Colorado University Athletics
Monday, March 16
Tucson, Ariz.
All Day
Colorado
vs
First Two Rounds
Swanson is tied for sixth to lead the Buffs in the Arizona desert.
Photo by: Tony Harman
Golfers Tied For Fifth In Arizona's Thunderbirds Intercollegiate
March 17, 2026 | Men's Golf
Swanson Tied For Sixth When Play Suspended Due To Darkness
TUCSON – The University of Colorado men's golf team got off to a hot start before cooling off a bit, ending the day in fifth place here Monday when play was suspended due to darkness in the Arizona Thunderbirds Intercollegiate.
No. 32 Long Beach State was atop the leaderboard at 21-under par, with its five golfers having 14 holes to finish. The next three teams were able to finish 36 holes, with host and No. 22 Arizona in second with a 19-under team score of 557, followed by No. 5 Arizona State (559) and No. 14 Oklahoma (569). Then come the Buffaloes, one behind the Sooners at 6-under par, with CU's five scorers having 15 holes to polish off in the round. Only five of the 14 teams in the field are under par at this point.
The Buffaloes were in third place, three shots out of the lead after the first round, scoring 10 birdies in the first five holes and reaching 12-under at one juncture. CU started both rounds on the No. 1 tee.
Senior Hunter Swanson is pacing the Buffaloes through the first 36 holes, as he is 5-under after carding a 6-under 66 in the first round on the 7,533-yard, par-72 Tucson Country Club course design; he was 1-over through 14 holes in round two. Tied for sixth at present, his day got off to about as hot a start as possible, birdying the first four holes. He had six birdies before his first bogey (on No. 14), but bounced right back with his seventh and final birdie in the first round on No. 15. His birdie on No. 3 was one of just seven all day on the hole (162 attempts in all) He is playing the par-3's the best in the 81-man field at 4-under par, with his nine birdies tied for the eighth-most.
Junior Ty Holbrook is tied for 16th at 2-under par with two holes to play. He had a 71 in the morning round and was 1-under when the horn sounded to suspend play. He had seven birdies and five bogeys with 22 pars at that point. Two of his birdies came on par-5's, as he now has 45 birdies (and two eagles) on 95 par-5 holes this season.
Three Buffaloes are tied for 39th with 3-over par totals:
Sophomore Parker Paxton opened strong as well, as he birdied three of his first four holes en route to a 3-under 69. But he had his struggles the second time around; after birdying No. 1 for the second time, he made bogey on eight of his next 10 holes. He did finish his day with a birdie on No. 12 and a par on No. 13 as he'll have a team-high five holes to finish Tuesday morning.
Junior Brandon Knight opened with a 72 – his first even-par round this season out of 24 to go with 14 subpar efforts. After a double bogey on No. 7, he wrapped round one with 10 pars and a birdie to get back to even. He then opened his second round with an eagle on the 553-yard, par-5 1st hole, his team-leading fifth eagle of the season. But he bogeyed five of the next eight holes on the front side but is even on the back nine with three holes to play.
First-year graduate transfer Jackson Rivera started with nine straight pars before a double bogey on No. 10 pushed him to the unhappy side of par for the remainder of the day. He turned in a 2-over 74 in the first round and was the closest to finishing his second round of all the Buffaloes, as he had a 25-foot putt for birdie on No. 18 when play was suspended. He had just birdied the 237-yard, par-3 17th – one of just two players in the afternoon (out of 54) to do so. His 27 pars are the second-most overall in the field.
Freshman Tyler Long is competing here as an individual. He opened with a 2-over 74 and was even through 12 holes the second time around the TCC track, as he is tied for 35th.
"We played well in the morning," head coach Roy Edwards said. "The guys really came out and competed from the start. Hunter and Parker had really nice rounds. We got off to a pretty good start in round two, but struggled a little in the middle of the round. The wind came up and the greens got very firm. We are looking for a good finish to the round in the morning and then play well in round three."
Long Beach State's Alejandro De Castro held the individual lead, as he was 13-under par with five holes remaining; he shot a 7-under 65 in the first round and was 6-under when play was called, owning a four-stroke lead on the field.
The completion of the second round will commence at 8:00 a.m. MDT Tuesday, and will likely take 90 minutes or more to complete. The third and final round will follow.
