Saturday, April 12
Phoenix, Ariz.
All Day

Colorado

vs

Third Round

Holbrook--Pac 12
Ty Holbrook matched his career-best 54-hole score to lead the Buffs in Arizona.
Photo by: CUBuffs.com

Golfers Finish Second In ASU's Thunderbird Collegiate

April 12, 2025 | Men's Golf

All Five Scorers In Top 25 And Under-Par

            PHOENIX – The University of Colorado men's golf team, posting the best team score over the final 36 holes, zoomed from eighth place after the first round into a runner-up finish here Saturday in Arizona State's Thunderbird Collegiate, the Buffaloes' final tune-up before the Big 12 Championships in 10 days.
 
            It was CU's sixth second-place finish in 10 tournaments this season, along with its eighth in the top three and ninth in the top five, the latter tying the school record also achieved in 2016-17 and 2022-23.  The runner-up effort here added to the record set last month, as the '08-09 Buffaloes previously had the most second place finishes with four.
 
            Host and No. 5 Arizona State led its own even from wire-to-wire, as the Sun Devils finished with a team score of 39-under par.  The Buffaloes closed with a 27-under par score of 825, wrapping things Saturday with a 9-under 275, the second-best team score for the final 18, combined with an 11-under 273 that was the best in the round two, Colorado's 20-under par performance over the last 36 holes was the best in the tournament, which featured nine of the nation's top 65 teams, including seven in the top 50.
 
            Colorado, ranked 33rd in the latest Clippd/Scoreboard poll, bested No. 14 Utah, which finished third with a 23-under 829, and No. 10 UCLA, which placed seventh (16-under 836).
 
            Only Arizona State and Colorado had all five designated scorers finish in the event's top 25 (actually the top 23) and on the "happy side of par" (in the red).  This marked just the fifth time in CU history that all five finished under par – all since 2019 – and for the second time this season, accomplishing it in CU's Mark Simpson Invitational last October.
 
            Sophomore Ty Holbrook led the Buffaloes for the second time in his young career – and in the last three events at that – finishing with a 3-under 68 for a 7-under 206 overall score on the 7,419, par-71 Papago Golf Course layout.  In tying for ninth, for the second time here he opened play with an eagle on the 544-yard, par-5 first hole (as he did in the first round), and in the process tied the school record for the most in a season with eight.  He was steady all weekend, and on Saturday added four birdies and 10 pars with three bogeys to his scorecard.  He played the par-3 holes overall at even, tied for fourth in the 64-man field, and was the only player to record two eagles.  But by playing the par-4's at 4-under and the par-5's at 3-under, it was the first time in his career he played all three hole layouts at par or under.  The 206 equaled his previous 54-hole best as well.
 
            Senior Justin Biwer tied for 14th after closing with a 1-under 70 for a 6-under 207, his 28th subpar performance out of 46 career tournaments, and his 30th of par or better, adding to his own school records.  He scored his fifth eagle of the year (and 15th of his career, now tied for third all-time at Colorado) on the 322-yard, par-4 12th – he drove the green with a 3-wood to about 15-feet of the pin and drained the putt.  It helped him to record his 27th top 20 career finish, tying him for the most in CU golf history with Kane Webber (1999-2004) and Jeremy Paul (2013-17).  His only misstep was a triple bogey Saturday on the par-4 6th after he was in trouble off the tee; otherwise he had the eagle, 13 birdies, 33 pars and just six bogeys for his time here.
 
            Biwer played the par-3's even (tied for fourth-best), the par-4's at 3-under and the par-5's at 3 under, the 10th time in career he played all three configurations at par or better, more than double any of his CU teammates and likely a school record but it's only been kept the last five years.
 
            Junior Hunter Swanson tied for 17th, finishing with a 1-under 70 for a 5-under 208 scorecard.  One of three Buffs here not to score higher than a bogey, he logged in an eagle, 13 birdies and 30 pars, with 10 bogeys overall.  He was mostly a model of consistency over the two days, with no high numbers in recording an eagle, 13 birdies, 30 pars and 10 bogeys, only two of the latter coming back-to-back as after three of bogeys, his came right back with birdies.  He played both the par-4's and par-5's at 4-under.  After rising to 1-over after eight holes in the first round, he birdied No. 9 and after eagling No. 12, spent the rest of the event in the red.
 
            Holbrook, Biwer and Swanson all shared the team-high with 13 birdies, which tied for 10th in the tourney.
 
            Senior Dylan McDermott also tied for 17th after fashioning a 2-under 69, enabling him to jump into the top 20 with a 5-under 208 score.  After opening the final round with a pair of pars, he bogeyed Nos. 3 and 4; from that point on, he played the rest of the round at 4-under.  Joining Holbrook and Swanson in scoring no high numbers, which included the fourth bogey-free round of his career the second time around Papago on Friday, he had 12 birdies, 35 pars and seven bogeys (four, 12 and two, respectively, in the final round).  He played the tough par-3's here at 1-under par, tied for the best in the field (two birdies, nine pars, one bogey). 
 
