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2010 Arizona Invitational stats

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Northern Colorado's men's golf team endured a disappointing beginning to a hopeful spring season today as play finished up at the 2010 Arizona Invitational at Arizona National Golf Course.

The Bears posted their best round of the tournament today (297, +13) but finished in 14th overall in the talent-rich field. They dug themselves too big of a hole yesterday, when they posted scores of 311 and 309 in the first and second rounds, respectively.

That 297 was the 11th best team score during today's final round, but Northern Colorado still finished 65 strokes over par for the tournament.

The California Golden Bears (-29) edged host Arizona (-28) to capture the team title, while Fresno State placed third (-14), Florida (-13) came in fourth and Texas A&M (-11) grabbed the fifth spot.

Arizona's Rich Saferian won medalist honors with a three-round total of 200 (-13).

"We were pretty rusty coming out of the gate", said Northern Colorado head coach Chuck Scheinost. "I thought we could come out and compete a little bit better than we did, but I'm not necessarily mad. Nick (Bisogno) was definitely a bright spot for us."

Bisogno, a junior, posted a 1-under-par 70 today to finish the tournament at 228 (+15) and in a tie for 62nd place in the field.

Fellow junior Steven Bidne finished his tournament with a total score of 231 (+18) after posting a final round 79, which put him in a tie for 66th. 

Troy Sibadras started the tournament slowly, posting an 82 (+11) in the first round yesterday, but picked up his play in the final two rounds to post a pair of 75s. He finished with a final score of 232 (+19).

Rich Lash finished the tournament with a 233 (+20), while junior Ryan Boshoven finished with a 238 (+25).

In a field filled with top-50 programs located in mostly warm-weather climates, the lack of practice time available to Northern Colorado definitely seemed to have an effect on its play. The Bears struggled on the difficult course and were plagued by several big numbers.

"This was the kind of course where one bad shot can really hurt you," Scheinost said. "Case in point, Stephen had a pair of 10s on the same hole in both rounds yesterday and he came back today and put it in in four. He hits better shots on just that one hole and he's anywhere from 10 to 11 strokes better overall."

Scheinost and the Bears will look to bounce back from this disappointing beginning when they travel to Houston in a couple weeks to play in the Rice Intercollegiate on Feb. 15 and 16.