Colorado University Athletics
The champion Buffaloes (Kosney, Long, Swanson, Rivera, Knight, Paxton, Holbrook, Fang.
Photo by: Roy Edwards
Golfers Victorious In Wyoming's Desert Intercollegiate
February 25, 2026 | Men's Golf
Knight, Rivera Tie For Runner-Up Honors
PALM DESERT, Calif. – The University of Colorado men's golf team completed a wire-to-wire effort here Wednesday in winning Wyoming's Desert Intercollegiate, breaking through to win the event the 12th time the Buffaloes have participated.
CU, 49th in the new rankings released Wednesday, had previously finished as the runner-up on four occasions and in third place twice, earning as 12-stroke victory with its best team score here, a 34-under par 830. Maryland was a distant second (842), followed by California Baptist (845), Oral Roberts (852) and Nebraska-Omaha (855) to round out the top five.
This was CU's 55th all-time tournament victory, the 22nd under head coach Roy Edwards' guidance. It was the fifth time in seven events this season that the Buffs recorded subpar scores in all three rounds, with the 34-under effort, the fourth-best in school history on a par-72 course and tied for the seventh-best on any configuration.
"Obviously very happy about it the team win," head coach Roy Edwards said. "We did a really nice job starting off but ran out of a bit of gas on the back nine. With three guys in the mix to win there was a lot of stress amongst them. While none of the guys won individually, they played spectacularly and I'm sure will take a lot of confidence from it."
The Buffs were never seriously contested in the final round, as scoring was tougher due to the only round affected by times of high winds. The closest Maryland got was the final margin of 12 shots. The Buff scorers all hung there, eventually with three finishing in the top 10 and all five on the top 25 on The Classic Club's 7,305-yard, par-72 course layout.
Three Buffaloes were battling for medalist honors until the very end; at one point, all three were in the top three and at times two tied for the lead down the stretch. But in the end, first-year graduate transfer Jackson Rivera and junior Brandon Knight tied for runner-up honors, one off the lead with 9-under 207s' (they were tied "in the clubhouse" with one other, who had yet to finish his round). It was the third time two Buffaloes tied for second in a major college tournament, and the 41st time two CU duffers finished in the top five.
Knight shot CU's low score of the day – a 3-under 69 – tying for the team high in birdies with four to go with 13 pars and a bogey, while Rivera opened strong, with three birdies and seven pars on his first 10 holes to extend his streak of holes or par or better to 33 (his CU best, if not career). He'd finish with those three birdies but fell out of the lead which he had held most of the day with bogeys on Nos. 12 and 14, as he ended with a 1-over 71. Knight has assumed the lead by himself at 9-under with two holes remaining (Nos. 17 and 18), but finished bogey-birdie. His 14 birdies were the seventh-most in the 124-man field, and he finished with 35 pars. He was 5-under on the par-4's and par-5's and 1-over on the par-3's.
It was Rivera's best performance since transferring to CU from Southern California last summer, and matched the second-best effort of his collegiate career (he shared medalist honors in the 2023 Arizona N.I.T. with a 13-under 203 scorecard). He led the 124-man field in par-4 scoring at 7-under, with his 13 birdies tied for eighth and his 37 pars tied for 13th. He was also 2-under on the par-5's and even on the par-3's, his second time as a Buff where he was even or subpar on all three configurations for a tournament.
Junior Ty Holbrook was the other Buffalo that was contending for medalist honors, eventually closing with a 1-over 71 for a 7-under 209 total, that eventually tied him for ninth. He had two birdies and 15 pars and one bogey on the day, the latter coming on the 176-yard, par-3 17th hole that also knocked Knight out of the lead. He played the par-3's and par-5's even in the last round – the latter also rare for him to not have at least one birdie (four pars), and was 1-under on the par-4's. He was in the top 10 for the week in birdies (15, sixth), par-4 scoring (-2, tie for sixth) and par-5 scoring (-6, tied for 10th).
Holbrook's finish marked the 33rd time that the Buffaloes finished in the top 10 in a major tourney.
