Parker Paxton tees off early Wednesday in the final round of the Big 12 Math Play.
Photo by: Evan Sosnowski/Big12 Conference
Buffs Fall To Utah To Close Big 12 Match Play
October 14, 2026 | Men's Golf
Utes best CU on their home course, 4-1
SALT LAKE CITY – The Colorado men's golf team lost to rival Utah, 4-1, as the Big 12 Conference Match Play Championship concluded here Wednesday.
The Buffs got off to a slow start on the 7,209-yard, par-72 Salt Lake Country Club course, with four of the Utes collectively winning six of the first eight holes. CU was never able to close the gap once the Utes possessed three margins that were tough to recover from down the stretch.
"Tough match today," head coach Roy Edwards said. "We knew it would take a great outing to beat Utah on their home course but unfortunately we came up short. While the results were very disappointing and not remotely indicative of our first four events this fall, I'm confident we will get a lot better from this week. We can and will look back at this one as a great learning experience."
Junior Asher Whitaker won CU's lone match in the final round, besting Utah's Will Pizza 2 & 1. Starting on 17 and spotting Pizza a one hole lead after he made bogey, Whitaker tied things up when he made par on the 183-yard, par-3 3rd hole, and after three more tied holes, assumed the lead for good when he parred the 427-yard, par-4 7th to Pizza's bogey.
Whitaker posted the best match record for the Buffaloes here, winning three of four matches; he won (16) or tied (40) holes overall, a win-tie percentage of 82.4 for 68 total holes.
Freshman Colt Farrow drew Utah's Jan Farre and fell behind early, dropping four of the first six holes. He cut the lead to three after making his second birdie (on 7); the pair then tied the next three holes before Farre made pars on 11 and 12 while Farrow bogeyed, giving the Ute a 5 & 3 win.
Senior Brandon Knight put up a good fight against Utah's Gabriel Palacios, the 48th-ranked amateur in the world before falling, 2-up. Palacios worked to go two up after four holes, but Knight knocked it down immediately to one, At one point, the Ute extended his edge to three holes, but birdies by Knight on 13 and 14 pulled him back to within one, where the match remained until the final hole (the 17th), where Palacios clinched the match with a birdie. It was a birdie-fest, with Palacious making eight and Knight six, the most for each of their respective teams.
Junior Parker Paxton opened birdie-double-bogey-birdie (on 18, 1 and 2) to go up by one after three holes, but was even with Utah's Jack Jerge after he bogeyed 2 enabling the Ute to pull even. They remained tied over the next four holes until Jerge birdied 8 to take the lead for good, eventually distancing himself from Paxton with an eagle on the 508-yard, par-5 12the hole en route to a 3 & 2 win.
Sophomore Tyler Long lined up against Sergio Jimenez, another top world amateur (39th) who backed up his ranking in winning 5 & 4. After both birdied 17 to start the round, Long then birdied the 554-yard, par-6 18th only to have Jimenez make an eagle. They tied the next three holes before Jimenez won 4,5 to move three ahead. He then sealed the match with a birdie on the 195-yard, par-3 11th and closed Long out with his second eagle of the day on the 508-yard, par-5 12th.
Senior Ty Holbrook participated in the first three matches, with a win, a tie and a loss but sat out on Wednesday.
With the event shortened, Arizona State and Oklahoma State were declared co-champions.
After nearly a two-week layoff, the Buffaloes will wrap up the portion of their fall schedule with what has become the annual visit to the Hawaiian Islands to play in the Ka'anapali Classic by Outrigger, Oct. 26-28 at Lahaina, Maui.
NOTES: Another cold day, just 44 degrees at the 8:30 a.m. shotgun start under cloudy skies; it warmed to 51 at the end of play with light rainfall at times … The event was shortened to four rounds when Tuesday's afternoon round was cancelled due to heavy rain at times with the temperature never reaching 50 degrees … The first rankings of the season by Clippd/Scoreboard were released Wednesday, with the Buffs checking in at No. 35; that is seventh in the Big 12 behind Texas Tech (No. 5), Oklahoma State (No. 7), Kansas (No. 19), Arizona State (No. 23), TCU (No. 25) and BYU (No. 32); Arkansas was ranked No. 1 – the Razorbacks edged the Buffs by one stroke to win the Vuori Invitational to open the season in September … There has been an influx of international players into college golf over the last decade, as of the 20 players matched against the Buffaloes here, 16 were from other countries (CU in the past has had several, but never more than three at a time which was only a couple of occasions); all five on Kansas State were from overseas, while Houston and Texas Tech had four foreigners and Utah three … Farrow had the second best success here, posting a 1-1-1 match record and a win-tie hole percentage of 72.5 (37 of 51) … Holbrook was also 1-1-1 (65.3 percentage) … CU is still 7-3-1 against Utah dating back ro the start of the 2024-25 season … CU is now 49-12-1 against Division I competition this fall.
The Buffs got off to a slow start on the 7,209-yard, par-72 Salt Lake Country Club course, with four of the Utes collectively winning six of the first eight holes. CU was never able to close the gap once the Utes possessed three margins that were tough to recover from down the stretch.
