Friday, April 11
Phoenix, Ariz.
All Day
Colorado
vs
First Two Rounds
Holbrook was on fire to open Friday in Phoenix -- where the temperature also reached 99.
Golfers Tied For Third In ASU's Thunderbird Collegiate
April 11, 2025 | Men's Golf
Four Buffs In Top 25
PHOENIX – The University of Colorado men's golf team, in its final tune-up before the Big 12 Championships, opened in a tie for third place here Friday in Arizona State's Thunderbird Collegiate.
Host and No. 5 Arizona State is in the lead with a 31-under par 537 score, as the Sun Devils blistered one of their home courses with a 22-under 262 total in the morning, the low team round of the day. No. 41 Houston is in second, with a 21-under 547, the Cougars on the front end of six teams separated by four strokes most likely all vying for runner-up honors on Saturday.
Colorado, ranked 33rd in the latest Clippd/Scoreboard poll, is tied for third with an 18-under 550 score, matched by No. 54 Grand Canyon. Then there's a three-way tie for fifth at 17-under 551 among No. 10 UCLA, No. 14 Utah and No. 49 New Mexico.
The Buffs were in eighth place after the morning round with a 7-under 277 team score, but got off to a hot start in the afternoon, the five designated scorers making seven birdies and 27 pars before the first bogey. CU's 11-under 273 was the best team score posted the second time around the 7,419, par-71 Papago Golf Course track, and tied for its ninth-best in 29 rounds on the year. One big difference is that the six toughest holes (Nos. 4, 10, 8, 18, 7 and 11, in order) is that in the second round, the Buffs played those collectively at 1-over as compared to plus-10 in the morning.
Four Buffaloes ended Friday in the top 25 (actually the top 22), topped only by Arizona State with five and no others with four.
Senior Justin Biwer is tied for 14th after starting here with a 70-67—137 performance, five under par and five back of the lead. Consistent as always, he had nine birdies, 23 pars and just four bogeys, the latter the fewest over par by a Buff on Friday. He's played the par-3's even, is 4-under on the par-4's and 1-under on the par-5's. He was even 11 holes into the day, thus played the last 25 at 5-under. The two subpar rounds here upped his career count to 77 and his number of rounds of par or better to 95, distancing himself from anyone before him in CU history.
Sophomore Ty Holbrook posted a 67-71—138 effort, his 4-under scorecard tying him for 17th. He was on fire to open the event, eagling the 544-yard, par-5 1st hole – his team-best seventh eagle this season – and then birdied Nos. 2, 3 and 5 to rise to 5-under par at that point. He would finish the day with nine birdies and 19 pars in addition to the eagle, with seven bogeys. He played the par-4 holes on the day at 4-under, and with his nine birdies, as was the case with Biwer. both efforts were tied for ninth in the 64-man field.
Junior Hunter Swanson is also tied for 17th, fashioning a pair of 2-under 69s to get to his 4-under 138 score. He led the Buffaloes with 10 birdies Friday – tied for seventh-most in the field, and had the other of CU's two eagles (in which he holed out the 322-yard, par-4 11th for a deuce. Otherwise, he had 17 pars and eight bogeys; he 3-over on the par-3's, but was in red on the par-4's (3-under) and par-5's (4-under). He opened each round with two birdies on his first three holes.
Senior Dylan McDermott is tied for 22nd after posting a 3-under 73-66—139 effort; he had eight birdies and 23 pars with five bogeys. The second round Friday was the fourth bogey-free round of his career, scoring five birdies and 13 pars. He played the tough par-3's here at 1-under par, tied for second in the field. The seven-stroke in-tournament recovery was the third-best of his career; he shot 80-67 to finish the 2022 Ka'anapali Classic Collegiate and in his first collegiate meet, he opened with a 77 and bounced back with a 66 in Air Force's Miranda Invitational.
Senior Tucker Clark, back in the lineup for just the second time this spring, recorded a pair of even par-71's with his 142 score tying him for 35th; he was out for seven weeks while rehabilitating from a back injury and then getting back into golfing shape. He had a very steady return to action, with five birdies, a team-high 26 pars (tied for fourth-most in the field) and just five bogeys.