Senior Hunter Swanson tied for 17th after closing with an even-par 72, giving him a 3-under 213 for the week. He bogeyed two of his first three holes (Nos. 1 and 3) and was chasing par all day, which he finally pulled even with when he birdied No. 18 to close his day (one of 28 by the field for the third round). In recording his 17th top 20 career finish, he played the par-4's at 2-under (tied for sixth in the field) with his 13 birdies overall tied for the eighth-most. He had 31 pars and 10 bogeys otherwise, as he joined Knight and Rivera to have no scores worse than a bogey over the 54 holes.
Sophomore Parker Paxton started strong on Monday, tying for the lead after a 5-under 67, but couldn't match that effort over the final two rounds, closing with a 3-over 75; he still was able to finish with a 2-under 214 that tied him for 25th, the eighth time in 14 career meets he finished an event with a subpar score. He had three birdies and 11 pars opposite two bogeys and two doubles, the latter pair coming on the front nine. To his credit, he rebounded to play the back nine at 2-under. His 12 birdies overall tied for 16th in the tourney, while also recording 34 pars.
Three Buffaloes competed here as individuals, as the entire '25-26 roster was present.
Freshman Casey Kosney tied for 52nd after recording a 1-over 73 for the third straight round, thus finishing with a 3-over 219.
He closed strong each day here, with two birdies in his last four holes Wednesday, while playing to 5-under on his last five holes combined for each round. He was steady throughout for the most part, with 10 birdies, 32 pars and 11 bogeys and one double, which he had late in the first round. He was 1-under on the par-5's for the event, 1-over on the par-3's and 3-over on the par-4's. Of the nine players who competed individually here, he placed fourth.
Sophomore Michael Fang and freshman Tyler Long tied for 68th with 6-over 222 totals. Fang closed with a 3-over 75, while Long had a tough outing posting his collegiate high, a 5-over 77. Fang's day was hampered by a pair of double bogeys, otherwise he had three birdies and 11 pars with two bogeys, and played the par-3's even, tied for the best by all the Buffs. Long matched him on the par-3's but had five bogeys that accounted for his overage; he otherwise had two birdies and 10 pars with one double.
Maryland's Emil Riegger shot a final round 67 to move up six spots to claim medalist honors with a 10-under 206 score. He birdied five of his last nine holes, including his final hole (No. 4) to break the tie with Knight and Rivera. Nine players finished within three shots of the lead, including the three Buffaloes.
"Really proud of the team for an awesome overall trip to California," Edwards added. "They all got better and it will be a tremendous springboard into the rest of the spring. It's very hard to win tournaments and to win such a large field is a great accomplishment."
The Buffaloes will return to action in two weeks, taking part in the San Diego R.E. Lamkin Invitational on March 9-10 in Chula Vista, Calif. CU has played in seven of the last eight Lamkins, finishing as the runner-up each of the last two years.
NOTES: Wednesday's temperature reached 92 degrees by the end of play, warmer than the previous two days, with the wind also picking up with gusts at times up to 15 miles per hour … The other two occasions where CU had to players tie for second in a major tournament were in the 1963 Pikes Peak Intercollegiate, Larry McAtee and Gary Polumbus (227, +11) and in the 2018 Pac-12 Championship, Ross Macdonald and Yannik Paul (272, -12) … CU now has 17 subpar rounds out of 20 played this season (the school best of 29 subpar rounds was set last year, with 25 in 2017-18 the second-most) … The average score for all 369 rounds was 73.83; it was the highest for the third round (74.41); CU's eight players here averaged 71.83 for 24 rounds … There were 33 players who finished under par and seven who finished even … Ten holes played to +0.24 over par in the final round (in order, 16, 7, 3, 11, 6, 10, 17, 12, 13 and 2); the Buff four scorers played them 3-over; Maryland's the best at 1-over … The three-toughest holes for the event (16, 10 and 7), CU's five designated scorers played those at 2-under, Maryland's at 10-over, the final separation between the two … The five Buff designated scorers played the par-4s at 17-under (best in the field; Cal Baptist was next at 9-over); CU also played the par-5's at 17-under (eighth; Oral Roberts was 23-under) and the par-3's at 4-over (tied for sixth; Maryland led at 10-under) … Colorado led the field with 67 birdies (Maryland was next with 64), along with 169 pars (fourth; Cal Baptist had the most, 183). CU's 31 bogeys were the fewest; Cal Baptist was next with 32) and had the fewest scores worse than bogey (three; Cal Baptist had four) … For the first time this season, CU did not score at least one eagle in a tournament … Holbrook has played 75 par-5 holes this season and has two eagles, 41 birdies, 28 pars and four bogeys, which is 41-under par, which Edwards credits to "his consistent long game and being a good chipper and long putter") … Colorado's eight players have combined to play 142 rounds this season – 92 have been par or better (76 subpar, 16 even) with 52 rounds in the 60's … In the Roy Edwards Era at CU (20th season), the Buffaloes now have 255 subpar rounds; in the school's history before his arrival, Colorado had just 84 …Trevor Jones ('81 team alum) dropped by to watch the final round, with several donors and relatives … In fact, this marked the second time that the men and women won tournaments the same week, going back to the third week in September 2017, when CU was the Simpson and the women the Coeur D'Alene Collegiate … Colorado was 21-0 here against Division I competition (College of the Desert is a local community college), giving it a season record of 97-25-2 (.790) for seven events; it finished 60-2-1 in single rounds here, improving to 260-72-17 (.769) on the season.
