Tyler Long shot CU's low round in the tourney Tuesday (one of just six in the 60's).
Photo by: Tony Harman
Buffs Open Season Finishing Second in Vuori Invitational
September 15, 2026 | Men's Golf
Long, Paxton post top 5 finishes; four Buffs in top 16
RANCHO SANTA FE, Calif. – The Colorado men's golf team opened its 102nd year of intercollegiate golf with a second place finish by the thinnest of margins here Tuesday in the inaugural Vuori Invitational.
Arkansas, the 10th ranked team in the Bushnell/Golfweek preseason poll, held off the Buffaloes by a single stroke, as the Razorbacks finished with an even-par team score of 852. CU started the day five back in second place and closed to within a stroke on a few occasions, the last time coming with one hole remaining for each. But CU could get no closer, as on the final holes for each. Arkansas, starting on No. 1, had all five of its scorers make par on the 18th, while the Buffs finished on No. 9 with a birdie, three pars and a bogey.
All five of CU's designated scorers finished in the top 28, the only team with that many; Arkansas' all placed in the top 31. Both had four in the top 16.
The Buffs final round team score of 3-under 281 was the best in the tournament and just the third subpar round recorded over the two days. Southern California finished in a distant third (11-over 863), followed by 23rd-ranked BYU in fourth (864) with San Diego rounding out the top five (865).
Sophomore Tyler Long closed with a 3-under par 68 for an even-par 213 that also tied him for fifth. He was on fire to start the day, scoring birdies on his first two holes (10 & 11), and after a par on 12, he reeled off three straight birdies that zoomed him into a tie for second. He then cooled off a bit to post CU's best 18 holes in the tournament. In posting the first top five finish of his career, he led the Buffs with 12 birdies (tied for the third-most in the 75-man field) to go with 34 pars and played the par-4 holes at 6-under, the best in the event by two shots and the sixth-best by a Buff since the stat was first tracked in 2021. The 68 matched his collegiate low gross score he shot four times as a freshman (one 4-under par, the others 3-under).
Long's birdie on the 425-yard, par 4 11th hole was just one of three during the entire tournament – and one of three in the final round – as the hole play to 0.54 over par for the three round and at plus-0.64 Tuesday.
Junior Parker Paxton wrapped up play with a 1-under par 70 for an overall even-par score of 213 on the 7,003-yard, par-71 Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club layout, tying him for fifth, the fourth top five finish of his career. Starting on the back nine (all CU scorers did), he double bogeyed No. 10 out of the gate but pulled back to even after making birdies on Nos. 13 and 15. He made the turn at 1-over after bogeying the 18th before making seven straight pars. He then closed with birdies on the 527-yard, par-5 8th and the 367-yard, par-4 9th holes. His 41 pars were the third-most in the field as well as a career-high, to go with seven birdies amd a team-low of six holes worse than par, He played the par-4 holes even – eighth best in the field -- and the par-3's at 1-over (tied for 11th-best).
Senior Ty Holbrook tied for 16th as he shot a 3-over 74 to finish with a 4-over 217; he wrapped things with 15 pars and three bogeys on Tuesday. In posting his 13th top 20 finish of his career, he had an eagle – one of just five in the entire tourney – eight birdies and 33 pars, playing the par-5's the best at 1-under. His eagle came in the second round on the 455-yard, par-4 2nd hole, this third of his career on a par-4 which also set the CU career mark with 19.
Senior Brandon Knight fashioned a 1-under 70 to finish with a 4-over 217 total, also tying him for 16th. After rough start in the first round when he was 5-over after two holes, he played the last 52 at 1-under with eight birdies, 37 pars and seven bogeys. He was consistent Tuesday with two birdies and 15 pars and a single bogey, the latter of which he opened his round with before closing with 17 holes of par or better. He scored eight birdies and 37 pars over the 54 holes, playing both the par-3's at par-5's at 1-under, tying for third-best in the field on the short ones and for 18th on the long ones. He had two birdies on the 219-yard, par-3 14th hole, which was the fourth-toughest hole this week and which had just 16 birdies; Knight was the only one to do it twice. This was his 11th top 20 career finish.
Junior Asher Whitaker tied for 28th after firing a final round 2-over 73, which gave him a 7-over 220 for the tournament. After opening with a pair of bogeys Tuesday, he had back-to-back birdies on No. 15 and 16 in a 13-hole stretch of par or better; two late bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8 knocked him into the black for the round. Overall, he had nine birdies and 30 pars while playing the par-5 holes his best at 2-under, tying for seventh best in the meet. This was his first event as a Buffalo after transferring from Oklahoma to CU this past June, In his first college tournament in the western half of the U.S. mainland, it was the fourth-best finish of his career as he had three in the top 20 for the Sooners.
