Asher Whitaker tees off Sunday on one of Royal Ka'apalani's par-3;s.
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
October 26, 2026 | Men's Golf
Teams had a tough go on a normally very friendly golf course
LAHAINA, Maui – The Colorado men's golf team overcame a poor start but rallied with a solid finish to stand in eighth place in the 12th Annual Ka'anapali Classic by OUTRIGGER after the first round which was completed here Sunday.
The usual birdie-friendly Royal Ka'anapali Course – which plays to 6,700 yards with a par-71 – was anything but, at least for the first round. The combination of Sunday's pin placements and overall set-up combined with winds gusting consistently up to 20 miles or more – with almost all holes playing into those fierce figuring into the unusual high scores. It also made for a long day, with the 18 holes taking six hours to complete.
Of the 20-team field – including eight in the nation's top 40 – just one finished with a subpar team score, and just 2-under par at that. Last year, 16 teams in the field of 19 recorded opening rounds in the red, six 10-under or more; the Buffs opened with an 8-under 276. No. 26 Clemson is in the lead with that 2-under, a team score of 282. No. 12 Georgia rallied late to finish with an even-par 284 to hold second place, with Houston (289), No. 18 Kansas (291) and five-time defending champion, No. 22 Oklahoma (292) rounding out the top five.
Colorado started on the 10th hole, and its five designated scorers had all of two birdies with 12 bogeys, two doubles and a quadruple on the back nine. The Buffs sunk as low as in a tie for 16th at one point, but a late birdie-binge help to zoom the Buffs into eighth with an 11-over 295 score.
The start of the tournament was moved up a day, as the final round originally scheduled for Wednesday could very w ell have been cancelled as a severe storm is headed Maui's way. The schedule now calls for the teams to play 27 holes on Monday and wrap the event first thing on Tuesday with the final nine, which also would help the teams head home before the storm hits.
"It was a really a rough start," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "The guys did an amazing job just over halfway through the round of getting things under control and getting us back in the position for the last two rounds. The conditions were challenging, and we looked truly awful early. I've got to give the guys a lot of credit for hanging in there."
Sophomore Tyler Long is pacing the Buffs as he recorded the best score, a 1-over 72 that has him tied for 17th. After he made five birdies over his first 12 holes, he started CU's birdie binge with four in a row on holes 4, 5, 6 and 7. He tied for the most birdies by a Buff with the four, which is also tied for eighth in the field. Otherwise he made pars on the other nine holes and he is even on the par-4 holes, tied for 13th in the 125-man field, and is 1-under on the par-5's and 2-over on the par-3's.
Senior Brandon Knight carded a 3-over 74, tying him for 30th, as one bad hole sent him early to the unhappy side of par – a quadruple bogey on the 155-yard, par 3 17th, the second-toughest hole of the day that saw just nine players make birdie. He opened with a birdie on the 433-yard, par-4 10th hole, just one of 15 by the field all Sunday, and had four overall, including one of just 12 on the 426-yard, par-4 18th. He had four birdies all told, tying Long for the team lead as well as eighth overall among all players. He was even on the par-4's and 1-under on the par-5's in addition to 4-over on the 3's (he parred the other three).
Senior Ty Holbrook fashioned a 3-over 74, joining Knight in a tie for 30th. He was 3-over after three holes, a double bogey on 11 sending him down the plus-par road and made the turn at 4-over. He gathered himself and played the front nine at 1-under. He had two birdies with his 12 pars the CU high Sunday, also good for 11th overall. At 1-under on the par-3's, he tied for playing those In the first round the second-best in the field.
Junior Asher Whitaker is tied for 44th after firing a 4-over 75. He was 6-over through 14 holes but would bounce back with three birdies on holes 6, 7 and 9, wrapped around a bogey on 8. He had the three birdies and eight pars against seven bogeys. He is 2-under on the par-5's, tied for third among all players, while 1-over on the par-3's and 5-over on the par-4's.
Junior Parker Paxton struggled to a 9-over 80 and uncharacteristically had no birdies in tying for 103rd. He did start strong with seven straight pars before the day turned sour. He did manage 12 total pars, matching Holbrook for the team high, but three bogeys and three doubles spiked his overall score. He was 2-over on the par-5's, 3 o-over on the 3's and 4-over on the 4's.
Sophomore Casey Kosney is competing here as an individual and after opening with a 7-over 79 that has him tied for 97th. He has a birdie and eight pars opposite nine bogeys, six of which came in an eight-hole stretch, while playing the par-3's and par-5's at 2-over and the par-4's at plus-4.
Clemson's Hampton Roberts emerged with the first round lead after firing a 4-under 67; his only bpgey was on 11, his last hole. That leads East Tennessee State's Oli Blackadder by a stroke, the only player with a bogey-free round Sunday.