(*—played as an individual)
CU, 49th in the new rankings released Wednesday, had previously finished as the runner-up on four occasions and in third place twice, earning as 12-stroke victory with its best team score here, a 34-under par 830. Maryland was a distant second (842), followed by California Baptist (845), Oral Roberts (852) and Nebraska-Omaha (855) to round out the top five.
This was CU's 55th all-time tournament victory, the 22nd under head coach Roy Edwards' guidance. It was the fifth time in seven events this season that the Buffs recorded subpar scores in all three rounds, with the 34-under effort, the fourth-best in school history on a par-72 course and tied for the seventh-best on any configuration.
"Obviously very happy about it the team win," head coach Roy Edwards said. "We did a really nice job starting off but ran out of a bit of gas on the back nine. With three guys in the mix to win there was a lot of stress amongst them. While none of the guys won individually, they played spectacularly and I'm sure will take a lot of confidence from it."
The Buffs were never seriously contested in the final round, as scoring was tougher due to the only round affected by times of high winds. The closest Maryland got was the final margin of 12 shots. The Buff scorers all hung there, eventually with three finishing in the top 10 and all five on the top 25 on The Classic Club's 7,305-yard, par-72 course layout.
Three Buffaloes were battling for medalist honors until the very end; at one point, all three were in the top three and at times two tied for the lead down the stretch. But in the end, first-year graduate transfer Jackson Rivera and junior Brandon Knight tied for runner-up honors, one off the lead with 9-under 207s' (they were tied "in the clubhouse" with one other, who had yet to finish his round). It was the third time two Buffaloes tied for second in a major college tournament, and the 41st time two CU duffers finished in the top five.
Knight shot CU's low score of the day – a 3-under 69 – tying for the team high in birdies with four to go with 13 pars and a bogey, while Rivera opened strong, with three birdies and seven pars on his first 10 holes to extend his streak of holes or par or better to 33 (his CU best, if not career). He'd finish with those three birdies but fell out of the lead which he had held most of the day with bogeys on Nos. 12 and 14, as he ended with a 1-over 71. Knight has assumed the lead by himself at 9-under with two holes remaining (Nos. 17 and 18), but finished bogey-birdie. His 14 birdies were the seventh-most in the 124-man field, and he finished with 35 pars. He was 5-under on the par-4's and par-5's and 1-over on the par-3's.
It was Rivera's best performance since transferring to CU from Southern California last summer, and matched the second-best effort of his collegiate career (he shared medalist honors in the 2023 Arizona N.I.T. with a 13-under 203 scorecard). He led the 124-man field in par-4 scoring at 7-under, with his 13 birdies tied for eighth and his 37 pars tied for 13th. He was also 2-under on the par-5's and even on the par-3's, his second time as a Buff where he was even or subpar on all three configurations for a tournament.
