An aerial shot of the Omni La Costa Resort,
Golfers Aiming High At NCAA Championship Finals
May 21, 2025 | Men's Golf
Tournament starts Friday in Carlsbad, Calif.
CARLSBAD, Calif. — The University of Colorado men's golf team is here and is excited about the 127th Annual NCAA Championship Finals, as the Buffaloes are coming off a third place finish in the Northwest Regional last week, which has continued one of, if not the best seasons to date in school history.
The third place finish was CU's 10th top five effort of the season – topping the previously best of nine – the Buffs have one win, six runner-up's, two thirds and a fifth. And with is being Colorado's 17th appearance in the NCAA Finals dating back to its first in 1947, its highest finish ever was eighth in 1968, and if this year's team can match or top that, it would advance to the match play portion of the championship.
CU is the No. 22 seed here, ranked 29th in the country ahead of the event, which begins with four days of stroke play on Friday, with the field cut to 15 teams after three rounds and then to eight for match play next Tuesday and Wednesday.
Believe it or not, despite this season's success, head coach Roy Edwards and associate head coach Derek Tolan feel that this team has yet to play its best golf.
"We are going to Carlsbad knowing and expecting to be highly-competitive, but also knowing that we haven't played our best golf yet," Edwards said. "Our focus is primarily on ourselves and preparing, but we know and fully expect to be in the mix if we do our jobs well."
As with the regional, each team is allowed six players, the sixth as an alternate: CU's starting lineup has two seniors, Justin Biwer and Dylan McDermott, junior Hunter Swanson and sophomores Ty Holbrook and Brandon Knight; senior Jack Holland will again serve as the alternate and can be activated for any of the last three rounds in the event that a player suffers an injury, illness or is struggling in play. Edwards noted how well Holland literally served as a third "coach." Swanson led the Buffaloes in the regional with a seventh place finish (5-under 211) with Biwer next in a tie for 12th (214, -2). McDermott tied for 33rd (220, +4) and both Holbrook and Knight tied for 43rd (222, +6).
Though this is practically the same make-up of the team that finished 21st two years ago, the experiences that those players had in Scottsdale in 2023 probably isn't much of factor, outside of seeing larger galleries and all the hoopla with the finals. Biwer, McDermott, Swanson and Holland all competed two springs ago, with McDermott advancing individually to the final round.
"Every team is different," Edwards noted. "This team very much expected to advance to the Finals without any doubt. And we very much expect to go to California and to be highly-competitive. There aren't any surprises for the four guys who are going that went in 2023, and I expect them to help Ty and Brandon. At the end of the day it is just golf."
But he has confidence in this team and what they can still accomplish.
"The six guys on the NCAA team are once again all ready to go," Edwards said. "Lots of talent, a lot of experience, and they understand how to play the game. Derek and I felt very comfortable taking this group to Washington and now to California. We have played really nice golf all year but we still believe we haven't played our 'best' yet and I expect us to get there. We had a good tournament at the regional despite our top two guys not playing as good as they felt they could have at times."
That was in reference to Biwer and McDermott, the one-two leaders in stroke average in the Big 12 this seasons (69.65 and 69.95, respectively), and a duo that has rewritten much of the CU record book in their four years in Boulder.
"Justin had a great final round (5-under 67) and I was really impressed with how he handled a tough practice round and feeling uncomfortable during it," Edwards recalled. "Dylan played well the first round (2-und 70) and did better than his scores showed in the second and third rounds. He is for sure very motivated to play well, and I'm sure if he goes out and trusts himself he will."
After the smoke cleared after regional play, the field includes 21 of the nation's top 25 ranked schools as of Wednesday, including the top seven. Schools from the south and west coast dominate the 30-team field as usual, as the Buffaloes are joined by No. 10 Virginia, No. 12 Illinois, No. 19 BYU and No. 36 Purdue as the only "northern" schools to advance out of regional play.