            Biwer and McDermott have been involved in four of the five historical efforts of all scorers being under par, and Swanson for the second time.   
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
            Senior Tucker Clark returned to the lineup following rehabilitation from a back injury and responded with his best efforts of the season, a 3-under 68 –his best score – for a 3-under 210 – his best 54-hole total – which tied him for 23rd, his best placement in the standings.  Had had six birdies in the final round, the most by a CU scorer, and 11 for the event with 36 pars, the latter tied for the 11th-most in the field.  He played the par-5's extremely well, tied for fourth-best in the field at 6-under.  He had opened here with a pair of even-par 71's, and had runs here of 14 and 11 consecutive holes of par or better, the last of which is how he finished up.
 
            "Overall, a really good event as a team," head coach Roy Edwards said.  "We were very impressed with how all five guys were in every round.  Ty had another really strong tournament – it's been great to see his development as he has been working really hard.  Justin, Dylan and Hunter were just good as they usually are and it was wonderful to see Tucker back in the lineup.  He is such a great player and he did a lot of good things this week."
 
            Four Buffaloes competed here as individuals, as the coaches prepare to select the players for the six-man Big 12 Championship roster, a 6-scoring-5 formatted event.  The deepest team in CU history, seven players have sub-72 averages, with the three others all sub-73.5.
 
            Sophomore Brandon Knight rebounded from a season-high 78 in the second round to fire a 4-under 67 Saturday, matching his second-best score of the year to close with a 2-over 215 score in tying for 47th.  In recording the best score by all of the Buffs here in the final round, he had a team-high seven birdies to go with nine pars, only a bogey and a double bogey kept him from scoring even lower.  He posted 11 birdies and 33 pars overall.
 
            Freshman Parker Paxton tied for 57th with an 8-over 221 score after wrapping things here with a 1-over 72; he had nine birdies and 29 pars opposite 15 bogeys and one double for the week.  He played the par-3's even, tying for the fourth-best in the field as did several Buffs.
 
            Freshman Michael Fang was buried after a first round 81, but shaved 11 strokes off that score come the final round, the 1-under 70 enabling him to finish with a 13-over 226 score (62nd).  After seven of those over-par strokes came due to big numbers the first two rounds, he was much steadier Saturday with three birdies, 13 pars and just two bogeys.
 
            Senior Freddy Eisenbeis had closed with a 3-over 74 for a 5-over 218 overall, which had him tied for 54th; however, he signed for an incorrect scorecard and was disqualified (scores were reversed on two holes, the overall stroke count was correct).  He had three birdies, 11 pars and three bogeys, with his overage tied to a triple-double.  He had nine birdies and 33 pars on the weekend, and had played the par-5's at 6-under, tied for fourth in the field with Clark.
 
            "Brandon, Michael and Parker all played much better today," speaking Edwards on those here competing individually.  They are going to be great players and continued consistency will help them a bunch.  Freddy was doing some good things but unfortunately signed an incorrect scorecard and that is an immediate disqualification.  That is something that should never happen, and though it is rare, it serves as a lesson to all of us to pay  better attention to detail."
 
            Arizona State's Pongsapak Laopakdee and New Mexico's Carson Herron shared medalist honors with 12-under par 201 totals, edging another ASU golfer, Preston Summerhays, by one stroke.
 
               Next up for the Buffaloes is the final tournament of the regular season, the Big 12 Championships, set for April 22-24 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.; this will be the fifth time Southern Hills has hosted the Big 12's.  Colorado, of course, participated in the first 15 of those, its best finish a second place in 2009, with two third place efforts.
 
               "A huge strength of our team is toughness, patience and confidence," Edwards added.  "The guys were very impressive with that this week."
 