"A great battle today," CU head coach Roy Edwards said, who saw his Buffaloes finish in the top three of a tournament for the 73rd time in his 21 seasons at the reins of the program (22 wins, 33 runner-up finished and 18 thirds). "Again, other than Tyler, who was as hot as you can be from the jump, we got off to a bad start but then the guys got back on track fairly quickly. We are so impressed with the guys' fight with a second place finish in a strong field and only being one shot out of first. Their competitiveness and resilience really shined this week. We have got some fixable areas of improvement, mostly in the short game and wedges, so we will continue to work on that throughout the season."
Sophomore Casey Kosney competed here as an individual, closing with a 4-over 75 for a 16-over 229 that tied his for 62nd; he tied for eighth among the 15 in the overall field. He needed to finish the last two holes of the second round first thing Tuesday (par-bogey on No. 17 and 18), the same way he opened the third round before making four birdies on the next seven holes to make the turn at 33. But two bogeys and two doubles on the first five holes on the back nine pushed him to the unhappy side of par for the rest of the round. He had eight birdies and 27 pars overall and played the par-5's his best at 1-over.
Edwards was pleased with how his team handled the tough Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club course, which has a 75.2 rating and a slope of 140. Extremely tough courses have ratings of 75 to 80, while the slope of an average course is in the 110 to 115 range (141 is considered extreme by the USGA).
"This was a really tough course that changed from the beginning of each round to the end," he noted. "The guys did a great job of adjusting and adapting to those changing conditions and the difficulty. Overall we were very patient, too."
San Diego State freshman Brayden Forte claimed medalist honors with a 5-under 208 score, finishing with a 1-under 70 to win by two strokes over BYU's Kihei Akina///
The Buffaloes will return to action, back home in Colorado to play in Air Force's two-part event, the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, set for Saturday through Monday at USAFA's Eisenhower Blue Golf Course (one of 18 schools entered) and the Gene Miranda Individual the same days on Eisenhower Silver; all nine Buffaloes will participate, five in the team event and four in the individual meet. CU has won the tournament nine times, the first time in 1970 and the last in 2019.
NOTES: The temperature reached the mid-70's by the end of the round, played under partly cloudy skies and high humidity (73 percent) for the second straight day; wind topped out occasionally at 10 miles per hour) … The average score for all 225 completed rounds was 73.95 (73.94 Tuesday, after 73.79 and 74.59 for the first and second rounds, respectively); the five CU designated scorers for 15 rounds averaged 72.0 … The six toughest holes over the two days, all playing at 0.23 over par, in order were 11, 13, 7, 14, 4 and 5; Colorado's scorers played them combined at 17-over for the tournament, behind only BYU (+14) and ahead of Arkansas (+24); the Buffs played those six at 3-under on Tuesday (Arkansas at 4-over) … The five scoring Buffs played the par-4's the best in the event at 9-over (San Diego was next at plus-15); the par-3's at 7-over (tied for the best with Arkansas and Oregon); and the par-5's at 1-under (tied for fifth; Arkansas led at 11-under) … Colorado led the field in birdies (44; overtaking Arkansas by one with 13 to the Razorbacks' 10 Tuesday), was fourth in pars (175, Arkansas had the most with 180), and had 42 bogeys (second fewest behind 39 by Arkansas); the Buffs tied for first win one eagle (by Holbrook; there were just five overall, three by golfers playing as individuals as USC had the other) … Holbrook's even-par 71 in the first round was the 16th of his career, tying for eighth on CU's all-time list; Knight's back-to-back 1-under 70's were the 52nd and 53rd of par or better in his career, moving him into eighth on that chart (Holbrook in 11th with 47) … CU was 10-1 against Division I competition here and 29-4 in single rounds … In defeating BYU, it gave CU a conference win and ended a three-loss slide to the Cougars … The CU women also finished second in their season opener outside of Seattle in the Leadership & Golf Invitational (Eastern Michigan won by six shots in the 17-team event); it marked the first time since the women's program was created in 1994 that both teams finished in second place on the same day.
Arkansas, the 10th ranked team in the Bushnell/Golfweek preseason poll, held off the Buffaloes by a single stroke, as the Razorbacks finished with an even-par team score of 852. CU started the day five back in second place and closed to within a stroke on a few occasions, the last time coming with one hole remaining for each. But CU could get no closer, as on the final holes for each. Arkansas, starting on No. 1, had all five of its scorers make par on the 18th, while the Buffs finished on No. 9 with a birdie, three pars and a bogey.
All five of CU's designated scorers finished in the top 28, the only team with that many; Arkansas' all placed in the top 31. Both had four in the top 16.