The North Course at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa is in its second of three years as the site for the NCAA Championship Finals. Originally designed by Dick Wilson, the course (called Champions at the onset) opened the same day the resort did – July 10, 1965. It has undergone several renovations and tweaks in its 60-year history, major ones in 2011 (involving Steve Pate among others) and most recently last year by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner. It will play to 7,528-yards and to par-72 for the finals; it has a slope of 149 and a rating of 81.4 with the traditional par-72 configuration of 10 par-4 holes, four par-3s and four par-5s. It should be a treat for the participants – the guest green fees are $389
"I have heard very positive things about the re-design from Gil Hanse," Edwards said. "Last year it was very new so it was incredibly firm. It will be interesting to see how it plays this year because the course is very long. It will challenge every aspect of your game, which is what you expect from a championship course."
After an early practice round at 7 a.m. at La Costa on Thursday, the Buffs will tee off on No. 10 in 11-minute intervals beginning at 7:25 a.m. (PDT, 8:25 a.m. MDT) on Friday and off No. 1 at 12:45 p.m. PDT Saturday. CU will be paired with the 23rd and 24th seeds, No. 31 UNLV and No. 36 Purdue for each round. Live scoring can be found on-line at https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/236552/scoring/team. The Golf Channel will provide several hours of coverage of the final round on Monday and the match play competition that follows.
NOTES: Colorado played a practice round Wednesday at La Jolla Country Club, and were joined by former Buff Michael Feuerstein, who is from La Jolla, and PGA/LIV Tour star Phil Mickelson … The weather forecast calls for the high temperature each day to hover around 70 degrees with partly cloudy skies, minimal winds and no precipitation expected … The NCAA started adopting the sixth-man format eight years ago where teams can enter six players, with five designated scorers and the sixth utilized as a substitute or the preferred word, "alternate" … All five Buff seniors – Biwer, Holland, McDermott, Tucker Clark and Freddy Eisenbeis – graduated on May 8, keeping a perfect 100 percent graduate rate for all 42 players Edwards has had on his rosters in his 19 seasons … Colorado owns a 173-28-2 record against Division I competition thus far this season, fourth-best in the nation with an 85.7 winning percentage, but is first in overall wins … Biwer, because he earned regional berths twice as an individual has played the fourth-most rounds in NCAA tournaments in school history – 15 – and will tie or pass Matt Zions for the most; Zions played 18 rounds combined in four regionals and two finals; Biwer is already just the eight Buff to play in the NCAA's all four years while at CU … The highest CU has been ranked this season was 27th back in March (though were ranked 25th in the Golf Channel's preseason poll); a reminder that 308 teams play in Division I … This will be the fifth time CU will play as a team in an NCAA event in the state of California (two finals in 1968 and 1981 – both in Palo Alto – and regionals in 2009 in Daly City and 2018 in Stockton) ... CU is one of five Big 12 Conference schools that advanced to the finals – the last league school to win the NCAA's was former member Texas in 2022 (3-2 over Arizona State); the last current member to emerge as champion was Oklahoma State in 2018 (5-0 over Alabama, who was the last repeat champion in 2013 & 2014).
2024 NCAA FINALS RECAP: It appears par was a good score a year ago at La Costa, as only one of the eight teams that advanced to match play was under par: Illinois at 6-under. The Illini bested runner-up Vanderbilt by 16 strokes, with the final qualifier, Georgia Tech at 25-over par. Tech's Hiroshi Tai was the medalist, one of 10 players under par in winning by a stroke (73-73-69-71—285, -3). The average score for the designated scorer for the eight advancing teams was 72.8. Auburn won the national title, defeating Florida State 3-2 in the match play final; the Tigers and Tai both return in an attempt to defend their titles.
GEOGRAPHY SNAPSHOT: The North Course at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., about 25 miles due north of San Diego, roughly two miles from the Pacific Ocean. The average elevation of Carlsbad (52 feet) bodes well for the Buffaloes – in four events this season that Colorado has competed in this season where the elevation has been under 100 feet, CU has finished second three times: Hawaii's Ka'anapali Classic (3-10'), San Diego's Lamkin (72') and Stanford's "The Goodwin" (30'), and third in the Northwest/Bremerton Regional (39').