Junior Ty Holbrook was the other Buffalo that was contending for medalist honors, eventually closing with a 1-over 71 for a 7-under 209 total, that eventually tied him for ninth. He had two birdies and 15 pars and one bogey on the day, the latter coming on the 176-yard, par-3 17th hole that also knocked Knight out of the lead. He played the par-3's and par-5's even in the last round – the latter also rare for him to not have at least one birdie (four pars), and was 1-under on the par-4's. He was in the top 10 for the week in birdies (15, sixth), par-4 scoring (-2, tie for sixth) and par-5 scoring (-6, tied for 10th).
Holbrook's finish marked the 33rd time that the Buffaloes finished in the top 10 in a major tourney.
Senior Hunter Swanson tied for 17th after closing with an even-par 72, giving him a 3-under 213 for the week. He bogeyed two of his first three holes (Nos. 1 and 3) and was chasing par all day, which he finally pulled even with when he birdied No. 18 to close his day (one of 28 by the field for the third round). In recording his 17th top 20 career finish, he played the par-4's at 2-under (tied for sixth in the field) with his 13 birdies overall tied for the eighth-most. He had 31 pars and 10 bogeys otherwise, as he joined Knight and Rivera to have no scores worse than a bogey over the 54 holes.
Sophomore Parker Paxton started strong on Monday, tying for the lead after a 5-under 67, but couldn't match that effort over the final two rounds, closing with a 3-over 75; he still was able to finish with a 2-under 214 that tied him for 25th, the eighth time in 14 career meets he finished an event with a subpar score. He had three birdies and 11 pars opposite two bogeys and two doubles, the latter pair coming on the front nine. To his credit, he rebounded to play the back nine at 2-under. His 12 birdies overall tied for 16th in the tourney, while also recording 34 pars.
Three Buffaloes competed here as individuals, as the entire '25-26 roster was present.
Freshman Casey Kosney tied for 52nd after recording a 1-over 73 for the third straight round, thus finishing with a 3-over 219.
He closed strong each day here, with two birdies in his last four holes Wednesday, while playing to 5-under on his last five holes combined for each round. He was steady throughout for the most part, with 10 birdies, 32 pars and 11 bogeys and one double, which he had late in the first round. He was 1-under on the par-5's for the event, 1-over on the par-3's and 3-over on the par-4's. Of the nine players who competed individually here, he placed fourth.
Sophomore Michael Fang and freshman Tyler Long tied for 68th with 6-over 222 totals. Fang closed with a 3-over 75, while Long had a tough outing posting his collegiate high, a 5-over 77. Fang's day was hampered by a pair of double bogeys, otherwise he had three birdies and 11 pars with two bogeys, and played the par-3's even, tied for the best by all the Buffs. Long matched him on the par-3's but had five bogeys that accounted for his overage; he otherwise had two birdies and 10 pars with one double.
Maryland's Emil Riegger shot a final round 67 to move up six spots to claim medalist honors with a 10-under 206 score. He birdied five of his last nine holes, including his final hole (No. 4) to break the tie with Knight and Rivera. Nine players finished within three shots of the lead, including the three Buffaloes.
"Really proud of the team for an awesome overall trip to California," Edwards added. "They all got better and it will be a tremendous springboard into the rest of the spring. It's very hard to win tournaments and to win such a large field is a great accomplishment."
The Buffaloes will return to action in two weeks, taking part in the San Diego R.E. Lamkin Invitational on March 9-10 in Chula Vista, Calif. CU has played in seven of the last eight Lamkins, finishing as the runner-up each of the last two years.
