Carefree, Ariz – In the final year of the Pac-12, the Colorado men's golf team competed in the 64th and final Pac-12 championship with the hopes of taking home the title for the first time in school history. Competing against five top-25 schools, the No. 64 buffs played to their expectations and snagged an eighth-place finish.
Round one of the three-day tournament gave the Buffs their second-best score of the weekend with a team total of 15-over 370, including 22 birdies in the morning while tied for seventh place. Not a single buff finished below par with Junior Dylan McDermott shooting a round one best of 2-over 73.
Juniors Justin Biwer and Tucker Clark along with freshman Ty Holbrook were tied at 3-over 74, Biwer with two birdies, Clark with three, and Holbrook with eight but only two pars. Sophomore Hunter Swanson was the last Buff to be put on the round one scorecard with a 4-over 75. Freshman Brandon Knight was left out of the scorecard with a 7-over 78 which included two double bogeys and two birdies.
Fatigue hit the Buffs on the second leg of 18 holes that day as they played one of their worst rounds of the year, going down two places in the standings to ninth place. It took the black and gold 35 holes to get their first birdie of the second round along with four different golfers recording a triple bogey or worse.
McDermott had the best score of the round shooting a 5-over 76, recording seven bogeys and two back-to-back birdies on holes 13 and 14. Swanson and Holbrook tied on the round, shooting a 7-over 78 including a triple bogey by Swanson on the par-3 12th hole. Clark and Biwer tied at 8-over 79, making it the worst round buffs star Justin Biwer had shot all year. Knight was left off the scorecard with a 9-over 80, including a quintuple bogey on the par-5 hole 11.
Play was suspended later that night at 6:36 p.m. local time (MST) due to lightning, causing the second round to be called to a halt. 18 players from six different teams fell short of finishing their second round, not including any Buffaloes.
Saturday morning offered a fresh slate, but the Buffs weren’t able to take advantage of it as they kept their ninth-place position in the team standings. Not a single Buff shot under par with Knight leading the black and gold with a 1-over 72, redeeming himself from his 9-over 80 the day before. Biwer improved from round two, tying his first-round score with a 3-over 74 shooting even par until the last two holes where he bogeyed and double-bogeyed. McDermott and Swanson tied at 5-over 76 with Clark behind them at 6-over 77. Holbrook was left off the scorecard for round three with an 8-over 79, not recording a single birdie while bogeying four holes and double bogeying two.
Come Sunday morning, the final day of the tournament, the Buffs were looking to climb in the standings with the hope of finishing third and qualifying for the NCAA regional tournament. They played their hearts out, shooting their best round of the weekend with a team total of 2-over 357, but it wasn’t enough as they only went up one position in the standings.
A Buffalo finally broke par as Biwer shot a team-best 3-under 68, recording four birdies and an eagle on the par-5 16th hole. Swanson almost joined Biwer under par with an even 7, with three birdies and bogeys. McDermott and Clark finished off the scorecard tied at 2-over 73. Yet again, the young freshman Holbrook was left off the scorecard with a 6-over 77, recording two double bogeys, five bogeys, and one eagle. At the end of the weekend, Biwer led the Buffs in the individual standings tied for 15th with an 11-over 295.
Despite not meeting the NCAA qualifications to secure a postseason spot, Biwer was able to snag an individual qualification. He will play in the Austin regional on May 13-15 with the dream of advancing to the NCAA Finals.
Cover photo by @CUBuffsMGolf/X
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