Men's Golf: Summer Update #1

BOULDER – The first of three annual summer updates on happenings with the University of Colorado men's golf team:

ACADEMIC HONORS

The men's golf team recorded its highest spring grade point average since tracking started in 1996 – 3.851. That makes 21 of the last 22 semesters with a GPA over 3.0. The team's cumulative GPA reached an all-time best of 3.239.
Three Buffaloes made the Big 12 Conference's Spring Honor Roll: Michael Fang, Parker Paxton and Jackson Rivera. Requirements include that student-athletes must maintain a 3.20 GPA or higher, either cumulative or over the two previous semesters, and must have participated in 20 percent of their team's scheduled contests.
Tyler Long earned mention on the Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team, with that criteria featuring a minimum GPA of 3.0 or greater and completion of 24 credit hours.
Rivera also earned Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Communicators (CSC), named to its At-Large team. A first-year graduate student, he is majoring in Organizational Leadership.
When Hunter Swanson graduated in May from the Leeds School of Business, he became the 43rd senior (out of 43) under coach Roy Edwards to earn his CU degree.

CURRENT TEAM UPDATES

Across The Pond. Three Buffaloes trekked to Great Britain in June and played in the British Amateur. Ty Holbrook advanced out of stroke play, tying for 23rd with a 4-under par 70-70—140 score on the Royal Liverpool and West Lancashire courses. He dropped his first match on the first extra hole to New Zealand's Yuki Myla. Brandon Knight just missed making the cut by two strokes (2-under 76-68—144), tying for 92nd and Hunter Swanson (2-over 75-71—146) tying for 132nd in the 288-man field.
Casey Kosney returned to his native Northern California and tied for second in the Sacramento City Amateur (67-71—138, -6), one back of the lead … Tied for fifth in the 11th Annual Carolinian Amateur with a 3-under 213 scorecard (73-72-68) in Buies Creek, N.C. in a field of 135 … He most recently tied for fourth with a 4-under 68 and qualified for the 95th South Carolina Amateur Championship in Sumter (July 23-26) … Medalist in qualifying for the Carolinas Open with a 5-under 67; event is July 14-16 in Travelers Rest, S.C. … Qualified for August's South Carolina Match Play Championship, August 11-15.
Junior Parker Paxton Won the Saltwater Classic Pro-Am by 13 shots, recording a 14-under 202 score on his home course, Riverton Country Club (his older brother Easton won the pro division flight by seven shots) … He finished third in last week's Wyoming State Amateur with a 7-under 209 score (69-69-71), five strokes out of the top spot.

Zeqian "Michael" Fang, who announced he is transferring to UT-Arlington after his sophomore season at CU, missed the cut in the Southwestern Amateur; he shot an 89 in the first round but improved the most of anyone in the 90-man field with a second roundc77.

RECRUIT NEWS

Gavin Amella, Castle View High School (Castle Rock). He tied for seventh in the stroke portion of the CGA's Junior Championship (2-under par, 70-68—138) to advance to match play, where he won all five matches to claim the title. In the process, he qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur, set for July 20-25 in Bethlehem, Pa.
Colt Farrow, Andover (Kan.) Central. He earned Kansas 5A All-State honors for the fourth time (to go with four All-Metro and All-League accolades), despite not being allowed to play in the classification's championship because he played in an outside AJGA event prior to the state meet as a senior, Kansas rules prohibited him from defending his title. He tied for 16th in the AJGA's premier Team TaylorMade Invitational with an even-par 69-73-68—210 effort in the 72-man field. When the PGA Americas had its stop in Wichita last week, he caddied for Justin Biwer.
Asher Whitaker, who early in June announced he was transferring to CU from Oklahoma (with two years of eligibility remaining), missed the cut by three shots in the Dogwood Invitational in Atlanta (73-73-71—217, +1).

ALUMNI NOTES

Jeremy Paul ('17) tied for third on the last day in May in the Korn Ferry Tour's UNC Health Championship in Raleigh (8-under 270).
Yannik Paul ('18), after missing the cut in three straight Tour events, rebounded to tie for eighth in the Blot Play9 in Pleneuf, France; he recorded a 70-67-72-64—273 effort (7-under), with his 64 the best score in the final round. He is in the field for this week's DP Tour stop – the BMW Invitational – in Munich.
Justin Biwer ('25) qualified for the PGA Tour Americas this spring and made the cut in all six events on its South American leg. He is currently 24th (out of 170) in the point standings and put himself in position to play in all 15 events as the tour heads north into Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. In the final South American event, he finished tied for fifth in Colombia (8-under 66-67-70-70—273) and led it periodically. He missed the cut in the weather-plagued stop in Wichita last week (5-over 145). Next up is the Korn Ferry stop at TPC Colorado in Berthoud.
Freddy Eisenbeis ('25) won the Madaëf Golfs Open in late April in Morocco, with a 10-under par 206 score (69-68-69), A birdie on the last hole gave him his first title on the Pro Golf Tour. He has three other top 16 finishes this year,
Dylan McDermott ('25) posted a pair of top 20 finished in GPro Tour events in North Carolina. He tied for 16th in the Woodlake Open, posting a 2-over scorecard of 72-69-74—215 in Vass (halfway between Raleigh and Charlotte); and in late May, he tied for 13th in the Kannapolis Open (a 12-under 65-68-68—201) in Kannapolis (a northwest suburb of Charlotte).

LATEST WORLD AMATEUR RANKINGS

Here's where the current Buffaloes ranked in the latest World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) as of July 1: Ty Holbrook (#517), Brandon Knight (#556), Parker Paxton (#1142), Jackson Rivera (#1369), junior transfer Asher Whitaker (#1246) and Tyler Long (#1806). Sophomore Casey Kosney and incoming freshmen Gavin Amella and Colt Farrow do not have enough events yet to be ranked.

LOOKING AHEAD

Amella, Biwer, Swanson, Derek Fribbs ('13) and Tucker Clark ('25) will be among those who will attempt to qualify this Monday (July 6) for the Korn Ferry Tour's The Blue Championship at TPC Colorado in Berthoud. The tournament runs from July 9-12.
And several Buffs, past and present, will compete in the 62nd Colorado Open, July 23-26, at Green Valley Ranch CC.
The 17th Annual Colorado Golf Day, the men's team's major fundraiser, is scheduled for Monday, August 24. Details forthcoming later in July.