"Tough match today," head coach Roy Edwards said. "We knew it would take a great outing to beat Utah on their home course but unfortunately we came up short. While the results were very disappointing and not remotely indicative of our first four events this fall, I'm confident we will get a lot better from this week. We can and will look back at this one as a great learning experience."
Junior Asher Whitaker won CU's lone match in the final round, besting Utah's Will Pizza 2 & 1. Starting on 17 and spotting Pizza a one hole lead after he made bogey, Whitaker tied things up when he made par on the 183-yard, par-3 3rd hole, and after three more tied holes, assumed the lead for good when he parred the 427-yard, par-4 7th to Pizza's bogey.
Whitaker posted the best match record for the Buffaloes here, winning three of four matches; he won (16) or tied (40) holes overall, a win-tie percentage of 82.4 for 68 total holes.
Freshman Colt Farrow drew Utah's Jan Farre and fell behind early, dropping four of the first six holes. He cut the lead to three after making his second birdie (on 7); the pair then tied the next three holes before Farre made pars on 11 and 12 while Farrow bogeyed, giving the Ute a 5 & 3 win.
Senior Brandon Knight put up a good fight against Utah's Gabriel Palacios, the 48th-ranked amateur in the world before falling, 2-up. Palacios worked to go two up after four holes, but Knight knocked it down immediately to one, At one point, the Ute extended his edge to three holes, but birdies by Knight on 13 and 14 pulled him back to within one, where the match remained until the final hole (the 17th), where Palacios clinched the match with a birdie. It was a birdie-fest, with Palacious making eight and Knight six, the most for each of their respective teams.
Junior Parker Paxton opened birdie-double-bogey-birdie (on 18, 1 and 2) to go up by one after three holes, but was even with Utah's Jack Jerge after he bogeyed 2 enabling the Ute to pull even. They remained tied over the next four holes until Jerge birdied 8 to take the lead for good, eventually distancing himself from Paxton with an eagle on the 508-yard, par-5 12the hole en route to a 3 & 2 win.
Sophomore Tyler Long lined up against Sergio Jimenez, another top world amateur (39th) who backed up his ranking in winning 5 & 4. After both birdied 17 to start the round, Long then birdied the 554-yard, par-6 18th only to have Jimenez make an eagle. They tied the next three holes before Jimenez won 4,5 to move three ahead. He then sealed the match with a birdie on the 195-yard, par-3 11th and closed Long out with his second eagle of the day on the 508-yard, par-5 12th.
Senior Ty Holbrook participated in the first three matches, with a win, a tie and a loss but sat out on Wednesday.
With the event shortened, Arizona State and Oklahoma State were declared co-champions.
After nearly a two-week layoff, the Buffaloes will wrap up the portion of their fall schedule with what has become the annual visit to the Hawaiian Islands to play in the Ka'anapali Classic by Outrigger, Oct. 26-28 at Lahaina, Maui.
NOTES: Another cold day, just 44 degrees at the 8:30 a.m. shotgun start under cloudy skies; it warmed to 51 at the end of play with light rainfall at times … The event was shortened to four rounds when Tuesday's afternoon round was cancelled due to heavy rain at times with the temperature never reaching 50 degrees … The first rankings of the season by Clippd/Scoreboard were released Wednesday, with the Buffs checking in at No. 35; that is seventh in the Big 12 behind Texas Tech (No. 5), Oklahoma State (No. 7), Kansas (No. 19), Arizona State (No. 23), TCU (No. 25) and BYU (No. 32); Arkansas was ranked No. 1 – the Razorbacks edged the Buffs by one stroke to win the Vuori Invitational to open the season in September … There has been an influx of international players into college golf over the last decade, as of the 20 players matched against the Buffaloes here, 16 were from other countries (CU in the past has had several, but never more than three at a time which was only a couple of occasions); all five on Kansas State were from overseas, while Houston and Texas Tech had four foreigners and Utah three … Farrow had the second best success here, posting a 1-1-1 match record and a win-tie hole percentage of 72.5 (37 of 51) … Holbrook was also 1-1-1 (65.3 percentage) … CU is still 7-3-1 against Utah dating back ro the start of the 2024-25 season … CU is now 49-12-1 against Division I competition this fall.
Big 12 Match Play Championship Results
Final Round Results
*Oklahoma State (3-0-1) tied West Virginia (2-0-2), 2½-2½
*Arizona State (3-0-1) def. Texas Tech (3-1), 3-2
Kansas (3-0-1) def. Arizona (1-2-1), 3-2
BYU (2-0-2) def. Kansas State (1-2-1), 5-0
Houston (2-2) def. Iowa State (1-2-1), 3-2
Baylor (1-2-1) def. Cincinnati (1-2-1), 5-0
Utah (1-3) def. Colorado (0-3-1), 4-1
TCU (0-2-2) tied UCF (0-3-1), 2½-2½
(*—declared co-champions)
Utah def. Colorado, 4-1
Gabriel Palacios (UU) def. Brandon Knight, 2-up
Sergio Jimenez (UU) def. Tyler Long, 5 & 4
Jan Farre (UU) def. Colt Farrow, 5 & 3
Asher Whitaker (CU) def. Will Pizza, 2 & 1
Jack Jerge (UU) def. Parker Paxton, 3 & 2
Players Mentioned
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