NOTES: Monday's high temperature reached 84 degrees under sunny skies most of the day, but the wind picked up early in the second round, gusting at times from 10-14 miles per hour … The Buffs were paired with Long Beach State and New Mexico for both rounds on Monday … The average score for all 113 completed rounds was 72.97 (72.99 in the morning, 72.94 for the 32 players who finished in the afternoon); CU's sextet averaged 71.0 for the six morning rounds) … There were 25 players currently under par and five others at even when play was suspended … Hunter Swanson has 124 strokes through 32 holes entering Tuesday; he now has 9,955 strokes in his career and is poised to join CU's prestigious "10,000 Stroke Club" on Tuesday as its 17th member … Five holes played to +0.25 over par or higher on Monday (in order, 3, 17, 11, 2 and 9); the designated five scoring Buffs played those at 1-under in the morning but after the winds entered play, the same five were 8-over in the afternoon with four Buffs still having to play it a seconds time … The five Buffs played the par-3's at 2-under (best int the field), the par-4s at 8-over (seventh) and the par-5's at 4-under (10th) … Colorado is fifth with 31 birdies (Arizona leads with 44), along with 100 pars (sixth; Oklahoma is first with 119); CU's 31 bogeys are the fifth-fewest (Arizona State had just 22), and its two double bogeys are tied for the second-fewest (Long Beach State had only one) … The Buffs finally had their first eagle of the spring with Knight's in the second round, after scoring 17 in 15 rounds during the fall but none in the first three tournaments this spring.
ALUMNI WATCH: Two former Buffs are set to compete in the Asher Tour's Sobobo Classic in San Jacinto, Calif., this Tuesday through Thursday, as Justin Biwer ('25) and Tucker Clark ('25) are in the 144-man field … Yannik Paul ('18) will play in the DP Tour's Hainan Classic presented by MAEXTRO in Hainan, China, with play beginning Thursday … Victor Bjorlow ('21) is entered in the DP World PGTI Open in Haryana, India.
No. 32 Long Beach State was atop the leaderboard at 21-under par, with its five golfers having 14 holes to finish. The next three teams were able to finish 36 holes, with host and No. 22 Arizona in second with a 19-under team score of 557, followed by No. 5 Arizona State (559) and No. 14 Oklahoma (569). Then come the Buffaloes, one behind the Sooners at 6-under par, with CU's five scorers having 15 holes to polish off in the round. Only five of the 14 teams in the field are under par at this point.
The Buffaloes were in third place, three shots out of the lead after the first round, scoring 10 birdies in the first five holes and reaching 12-under at one juncture. CU started both rounds on the No. 1 tee.
Senior Hunter Swanson is pacing the Buffaloes through the first 36 holes, as he is 5-under after carding a 6-under 66 in the first round on the 7,533-yard, par-72 Tucson Country Club course design; he was 1-over through 14 holes in round two. Tied for sixth at present, his day got off to about as hot a start as possible, birdying the first four holes. He had six birdies before his first bogey (on No. 14), but bounced right back with his seventh and final birdie in the first round on No. 15. His birdie on No. 3 was one of just seven all day on the hole (162 attempts in all) He is playing the par-3's the best in the 81-man field at 4-under par, with his nine birdies tied for the eighth-most.
Junior Ty Holbrook is tied for 16th at 2-under par with two holes to play. He had a 71 in the morning round and was 1-under when the horn sounded to suspend play. He had seven birdies and five bogeys with 22 pars at that point. Two of his birdies came on par-5's, as he now has 45 birdies (and two eagles) on 95 par-5 holes this season.
Three Buffaloes are tied for 39th with 3-over par totals:
Sophomore Parker Paxton opened strong as well, as he birdied three of his first four holes en route to a 3-under 69. But he had his struggles the second time around; after birdying No. 1 for the second time, he made bogey on eight of his next 10 holes. He did finish his day with a birdie on No. 12 and a par on No. 13 as he'll have a team-high five holes to finish Tuesday morning.
Junior Brandon Knight opened with a 72 – his first even-par round this season out of 24 to go with 14 subpar efforts. After a double bogey on No. 7, he wrapped round one with 10 pars and a birdie to get back to even. He then opened his second round with an eagle on the 553-yard, par-5 1st hole, his team-leading fifth eagle of the season. But he bogeyed five of the next eight holes on the front side but is even on the back nine with three holes to play.
First-year graduate transfer Jackson Rivera started with nine straight pars before a double bogey on No. 10 pushed him to the unhappy side of par for the remainder of the day. He turned in a 2-over 74 in the first round and was the closest to finishing his second round of all the Buffaloes, as he had a 25-foot putt for birdie on No. 18 when play was suspended. He had just birdied the 237-yard, par-3 17th – one of just two players in the afternoon (out of 54) to do so. His 27 pars are the second-most overall in the field.
