Weather, Koch unkind to Bulls

The weather was bad, and the golf wasn’t much better for USF at the Gary Koch/Cleveland Golf Intercollegiate Tuesday.

After darkness on Monday forced the host Bulls and the rest of the field to complete the second round early Tuesday, and rain canceled the third and final round.

Played on the Old Memorial course in Tampa, USF limped to a last place finish in the 15-team field with a 302 Tuesday. The Bulls second-round score was the highest by any team, as USF slipped from 13th to 15th.

Florida snatched the team crown by firing a second-round 279 as first-round leader Ohio State plummeted to fourth behind a 292 on the second day.

The Gators were in fifth place after Round 1, six shots behind the Buckeyes. USF’s two-round total of 601 entrenched the Bulls 37 strokes behind Florida’s winning 564 36-hole tally.

USF opened the tournament with a 299 in the first round, led by the first of junior Oscar Fraustro’s back-to-back 73s.

The junior college transfer out of Brevard County Community College has been USF’s most consistent finisher, registering the Bulls’ lowest score in three of their first four tournaments.

Fraustro’s matching 1-over-par 73s enabled him to tie for 38th. Fraustro’s two-round total of 146 left him 11 shots back of the leaders.

Fraustro had a team low 227 at the Adams Cup in Newport, Va. Oct. 9 for 40th-place, and stroked a three-round 215 at the Raising Cane Classic Sept. 10.

The individual title was shared by Brandt Snedeker of Vanderbilt and Ohio State’s Zach Doran.

Snedeker trailed by four strokes after Doran rocketed to the top with his first round 8-under-par 64. Snedeker, the No. 5 player in the country, according to the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, used a 5-under-par second round to make up the deficit Tuesday.

Buoyed by Doran’s performance, Ohio State came in fourth. Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee rounded out the top five at second, third and fifth, respectively.

USF sophomore Ryan Shears trailed Fraustro by one shot, equaling his second round 73 to finish with a 147 two-day total.

Sophomore Brad Quiri and junior Federico Mautone also were only separated by a stroke, with Quiri swinging a 154 and Mautone slightly behind with a 155 following his second-round 77.

The Bulls return to the links Oct. 28 at the Rio Pinar Intercollegiate in Orlando.

Contact Oracle Sports Editor Anthony Gagliano at oracleanthony@yahoo.com