Colorado will be paired with Connecticut for the 27-hole marathon Monday, starting on holes 10 through 12 in a 12:30 p.m. MDT shotgun (8:30 a.m. HST). Sunset is just shy of 6 p.m., so the field will have just under 10 hours to complete the round-and-a-half. The final nine holes will be on Tuesday, weather-permitting.
NOTES: Sunday's high temperature reached 80 degrees; the skies were cloudy most of the day but the winds were gusting from the north to 20 miles per hour if not higher … CU has had several tournaments in the past where a round was suspended to either weather or darkness, but would be the first time known school history that 27 are actually scheduled … In the past, when the winds are negligible, Royal Ka'anapali usually plays host to a birdie fest; the average score for the 125-man field in the first round was 75.93; last year, that figure was 70.47. In the first half of all holes played Sunday (1,125 of 2,250), there were just 3 eagles, 133 birdies and 588 pars opposite 345 bogeys and 58 double bogeys or worse (17 holes were playing over par) … The five CU scorers averaged a shade under at 75.0 Sunday (75.7 including Kosney) … There are only 12 players under par and four who stand even after 18 holes … Seventeen holes played over par, the only not to was the 440-yard, par-5 6th (-0.59). Three played a half-stroke over par, No. 11 (+0.72), No. 17 (+0.58) and No. 1 (+0.51); the Buff quintet played those at 12-over … CU is playing the par-5's the fourth-best at 3-under (the three ahead are all 3-under); the par-4's at 12-over (tied for 10th; Georgia and Gonzaga are 2-over) and the par-3's the 12-best at 14-over (Clemson and Houston are 5-over) … Colorado is seventh in birdies (13, Clemson and Georgia lead with 18), is ninth in pars (51, Kansas has the most, 58), and has the seventh-fewest bogeys (21; UGA had the low of 13) … The Buffs, along with KU and TCU, remain among the 13 teams in Power-4 conference (68 in all) that have yet to lose strokes in a round versus the field (no single round scores in bottom halves of the field.
(*—played as an individual)
The usual birdie-friendly Royal Ka'anapali Course – which plays to 6,700 yards with a par-71 – was anything but, at least for the first round. The combination of Sunday's pin placements and overall set-up combined with winds gusting consistently up to 20 miles or more – with almost all holes playing into those fierce figuring into the unusual high scores. It also made for a long day, with the 18 holes taking six hours to complete.
Of the 20-team field – including eight in the nation's top 40 – just one finished with a subpar team score, and just 2-under par at that. Last year, 16 teams in the field of 19 recorded opening rounds in the red, six 10-under or more; the Buffs opened with an 8-under 276. No. 26 Clemson is in the lead with that 2-under, a team score of 282. No. 12 Georgia rallied late to finish with an even-par 284 to hold second place, with Houston (289), No. 18 Kansas (291) and five-time defending champion, No. 22 Oklahoma (292) rounding out the top five.
Colorado started on the 10th hole, and its five designated scorers had all of two birdies with 12 bogeys, two doubles and a quadruple on the back nine. The Buffs sunk as low as in a tie for 16th at one point, but a late birdie-binge help to zoom the Buffs into eighth with an 11-over 295 score.
The start of the tournament was moved up a day, as the final round originally scheduled for Wednesday could very w ell have been cancelled as a severe storm is headed Maui's way. The schedule now calls for the teams to play 27 holes on Monday and wrap the event first thing on Tuesday with the final nine, which also would help the teams head home before the storm hits.
"It was a really a rough start," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "The guys did an amazing job just over halfway through the round of getting things under control and getting us back in the position for the last two rounds. The conditions were challenging, and we looked truly awful early. I've got to give the guys a lot of credit for hanging in there."
Sophomore Tyler Long is pacing the Buffs as he recorded the best score, a 1-over 72 that has him tied for 17th. After he made five birdies over his first 12 holes, he started CU's birdie binge with four in a row on holes 4, 5, 6 and 7. He tied for the most birdies by a Buff with the four, which is also tied for eighth in the field. Otherwise he made pars on the other nine holes and he is even on the par-4 holes, tied for 13th in the 125-man field, and is 1-under on the par-5's and 2-over on the par-3's.
Senior Brandon Knight carded a 3-over 74, tying him for 30th, as one bad hole sent him early to the unhappy side of par – a quadruple bogey on the 155-yard, par 3 17th, the second-toughest hole of the day that saw just nine players make birdie. He opened with a birdie on the 433-yard, par-4 10th hole, just one of 15 by the field all Sunday, and had four overall, including one of just 12 on the 426-yard, par-4 18th. He had four birdies all told, tying Long for the team lead as well as eighth overall among all players. He was even on the par-4's and 1-under on the par-5's in addition to 4-over on the 3's (he parred the other three).
Senior Ty Holbrook fashioned a 3-over 74, joining Knight in a tie for 30th. He was 3-over after three holes, a double bogey on 11 sending him down the plus-par road and made the turn at 4-over. He gathered himself and played the front nine at 1-under. He had two birdies with his 12 pars the CU high Sunday, also good for 11th overall. At 1-under on the par-3's, he tied for playing those In the first round the second-best in the field.