The third place finish was CU's 10th top five effort of the season – topping the previously best of nine – the Buffs have one win, six runner-up's, two thirds and a fifth. And with is being Colorado's 17th appearance in the NCAA Finals dating back to its first in 1947, its highest finish ever was eighth in 1968, and if this year's team can match or top that, it would advance to the match play portion of the championship.
CU is the No. 22 seed here, ranked 29th in the country ahead of the event, which begins with four days of stroke play on Friday, with the field cut to 15 teams after three rounds and then to eight for match play next Tuesday and Wednesday.
Believe it or not, despite this season's success, head coach Roy Edwards and associate head coach Derek Tolan feel that this team has yet to play its best golf.
"We are going to Carlsbad knowing and expecting to be highly-competitive, but also knowing that we haven't played our best golf yet," Edwards said. "Our focus is primarily on ourselves and preparing, but we know and fully expect to be in the mix if we do our jobs well."
As with the regional, each team is allowed six players, the sixth as an alternate: CU's starting lineup has two seniors, Justin Biwer and Dylan McDermott, junior Hunter Swanson and sophomores Ty Holbrook and Brandon Knight; senior Jack Holland will again serve as the alternate and can be activated for any of the last three rounds in the event that a player suffers an injury, illness or is struggling in play. Edwards noted how well Holland literally served as a third "coach." Swanson led the Buffaloes in the regional with a seventh place finish (5-under 211) with Biwer next in a tie for 12th (214, -2). McDermott tied for 33rd (220, +4) and both Holbrook and Knight tied for 43rd (222, +6).
Though this is practically the same make-up of the team that finished 21st two years ago, the experiences that those players had in Scottsdale in 2023 probably isn't much of factor, outside of seeing larger galleries and all the hoopla with the finals. Biwer, McDermott, Swanson and Holland all competed two springs ago, with McDermott advancing individually to the final round.
"Every team is different," Edwards noted. "This team very much expected to advance to the Finals without any doubt. And we very much expect to go to California and to be highly-competitive. There aren't any surprises for the four guys who are going that went in 2023, and I expect them to help Ty and Brandon. At the end of the day it is just golf."
But he has confidence in this team and what they can still accomplish.
"The six guys on the NCAA team are once again all ready to go," Edwards said. "Lots of talent, a lot of experience, and they understand how to play the game. Derek and I felt very comfortable taking this group to Washington and now to California. We have played really nice golf all year but we still believe we haven't played our 'best' yet and I expect us to get there. We had a good tournament at the regional despite our top two guys not playing as good as they felt they could have at times."
That was in reference to Biwer and McDermott, the one-two leaders in stroke average in the Big 12 this seasons (69.65 and 69.95, respectively), and a duo that has rewritten much of the CU record book in their four years in Boulder.
"Justin had a great final round (5-under 67) and I was really impressed with how he handled a tough practice round and feeling uncomfortable during it," Edwards recalled. "Dylan played well the first round (2-und 70) and did better than his scores showed in the second and third rounds. He is for sure very motivated to play well, and I'm sure if he goes out and trusts himself he will."
After the smoke cleared after regional play, the field includes 21 of the nation's top 25 ranked schools as of Wednesday, including the top seven. Schools from the south and west coast dominate the 30-team field as usual, as the Buffaloes are joined by No. 10 Virginia, No. 12 Illinois, No. 19 BYU and No. 36 Purdue as the only "northern" schools to advance out of regional play.