Freshman Tyler Long is competing here as an individual. He opened with a 2-over 74 and was even through 12 holes the second time around the TCC track, as he is tied for 35th.
"We played well in the morning," head coach Roy Edwards said. "The guys really came out and competed from the start. Hunter and Parker had really nice rounds. We got off to a pretty good start in round two, but struggled a little in the middle of the round. The wind came up and the greens got very firm. We are looking for a good finish to the round in the morning and then play well in round three."
Long Beach State's Alejandro De Castro held the individual lead, as he was 13-under par with five holes remaining; he shot a 7-under 65 in the first round and was 6-under when play was called, owning a four-stroke lead on the field.
The completion of the second round will commence at 8:00 a.m. MDT Tuesday, and will likely take 90 minutes or more to complete. The third and final round will follow.
NOTES: Monday's high temperature reached 84 degrees under sunny skies most of the day, but the wind picked up early in the second round, gusting at times from 10-14 miles per hour … The Buffs were paired with Long Beach State and New Mexico for both rounds on Monday … The average score for all 113 completed rounds was 72.97 (72.99 in the morning, 72.94 for the 32 players who finished in the afternoon); CU's sextet averaged 71.0 for the six morning rounds) … There were 25 players currently under par and five others at even when play was suspended … Hunter Swanson has 124 strokes through 32 holes entering Tuesday; he now has 9,955 strokes in his career and is poised to join CU's prestigious "10,000 Stroke Club" on Tuesday as its 17th member … Five holes played to +0.25 over par or higher on Monday (in order, 3, 17, 11, 2 and 9); the designated five scoring Buffs played those at 1-under in the morning but after the winds entered play, the same five were 8-over in the afternoon with four Buffs still having to play it a seconds time … The five Buffs played the par-3's at 2-under (best int the field), the par-4s at 8-over (seventh) and the par-5's at 4-under (10th) … Colorado is fifth with 31 birdies (Arizona leads with 44), along with 100 pars (sixth; Oklahoma is first with 119); CU's 31 bogeys are the fifth-fewest (Arizona State had just 22), and its two double bogeys are tied for the second-fewest (Long Beach State had only one) … The Buffs finally had their first eagle of the spring with Knight's in the second round, after scoring 17 in 15 rounds during the fall but none in the first three tournaments this spring.
ALUMNI WATCH: Two former Buffs are set to compete in the Asher Tour's Sobobo Classic in San Jacinto, Calif., this Tuesday through Thursday, as Justin Biwer ('25) and Tucker Clark ('25) are in the 144-man field … Yannik Paul ('18) will play in the DP Tour's Hainan Classic presented by MAEXTRO in Hainan, China, with play beginning Thursday … Victor Bjorlow ('21) is entered in the DP World PGTI Open in Haryana, India.
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
| T6. | Hunter Swanson | 66-(+1)—(-5) |
| T16. | Ty Holbrook | 71-(-1)—(-2) |
| T35. | *Tyler Long | 74-( E)—(+2) |
| T39. | Parker Paxton | 69-(+6)—(+3) |
| T39. | Brandon Knight | 72-(+3)—(+3) |
| T39. | Jackson Rivera | 74-(+1)—(+3) |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Alejandro De Castro, Long Beach State | 65-(-6)—(-13) |
| 2. | Pongsapak Laopakdee, Arizona State | 67-68—135 (-9) |
| 3. | Filip Jakucik, Arizona | 67-69—136 (-8) |
| 4. | Raul Gomez, Arizona State | 66-(-1)—(-7) |
| 5. | Timothy Jung, Pacific | 69-69—138 (-6) |
| TEAM STANDINGS |
| 1. | Long Beach State | 282-(-15)—(-21) |
| 2. | Arizona | 277-280—557 (-19) |
| 3. | Arizona State | 275-284—559 (-17) |
| 4. | Oklahoma | 280-289—569 (-7) |
| 5. | COLORADO | 278-(+4)—(-6) |
| 6. | Grand Canyon | 286-(+3)—(+1) |
| 7. | Oral Roberts | 290-288—578 (+2) |
| 8. | New Mexico | 285-(+6)—(+3) |
| 9. | Texas-El Paso | 281-299—580 (+4) |
| T10. | New Mexico State | 290-(+4)—(+6) |
| T10. | Wyoming | 285-(+9)—(+6) |
| 12. | Texas-San Antonio | 291-(+5)—(+8) |
| 13. | Pacific | 297-293—590 (+14) |
| 14. | Hawai'i | 307-(+18)—(+37) |
Players Mentioned
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