NOTES: It was a little cooler Saturday (high of 93, six degrees lower than Friday), with sunny skies and little wind … As Edwards approaches the end of his 19th season coaching the Buffaloes, this was the 30th time CU has finished second under his tutelage (to go with 17 major wins – 19 total – and 14 third-place finishes) … CU has now played 30 team rounds in '24-25, with 23 subpar (two shy of the record 25 in 2017-18), and 27 of par or better, that record set here this weekend (the old best was those 25 in '17-18) … CU's 23 subpar rounds now add to 195-under combined, while the three rounds over par add to just 12 strokes total … The average score for all 192 rounds in the event was 70.80 (71.03 for the final round); there were 35 players that finished under par and two that ended even … The nine Buffaloes combined to average 69.89 strokes in the final round … Colorado's scorers played the par-3's at 6-over (third; ASU was first at 2-over), the par-4's at 11-under (ASU first at 19-under) and the par-5's at 21-under (third; and Grand Canyon were 23-under) …  The effort on the par-4's (-11) tied the second-best for the season by CU, bested only by 21-under in The Simpson … The Buffs also recorded four eagles (tied for the most with Arizona State; there were just 19 overall), 62 birdies (first; ASU and Loyola-Marymount were second with 60) and 163 pars (eighth; UCLA led with 184).  CU had the third-fewest bogeys (39; ASU had 26) and tied for the second-fewest count of doubles or worse with two … With the four eagles here, that increased the team total to 28, eclipsing the previous school record of 26 set in '17-18; the team mark for birdies – 804, also set that season – will also fall as the '24-25 duffers now have 799 (including the 38 the four individuals had in addition to the scorers) … Swanson also eagled the par-4 12th here, thus with Biwer doing the same Saturday, CU now has six eagles on par-4's this season … The 233-yard, par-3 monster 4th hole was the toughest in the event, playing to +0.33 over par; the Buffs played it the second-best at 4-over (host ASU's scorers were 3-over) … The Buffs went toe-to-toe with host and No. 5 Arizona State on one of its home courses: over the last two rounds on the six holes that played the hardest (Nos. 4, 10, 8, 7, 17, 11), both teams played those at 4-over combined … CU recorded 15 subpar rounds here, and the 103 on the year has already well surpassed the previous record of 92 set in 2017-18) … Nine of the 10 teams that competed here were in the nation's top 65, along with 18 of the top 150 individuals … Colorado was 8-1 here against the field, the Buffaloes are now 152-21-2, an .874 winning percentage against Division I competition; the 152 wins continue to lead the nation with the percentage fourth-best … And in single rounds, CU was 19-8, with its season mark standing at 388-109-16 (.772) … CU has now competed against 11 of the other Big 12 teams, owning a 14-6 record (29-16-3 in rounds) and a plus-81 stroke advantage; three of those losses came in the league's match play event last October.  The only Big 12 colleagues CU has yet to see are Arizona, Cincinnati, Oklahoma State and UCF … This was the seventh different lineup of designated scorers in 10 tournaments this year the coaches utilized: Biwer, McDermott and Swanson have been designated in all 10 … Senior Jack Holland was the only Buff not here; he competed in the last two events but only a maximum of four individuals can compete if a school fielded a full team.
 
THE JB-DMAC FRIENDLY DUEL UPDATE: There is still hardly any separation between the two most accomplished players since Hale Irwin in CU golf history; Biwer and McDermott continue to remain a razor-thin one-two in stroke average on the team, as through 30 rounds, only four strokes separate the duo: Biwer's average is 69.20 and McDermott's is 69.33 (which remain on pace to be the two best for a single-season in school history); they also rank 1-2 in the Big 12 … But for 15 rounds in the spring, McDermott has one-stroke edge (69.87 to 69.93) … The two are 1-2 all-time in career stroke average, with Biwer having a bit more breathing room (70.82 to 70.95); third all-time is Daniel O'Loughlin's 71.68 norm … Biwer, with 9,986 total strokes, will become the 15th member of CU's "10,000 Stroke Club" in his next round; McDermott has 9,649 … McDermott's 27th career subpar tournament, remaining one back of Biwer's team record 28; both are also 1-2 in CU annals in that category.  It was McDermott's 28th event or par or better, second all-time behind Biwer's 30 …. The pair are now also 1-2 in birdies, Justin with 515 and Dylan with 488 … McD is ahead in rounds in the 60's (49-47), but JB owns edges in subpar round (80-67) and in rounds of par or better (98-88); McDermott moved into second this weekend in the subpar category … Also in the Big 12, the duo remain to have the lowest "high" scores of all golfers, McDermott a 73 and Biwer a 74.
 
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
 T9. Ty Holbrook  67-71-68206
T14. Justin Biwer  70-67-70207
T17. Hunter Swanson  69-69-70208
T17. Dylan McDermott  73-66-69208
T23. Tucker Clark  71-71-68210
T47. *Brandon Knight  70-78-67—215
T54. **Freddy Eisenbeis  74-70-74—218
T57. *Parker Paxton  76-73-72—221
  62. *Michael Fang  81-75-70—226
(*—participated as an individual; **--disqualified for signing incorrect card.)
 
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
T1. Pongsapak Laopakdee, Arizona St.  66-67-68—201
T1. Carson Herron, New Mexico  66-68-67—201
  3. Preston Summerhays, Arizona State  63-70-69—202
T4. Mason Snyder, Loyola-Marymount  62-70-71—203
T4. Gabriel Palacios, Utah  69-65-69—203
T4. Enrique Dimayuga, SMU  68-68-67—203
 
TEAM STANDINGS
  1. Arizona State  262-275-276—813
  2. COLORADO  277-273-275—825
  3. Utah  276-275-278—829
  4. New Mexico  270-281-279—830
  5. Grand Canyon  276-274-282—832
  6. Houston  271-276-286—833
  7. UCLA  273-278-285—836
  8. Southern California  281-285-274—840
  9. Loyola-Marymount  274-286-283—843
10. Oregon State  281-284-280—845
 
 
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