The Buffs final round team score of 3-under 281 was the best in the tournament and just the third subpar round recorded over the two days. Southern California finished in a distant third (11-over 863), followed by 23rd-ranked BYU in fourth (864) with San Diego rounding out the top five (865).
Sophomore Tyler Long closed with a 3-under par 68 for an even-par 213 that also tied him for fifth. He was on fire to start the day, scoring birdies on his first two holes (10 & 11), and after a par on 12, he reeled off three straight birdies that zoomed him into a tie for second. He then cooled off a bit to post CU's best 18 holes in the tournament. In posting the first top five finish of his career, he led the Buffs with 12 birdies (tied for the third-most in the 75-man field) to go with 34 pars and played the par-4 holes at 6-under, the best in the event by two shots and the sixth-best by a Buff since the stat was first tracked in 2021. The 68 matched his collegiate low gross score he shot four times as a freshman (one 4-under par, the others 3-under).
Long's birdie on the 425-yard, par 4 11th hole was just one of three during the entire tournament – and one of three in the final round – as the hole play to 0.54 over par for the three round and at plus-0.64 Tuesday.
Junior Parker Paxton wrapped up play with a 1-under par 70 for an overall even-par score of 213 on the 7,003-yard, par-71 Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club layout, tying him for fifth, the fourth top five finish of his career. Starting on the back nine (all CU scorers did), he double bogeyed No. 10 out of the gate but pulled back to even after making birdies on Nos. 13 and 15. He made the turn at 1-over after bogeying the 18th before making seven straight pars. He then closed with birdies on the 527-yard, par-5 8th and the 367-yard, par-4 9th holes. His 41 pars were the third-most in the field as well as a career-high, to go with seven birdies amd a team-low of six holes worse than par, He played the par-4 holes even – eighth best in the field -- and the par-3's at 1-over (tied for 11th-best).
Senior Ty Holbrook tied for 16th as he shot a 3-over 74 to finish with a 4-over 217; he wrapped things with 15 pars and three bogeys on Tuesday. In posting his 13th top 20 finish of his career, he had an eagle – one of just five in the entire tourney – eight birdies and 33 pars, playing the par-5's the best at 1-under. His eagle came in the second round on the 455-yard, par-4 2nd hole, this third of his career on a par-4 which also set the CU career mark with 19.
Senior Brandon Knight fashioned a 1-under 70 to finish with a 4-over 217 total, also tying him for 16th. After rough start in the first round when he was 5-over after two holes, he played the last 52 at 1-under with eight birdies, 37 pars and seven bogeys. He was consistent Tuesday with two birdies and 15 pars and a single bogey, the latter of which he opened his round with before closing with 17 holes of par or better. He scored eight birdies and 37 pars over the 54 holes, playing both the par-3's at par-5's at 1-under, tying for third-best in the field on the short ones and for 18th on the long ones. He had two birdies on the 219-yard, par-3 14th hole, which was the fourth-toughest hole this week and which had just 16 birdies; Knight was the only one to do it twice. This was his 11th top 20 career finish.
Junior Asher Whitaker tied for 28th after firing a final round 2-over 73, which gave him a 7-over 220 for the tournament. After opening with a pair of bogeys Tuesday, he had back-to-back birdies on No. 15 and 16 in a 13-hole stretch of par or better; two late bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8 knocked him into the black for the round. Overall, he had nine birdies and 30 pars while playing the par-5 holes his best at 2-under, tying for seventh best in the meet. This was his first event as a Buffalo after transferring from Oklahoma to CU this past June, In his first college tournament in the western half of the U.S. mainland, it was the fourth-best finish of his career as he had three in the top 20 for the Sooners.
"A great battle today," CU head coach Roy Edwards said, who saw his Buffaloes finish in the top three of a tournament for the 73rd time in his 21 seasons at the reins of the program (22 wins, 33 runner-up finished and 18 thirds). "Again, other than Tyler, who was as hot as you can be from the jump, we got off to a bad start but then the guys got back on track fairly quickly. We are so impressed with the guys' fight with a second place finish in a strong field and only being one shot out of first. Their competitiveness and resilience really shined this week. We have got some fixable areas of improvement, mostly in the short game and wedges, so we will continue to work on that throughout the season."
Sophomore Casey Kosney competed here as an individual, closing with a 4-over 75 for a 16-over 229 that tied his for 62nd; he tied for eighth among the 15 in the overall field. He needed to finish the last two holes of the second round first thing Tuesday (par-bogey on No. 17 and 18), the same way he opened the third round before making four birdies on the next seven holes to make the turn at 33. But two bogeys and two doubles on the first five holes on the back nine pushed him to the unhappy side of par for the rest of the round. He had eight birdies and 27 pars overall and played the par-5's his best at 1-over.
