74.82, with the average score in Tuesday's final round 74.82, only slightly tougher than the 74.75 in round one and 74.81 in round two.

* There were three eagles in the final round, all on the par-5 17th hole. There were 16 scores worse than double bogey in the third round, after just 14 such scores were recorded in the first two rounds. For the tournament there were six eagles, 323 birdies, 1,899 pars, 824 bogeys, 140 double bogeys and 30 others.

* Three players finished with a tournament-high 11 birdies, including Baylor's Jimmy Walker, Nebraska's Jamie Rogers and Colorado's Matt Call. CU's Call birdied seven holes in his final round 66. Kansas' Matt Davis tied for sixth in the tournament in birdies with eight, but five of those came during Tuesday's last six holes, helping the Jayhawks to the team title.

Final Round Quotes
Kansas Coach Ross Randall
"This is terrific. We've been improving steadily all year, but this is our biggest win by far. It should help us confidence-wise down the road, but it definitely doesn't guarantee anything. We have a little more work to do to get to where we want to be, but everyone is just enjoying this now."

Texas Freshman David Gossett--Individual Medalist
" To come out on top against strong competition as a freshman means a lot to me. Shooting a 68 on a course like this gives me a great confidence boost. I hope I can continue to play this well."

"As a team our guys played great today. We're sure to use this as a boost for the Central Regional."

Nebraska Coach Larry Romjue
"We did a great job. Sometimes people forget that second isn't all that bad when you beat the fourth and seventh ranked teams in the nation. Two strokes is micoscopic, especially in a tournament like this. My hat is off to Kansas, they just played a bit better today."

Nebraska Senior Jamie Rogers--tied for second
"This is a really good showing for us. We would have loved to win, but Kansas played very well."