"Overall, a good day from the team scorers," head coach Roy Edwards said. "All five of those guys did some good things. I was impressed with how steady everyone was. It was a very hot and a long day, but the guys stayed in focus all day really well. Dylan had a nice comeback in the afternoon."
Four Buffaloes are competing here as individuals, as the coaches are looking for the most consistent players to fill out the six-man Big 12 Championship roster, CU's first 6-to score-5 tournament this season.
Senior Freddy Eisenbeis had the best effort of the quartet, tying for 42nd with a 2-over 74-70—144 score; he had solid command of the three par-5 holes, birdying five of the six on the day, the 5-under combined tied for second-best in the field. He was steady with six birdies and 22 pars against eight bogeys overall.
The other three struggled, however; sophomore Brandon Knight opened strong with a 1-under 70, but had his troubles the second time around Papago with a 7-over 78; his 6-over 148 total has him tied for 59th. Freshman Parker Paxton is 61st with a 76-73—149, 7-over effort, and fellow frosh Michael Fang is 63rd with a 14-over 156 score, though he bounced back with a 75 after opening with an 81.
Loyola-Marymount's Mason Snyder opened with a 9-under 62 (nine birdies, nine pars) and followed it with a 1-under 70, propelling him into the 36-hole lead with a 10-under 132 total. That's good for a one-shot lead over two others, but there are 15 players within five strokes of his lead.
"We are in a good position going into tomorrow," Edwards added. "We want to put the pressure on early tomorrow and play our best. If we can do that, we could be a factor by the end of the day."
The third and final round is set for Saturday, set for an 9 a.m. MDT start off the 1st and 10th tees; CU will begin at 9:36 a.m. off No. 1, two Buff twosomes paired with Grand Canyon, and Clark in foursome with the fifth place players from ASU and Houston.
NOTES: After its last two tournaments playing in combinations of rain, winds and cooler at times, Friday's play was under mostly sunny skies throughout, with the temperature of 74 degrees at the start of play, warming to 99 in mid-afternoon … Nine of the 10 teams competing here are in the nation's top 65, along with 18 of the top 150 individuals … With two more subpar team rounds Friday bringing the team total for the season to 22, with four other rounds of even par, that's 26 rounds of par or better, breaking the previous team record of 25 in 2017-18 (all 25 were subpar, so that record is within reach as well) … The average score for all 128 rounds Friday was 70.69 (71.19 in the afternoon after a 70.19 number in the morning); there are 34 players presently under par and four are even … Colorado's scorers are playing the par-3's at 5-over (tied for fourth; ASU did so the best at 2-over), the par-4's at 9-under (ASU's first at 18-under) and the par-5's at 12-under (third; ASU again tops the field at 17-under) … The 233-yard, par-3 4th hole was the toughest Friday; the Buffs played it the best at 1-over (host ASU's scorers were 2-over) … CU recorded eight subpar rounds Friday, and the 96 on the year have blown by the previous record of 92 set in 2017-18) … Swanson's 2 on a par-4 hole was the fifth by a Buffalo this season … Fang's 81 in the morning was just CU's second round in the 80's this season out of 207 to date; that is the fewest in the Big 12 … This is the first time the Buffs are in an event with Big 12 colleagues Arizona State and Houston; CU is 12-2 against the other seven teams here, all of whom Colorado has seen at least once … Senior Jack Holland is the only Buff not here; he competed in the last two events but only a maximum of four individuals can compete if a school is also fielding a full team … After spending a week back home in Boulder, the Buffs will head to Tulsa for the Big 12 Championships, set for April 22-24 at Southern Hills Country Club.
Host and No. 5 Arizona State is in the lead with a 31-under par 537 score, as the Sun Devils blistered one of their home courses with a 22-under 262 total in the morning, the low team round of the day. No. 41 Houston is in second, with a 21-under 547, the Cougars on the front end of six teams separated by four strokes most likely all vying for runner-up honors on Saturday.
Colorado, ranked 33rd in the latest Clippd/Scoreboard poll, is tied for third with an 18-under 550 score, matched by No. 54 Grand Canyon. Then there's a three-way tie for fifth at 17-under 551 among No. 10 UCLA, No. 14 Utah and No. 49 New Mexico.