Edwards was pleased with how his team handled the tough Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club course, which has a 75.2 rating and a slope of 140. Extremely tough courses have ratings of 75 to 80, while the slope of an average course is in the 110 to 115 range (141 is considered extreme by the USGA).
"This was a really tough course that changed from the beginning of each round to the end," he noted. "The guys did a great job of adjusting and adapting to those changing conditions and the difficulty. Overall we were very patient, too."
San Diego State freshman Brayden Forte claimed medalist honors with a 5-under 208 score, finishing with a 1-under 70 to win by two strokes over BYU's Kihei Akina///
The Buffaloes will return to action, back home in Colorado to play in Air Force's two-part event, the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, set for Saturday through Monday at USAFA's Eisenhower Blue Golf Course (one of 18 schools entered) and the Gene Miranda Individual the same days on Eisenhower Silver; all nine Buffaloes will participate, five in the team event and four in the individual meet. CU has won the tournament nine times, the first time in 1970 and the last in 2019.
NOTES: The temperature reached the mid-70's by the end of the round, played under partly cloudy skies and high humidity (73 percent) for the second straight day; wind topped out occasionally at 10 miles per hour) … The average score for all 225 completed rounds was 73.95 (73.94 Tuesday, after 73.79 and 74.59 for the first and second rounds, respectively); the five CU designated scorers for 15 rounds averaged 72.0 … The six toughest holes over the two days, all playing at 0.23 over par, in order were 11, 13, 7, 14, 4 and 5; Colorado's scorers played them combined at 17-over for the tournament, behind only BYU (+14) and ahead of Arkansas (+24); the Buffs played those six at 3-under on Tuesday (Arkansas at 4-over) … The five scoring Buffs played the par-4's the best in the event at 9-over (San Diego was next at plus-15); the par-3's at 7-over (tied for the best with Arkansas and Oregon); and the par-5's at 1-under (tied for fifth; Arkansas led at 11-under) … Colorado led the field in birdies (44; overtaking Arkansas by one with 13 to the Razorbacks' 10 Tuesday), was fourth in pars (175, Arkansas had the most with 180), and had 42 bogeys (second fewest behind 39 by Arkansas); the Buffs tied for first win one eagle (by Holbrook; there were just five overall, three by golfers playing as individuals as USC had the other) … Holbrook's even-par 71 in the first round was the 16th of his career, tying for eighth on CU's all-time list; Knight's back-to-back 1-under 70's were the 52nd and 53rd of par or better in his career, moving him into eighth on that chart (Holbrook in 11th with 47) … CU was 10-1 against Division I competition here and 29-4 in single rounds … In defeating BYU, it gave CU a conference win and ended a three-loss slide to the Cougars … The CU women also finished second in their season opener outside of Seattle in the Leadership & Golf Invitational (Eastern Michigan won by six shots in the 17-team event); it marked the first time since the women's program was created in 1994 that both teams finished in second place on the same day.
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
| T5. | Tyler Long | 69-76-68—213 |
| T5. | Parker Paxton | 72-71-70—213 |
| T16. | Ty Holbrook | 71-72-74—217 |
| T16. | Brandon Knight | 77-70-70—217 |
| T28. | Asher Whitaker | 75-72-73—220 |
| T62. | *Casey Kosney | 78-76-75—229 |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Brayden Forte, San Diego State | 70-68-70—208 |
| 2. | Kihei Akina, BYU | 71-70-69--210 |
| 3. | Gerardo Gomez, Arkansas | 67-74-70—211 |
| 4. | Sebastian Desoisa, Oregon | 67-71-74—212 |
| T5. | Tyler Long, Colorado | 69-76-68—213 |
| T5. | Parker Paxton, Colorado | 72-71-70—213 |
| T5. | Thomas Curry, Arkansas | 73-67-73—213 |
| TEAM STANDINGS |
| 1. | Arkansas | 284-283-285—852 |
| 2. | COLORADO | 287-285-281—853 |
| 3. | Southern California | 290-290-283—863 |
| 4. | Brigham Young | 288-289-287—864 |
| 5. | San Diego | 289-293-283—865 |
| 6. | Oregon | 285-290-298—873 |
| 7. | San Diego State | 288-293-293—874 |
| 8. | Long Beach State | 289-298-292—879 |
| T9. | Tulsa | 288-300-293—881 |
| T9. | Pacific | 282-297-302—881 |
| 11. | Colorado State | 291-295-297—883 |
| 12. | San Jose State | 311-294-294—899 |
Players Mentioned
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