NOTES: Wednesday's temperature reached 92 degrees by the end of play, warmer than the previous two days, with the wind also picking up with gusts at times up to 15 miles per hour … The other two occasions where CU had to players tie for second in a major tournament were in the 1963 Pikes Peak Intercollegiate, Larry McAtee and Gary Polumbus (227, +11) and in the 2018 Pac-12 Championship, Ross Macdonald and Yannik Paul (272, -12) … CU now has 17 subpar rounds out of 20 played this season (the school best of 29 subpar rounds was set last year, with 25 in 2017-18 the second-most) … The average score for all 369 rounds was 73.83; it was the highest for the third round (74.41); CU's eight players here averaged 71.83 for 24 rounds … There were 33 players who finished under par and seven who finished even … Ten holes played to +0.24 over par in the final round (in order, 16, 7, 3, 11, 6, 10, 17, 12, 13 and 2); the Buff four scorers played them 3-over; Maryland's the best at 1-over … The three-toughest holes for the event (16, 10 and 7), CU's five designated scorers played those at 2-under, Maryland's at 10-over, the final separation between the two … The five Buff designated scorers played the par-4s at 17-under (best in the field; Cal Baptist was next at 9-over); CU also played the par-5's at 17-under (eighth; Oral Roberts was 23-under) and the par-3's at 4-over (tied for sixth; Maryland led at 10-under) … Colorado led the field with 67 birdies (Maryland was next with 64), along with 169 pars (fourth; Cal Baptist had the most, 183). CU's 31 bogeys were the fewest; Cal Baptist was next with 32) and had the fewest scores worse than bogey (three; Cal Baptist had four) … For the first time this season, CU did not score at least one eagle in a tournament … Holbrook has played 75 par-5 holes this season and has two eagles, 41 birdies, 28 pars and four bogeys, which is 41-under par, which Edwards credits to "his consistent long game and being a good chipper and long putter") … Colorado's eight players have combined to play 142 rounds this season – 92 have been par or better (76 subpar, 16 even) with 52 rounds in the 60's … In the Roy Edwards Era at CU (20th season), the Buffaloes now have 255 subpar rounds; in the school's history before his arrival, Colorado had just 84 …Trevor Jones ('81 team alum) dropped by to watch the final round, with several donors and relatives … In fact, this marked the second time that the men and women won tournaments the same week, going back to the third week in September 2017, when CU was the Simpson and the women the Coeur D'Alene Collegiate … Colorado was 21-0 here against Division I competition (College of the Desert is a local community college), giving it a season record of 97-25-2 (.790) for seven events; it finished 60-2-1 in single rounds here, improving to 260-72-17 (.769) on the season.
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
| T2. | Brandon Knight | 70-68-69—207 |
| T2. | Jackson Rivera | 69-67-71—207 |
| T9. | Ty Holbrook | 70-68-71—209 |
| T17. | Hunter Swanson | 73-68-72—213 |
| T25. | Parker Paxton | 67-72-75—214 |
| T52. | *Casey Kosney | 73-73-73—219 |
| T68. | *Tyler Long | 71-74-77—222 |
| T68. | *Michael Fang | 73-74-75—222 |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Emil Riegger, Maryland | 70-69-67--206 |
| T2. | Brandon Knight, Colorado | 70-68-69—207 |
| T2. | Jackson Rivera, Colorado | 69-67-71—207 |
| T2. | Max Thomas, Sacramento State | 68-71-68—207 |
| T5. | Spencer Clatt, Omaha | 67-73-68—208 |
| T5. | Ben Gratzl, Oral Roberts | 71-69-68—208 |
| T5. | Kurtis Rodriguez, Cal Baptist | 71-70-67—208 |
| T5. | Griffin Barke, Maryland | 69-73-66—208 |
| TEAM STANDINGS |
| 1. | COLORADO | 276-271-283—830 |
| 2. | Maryland | 280-286-276—842 |
| 3. | California Baptist | 286-279-280—845 |
| 4. | Oral Roberts | 283-284-285—852 |
| 5. | Nebraska-Omaha | 285-287-283—855 |
| 6. | Sacramento State | 279-283-294—856 |
| 7. | Wyoming | 281-282-295—858 |
| 8. | Utah Tech | 287-283-294—864 |
| 9. | Seattle | 286-292-287—865 |
| 10. | Drake | 285-291-290—866 |
| T11. | UC Santa Barbara | 291-288-289—868 |
| T11. | East Texas A&M | 286-290-292—868 |
| 13. | Cal Poly | 287-291-292—870 |
| T14. | UC Irvine | 289-294-299—882 |
| T14. | Hawai'i | 295-288-299—882 |
| 16. | CSU Fullerton | 299-290-296—885 |
| T17. | Southern Utah | 300-289-302—891 |
| T17. | UC Riverside | 298-303-290—891 |
| 19. | Eastern Washington | 294-292-307—893 |
| 20. | CSU Northridge | 290-302-307—899 |
| 21. | Northern Iowa | 306-300-301—907 |
| 22. | Valparaiso | 294-309-309—912 |
| 23. | College of the Desert | 306-309-299—914 |
Players Mentioned
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