Junior Asher Whitaker is tied for 44th after firing a 4-over 75. He was 6-over through 14 holes but would bounce back with three birdies on holes 6, 7 and 9, wrapped around a bogey on 8. He had the three birdies and eight pars against seven bogeys. He is 2-under on the par-5's, tied for third among all players, while 1-over on the par-3's and 5-over on the par-4's.
Junior Parker Paxton struggled to a 9-over 80 and uncharacteristically had no birdies in tying for 103rd. He did start strong with seven straight pars before the day turned sour. He did manage 12 total pars, matching Holbrook for the team high, but three bogeys and three doubles spiked his overall score. He was 2-over on the par-5's, 3 o-over on the 3's and 4-over on the 4's.
Sophomore Casey Kosney is competing here as an individual and after opening with a 7-over 79 that has him tied for 97th. He has a birdie and eight pars opposite nine bogeys, six of which came in an eight-hole stretch, while playing the par-3's and par-5's at 2-over and the par-4's at plus-4.
Clemson's Hampton Roberts emerged with the first round lead after firing a 4-under 67; his only bpgey was on 11, his last hole. That leads East Tennessee State's Oli Blackadder by a stroke, the only player with a bogey-free round Sunday.
Colorado will be paired with Connecticut for the 27-hole marathon Monday, starting on holes 10 through 12 in a 12:30 p.m. MDT shotgun (8:30 a.m. HST). Sunset is just shy of 6 p.m., so the field will have just under 10 hours to complete the round-and-a-half. The final nine holes will be on Tuesday, weather-permitting.
NOTES: Sunday's high temperature reached 80 degrees; the skies were cloudy most of the day but the winds were gusting from the north to 20 miles per hour if not higher … CU has had several tournaments in the past where a round was suspended to either weather or darkness, but would be the first time known school history that 27 are actually scheduled … In the past, when the winds are negligible, Royal Ka'anapali usually plays host to a birdie fest; the average score for the 125-man field in the first round was 75.93; last year, that figure was 70.47. In the first half of all holes played Sunday (1,125 of 2,250), there were just 3 eagles, 133 birdies and 588 pars opposite 345 bogeys and 58 double bogeys or worse (17 holes were playing over par) … The five CU scorers averaged a shade under at 75.0 Sunday (75.7 including Kosney) … There are only 12 players under par and four who stand even after 18 holes … Seventeen holes played over par, the only not to was the 440-yard, par-5 6th (-0.59). Three played a half-stroke over par, No. 11 (+0.72), No. 17 (+0.58) and No. 1 (+0.51); the Buff quintet played those at 12-over … CU is playing the par-5's the fourth-best at 3-under (the three ahead are all 3-under); the par-4's at 12-over (tied for 10th; Georgia and Gonzaga are 2-over) and the par-3's the 12-best at 14-over (Clemson and Houston are 5-over) … Colorado is seventh in birdies (13, Clemson and Georgia lead with 18), is ninth in pars (51, Kansas has the most, 58), and has the seventh-fewest bogeys (21; UGA had the low of 13) … The Buffs, along with KU and TCU, remain among the 13 teams in Power-4 conference (68 in all) that have yet to lose strokes in a round versus the field (no single round scores in bottom halves of the field.
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
| T17. | Tyler Long | 35-37—72 |
| T30. | Ty Holbrook | 36-38—74 |
| T30. | Brandon Knight | 37-37—74 |
| T44. | Asher Whitaker | 36-39—75 |
| T97. | *Casey Kosney | 41-38—79 |
| T103. | Parker Paxton | 43-37—80 |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Hampton Roberts, Clemson | 35-32—67 |
| T2. | Oli Blackadder, E. Tennessee State | 34-34—68 |
| T2. | Kai Jun Huang, UConn | 37-31—68 |
| T4. | Gabriel Holtz, Clemson | 37-32—69 |
| T4. | Jenson Forrester, Purdue | 33-36—69 |
| TEAM STANDINGS |
| 1. | Clemson | 282 |
| 2. | Georgia | 284 |
| 3. | Houston | 289 |
| 4. | Kansas | 291 |
| 5. | Oklahoma | 292 |
| 6. | TCU | 293 |
| 7. | Connecticut | 294 |
| 8. | COLORADO | 295 |
| 9. | Gonzaga | 298 |
| T10. | Purdue | 299 |
| T10. | North Florida | 299 |
| 12. | East Tennessee State | 300 |
| 13. | Southern Illinois | 301 |
| 14. | Wyoming | 302 |
| 15. | Hawai'i | 304 |
| 16. | San Jose State | 305 |
| T17. | Sacramento State | 308 |
| T17. | Boise State | 308 |
| 19. | UC Irvine | 309 |
| 20. | Cal State Northridge | 310 |
Players Mentioned
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