The Buffs were in eighth place after the morning round with a 7-under 277 team score, but got off to a hot start in the afternoon, the five designated scorers making seven birdies and 27 pars before the first bogey. CU's 11-under 273 was the best team score posted the second time around the 7,419, par-71 Papago Golf Course track, and tied for its ninth-best in 29 rounds on the year. One big difference is that the six toughest holes (Nos. 4, 10, 8, 18, 7 and 11, in order) is that in the second round, the Buffs played those collectively at 1-over as compared to plus-10 in the morning.
Four Buffaloes ended Friday in the top 25 (actually the top 22), topped only by Arizona State with five and no others with four.
Senior Justin Biwer is tied for 14th after starting here with a 70-67—137 performance, five under par and five back of the lead. Consistent as always, he had nine birdies, 23 pars and just four bogeys, the latter the fewest over par by a Buff on Friday. He's played the par-3's even, is 4-under on the par-4's and 1-under on the par-5's. He was even 11 holes into the day, thus played the last 25 at 5-under. The two subpar rounds here upped his career count to 77 and his number of rounds of par or better to 95, distancing himself from anyone before him in CU history.
Sophomore Ty Holbrook posted a 67-71—138 effort, his 4-under scorecard tying him for 17th. He was on fire to open the event, eagling the 544-yard, par-5 1st hole – his team-best seventh eagle this season – and then birdied Nos. 2, 3 and 5 to rise to 5-under par at that point. He would finish the day with nine birdies and 19 pars in addition to the eagle, with seven bogeys. He played the par-4 holes on the day at 4-under, and with his nine birdies, as was the case with Biwer. both efforts were tied for ninth in the 64-man field.
Junior Hunter Swanson is also tied for 17th, fashioning a pair of 2-under 69s to get to his 4-under 138 score. He led the Buffaloes with 10 birdies Friday – tied for seventh-most in the field, and had the other of CU's two eagles (in which he holed out the 322-yard, par-4 11th for a deuce. Otherwise, he had 17 pars and eight bogeys; he 3-over on the par-3's, but was in red on the par-4's (3-under) and par-5's (4-under). He opened each round with two birdies on his first three holes.
Senior Dylan McDermott is tied for 22nd after posting a 3-under 73-66—139 effort; he had eight birdies and 23 pars with five bogeys. The second round Friday was the fourth bogey-free round of his career, scoring five birdies and 13 pars. He played the tough par-3's here at 1-under par, tied for second in the field. The seven-stroke in-tournament recovery was the third-best of his career; he shot 80-67 to finish the 2022 Ka'anapali Classic Collegiate and in his first collegiate meet, he opened with a 77 and bounced back with a 66 in Air Force's Miranda Invitational.
Senior Tucker Clark, back in the lineup for just the second time this spring, recorded a pair of even par-71's with his 142 score tying him for 35th; he was out for seven weeks while rehabilitating from a back injury and then getting back into golfing shape. He had a very steady return to action, with five birdies, a team-high 26 pars (tied for fourth-most in the field) and just five bogeys.
"Overall, a good day from the team scorers," head coach Roy Edwards said. "All five of those guys did some good things. I was impressed with how steady everyone was. It was a very hot and a long day, but the guys stayed in focus all day really well. Dylan had a nice comeback in the afternoon."
Four Buffaloes are competing here as individuals, as the coaches are looking for the most consistent players to fill out the six-man Big 12 Championship roster, CU's first 6-to score-5 tournament this season.
Senior Freddy Eisenbeis had the best effort of the quartet, tying for 42nd with a 2-over 74-70—144 score; he had solid command of the three par-5 holes, birdying five of the six on the day, the 5-under combined tied for second-best in the field. He was steady with six birdies and 22 pars against eight bogeys overall.
The other three struggled, however; sophomore Brandon Knight opened strong with a 1-under 70, but had his troubles the second time around Papago with a 7-over 78; his 6-over 148 total has him tied for 59th. Freshman Parker Paxton is 61st with a 76-73—149, 7-over effort, and fellow frosh Michael Fang is 63rd with a 14-over 156 score, though he bounced back with a 75 after opening with an 81.