The North Course at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa is in its second of three years as the site for the NCAA Championship Finals. Originally designed by Dick Wilson, the course (called Champions at the onset) opened the same day the resort did – July 10, 1965. It has undergone several renovations and tweaks in its 60-year history, major ones in 2011 (involving Steve Pate among others) and most recently last year by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner. It will play to 7,528-yards and to par-72 for the finals; it has a slope of 149 and a rating of 81.4 with the traditional par-72 configuration of 10 par-4 holes, four par-3s and four par-5s. It should be a treat for the participants – the guest green fees are $389
"I have heard very positive things about the re-design from Gil Hanse," Edwards said. "Last year it was very new so it was incredibly firm. It will be interesting to see how it plays this year because the course is very long. It will challenge every aspect of your game, which is what you expect from a championship course."
After an early practice round at 7 a.m. at La Costa on Thursday, the Buffs will tee off on No. 10 in 11-minute intervals beginning at 7:25 a.m. (PDT, 8:25 a.m. MDT) on Friday and off No. 1 at 12:45 p.m. PDT Saturday. CU will be paired with the 23rd and 24th seeds, No. 31 UNLV and No. 36 Purdue for each round. Live scoring can be found on-line at https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/236552/scoring/team. The Golf Channel will provide several hours of coverage of the final round on Monday and the match play competition that follows.
NOTES: Colorado played a practice round Wednesday at La Jolla Country Club, and were joined by former Buff Michael Feuerstein, who is from La Jolla, and PGA/LIV Tour star Phil Mickelson … The weather forecast calls for the high temperature each day to hover around 70 degrees with partly cloudy skies, minimal winds and no precipitation expected … The NCAA started adopting the sixth-man format eight years ago where teams can enter six players, with five designated scorers and the sixth utilized as a substitute or the preferred word, "alternate" … All five Buff seniors – Biwer, Holland, McDermott, Tucker Clark and Freddy Eisenbeis – graduated on May 8, keeping a perfect 100 percent graduate rate for all 42 players Edwards has had on his rosters in his 19 seasons … Colorado owns a 173-28-2 record against Division I competition thus far this season, fourth-best in the nation with an 85.7 winning percentage, but is first in overall wins … Biwer, because he earned regional berths twice as an individual has played the fourth-most rounds in NCAA tournaments in school history – 15 – and will tie or pass Matt Zions for the most; Zions played 18 rounds combined in four regionals and two finals; Biwer is already just the eight Buff to play in the NCAA's all four years while at CU … The highest CU has been ranked this season was 27th back in March (though were ranked 25th in the Golf Channel's preseason poll); a reminder that 308 teams play in Division I … This will be the fifth time CU will play as a team in an NCAA event in the state of California (two finals in 1968 and 1981 – both in Palo Alto – and regionals in 2009 in Daly City and 2018 in Stockton) ... CU is one of five Big 12 Conference schools that advanced to the finals – the last league school to win the NCAA's was former member Texas in 2022 (3-2 over Arizona State); the last current member to emerge as champion was Oklahoma State in 2018 (5-0 over Alabama, who was the last repeat champion in 2013 & 2014).
2024 NCAA FINALS RECAP: It appears par was a good score a year ago at La Costa, as only one of the eight teams that advanced to match play was under par: Illinois at 6-under. The Illini bested runner-up Vanderbilt by 16 strokes, with the final qualifier, Georgia Tech at 25-over par. Tech's Hiroshi Tai was the medalist, one of 10 players under par in winning by a stroke (73-73-69-71—285, -3). The average score for the designated scorer for the eight advancing teams was 72.8. Auburn won the national title, defeating Florida State 3-2 in the match play final; the Tigers and Tai both return in an attempt to defend their titles.
GEOGRAPHY SNAPSHOT: The North Course at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., about 25 miles due north of San Diego, roughly two miles from the Pacific Ocean. The average elevation of Carlsbad (52 feet) bodes well for the Buffaloes – in four events this season that Colorado has competed in this season where the elevation has been under 100 feet, CU has finished second three times: Hawaii's Ka'anapali Classic (3-10'), San Diego's Lamkin (72') and Stanford's "The Goodwin" (30'), and third in the Northwest/Bremerton Regional (39').
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