Loyola-Marymount's Mason Snyder opened with a 9-under 62 (nine birdies, nine pars) and followed it with a 1-under 70, propelling him into the 36-hole lead with a 10-under 132 total. That's good for a one-shot lead over two others, but there are 15 players within five strokes of his lead.
"We are in a good position going into tomorrow," Edwards added. "We want to put the pressure on early tomorrow and play our best. If we can do that, we could be a factor by the end of the day."
The third and final round is set for Saturday, set for an 9 a.m. MDT start off the 1st and 10th tees; CU will begin at 9:36 a.m. off No. 1, two Buff twosomes paired with Grand Canyon, and Clark in foursome with the fifth place players from ASU and Houston.
NOTES: After its last two tournaments playing in combinations of rain, winds and cooler at times, Friday's play was under mostly sunny skies throughout, with the temperature of 74 degrees at the start of play, warming to 99 in mid-afternoon … Nine of the 10 teams competing here are in the nation's top 65, along with 18 of the top 150 individuals … With two more subpar team rounds Friday bringing the team total for the season to 22, with four other rounds of even par, that's 26 rounds of par or better, breaking the previous team record of 25 in 2017-18 (all 25 were subpar, so that record is within reach as well) … The average score for all 128 rounds Friday was 70.69 (71.19 in the afternoon after a 70.19 number in the morning); there are 34 players presently under par and four are even … Colorado's scorers are playing the par-3's at 5-over (tied for fourth; ASU did so the best at 2-over), the par-4's at 9-under (ASU's first at 18-under) and the par-5's at 12-under (third; ASU again tops the field at 17-under) … The 233-yard, par-3 4th hole was the toughest Friday; the Buffs played it the best at 1-over (host ASU's scorers were 2-over) … CU recorded eight subpar rounds Friday, and the 96 on the year have blown by the previous record of 92 set in 2017-18) … Swanson's 2 on a par-4 hole was the fifth by a Buffalo this season … Fang's 81 in the morning was just CU's second round in the 80's this season out of 207 to date; that is the fewest in the Big 12 … This is the first time the Buffs are in an event with Big 12 colleagues Arizona State and Houston; CU is 12-2 against the other seven teams here, all of whom Colorado has seen at least once … Senior Jack Holland is the only Buff not here; he competed in the last two events but only a maximum of four individuals can compete if a school is also fielding a full team … After spending a week back home in Boulder, the Buffs will head to Tulsa for the Big 12 Championships, set for April 22-24 at Southern Hills Country Club.
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
| T14. | Justin Biwer | 70-67—137 |
| T17. | Ty Holbrook | 67-71—138 |
| T17. | Hunter Swanson | 69-69—138 |
| T22. | Dylan McDermott | 73-66—139 |
| T35. | Tucker Clark | 71-71—142 |
| T42. | *Freddy Eisenbeis | 74-70—144 |
| T59. | *Brandon Knight | 70-78—148 |
| 61. | *Parker Paxton | 76-73—149 |
| 63. | *Michael Fang | 81-75—156 |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Mason Snyder, Loyola-Marymount | 62-70—132 |
| T2. | Preston Summerhays, Arizona State | 63-70—133 |
| T2. | Pongsapak Laopakdee, Arizona State | 66-67—133 |
| T4. | Jacob Borow, Houston | 65-69—134 |
| T4. | Pablo Ereno, UCLA | 69-65—134 |
| T4. | Gabriel Palacios, Utah | 69-65—134 |
| T4. | Carson Herron, New Mexico | 66-68—134 |
| TEAM STANDINGS |
| 1. | Arizona State | 262-275—537 |
| 2. | Houston | 271-276—547 |
| T3. | COLORADO | 277-273—550 |
| T3. | Grand Canyon | 276-274—550 |
| T5. | New Mexico | 270-281—551 |
| T5. | UCLA | 273-278—551 |
| T5. | Utah | 276-275—551 |
| 8. | Loyola-Marymount | 274-286—560 |
| 9. | Oregon State | 281-284—565 |
| 10. | Southern California | 281-285—566 |
Players Mentioned
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