Parker Paxton is 4-under par and tied for 14th with holes left in the second round.
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Golfers Tied For Fourth In New Mexico
September 25, 2026 | Men's Golf
Second round play suspended due to severe weather
ALBUQUERQUE – The Colorado men's golf team was tied for fourth late in the second round here Friday when play was suspended in the 71st Annual William H. Tucker Invitational.
Play was called at 5:15 p.m. due to heavy rains and lightning. The five CU designated scorers have a combined 25 holes to finish, with the Buffaloes standing at 11-under par as a team, tied for fourth with BYU. San Diego State was in the lead at 14-under, with host New Mexico and Santa Clara tied for second at 12-under.
Colorado was in seventh after a 3-under 285 team score the first time around the 7,555-yard, par-72 UNM Championship Course track. This is CU's third tournament in 11 days (seven-plus rounds).
"We're pretty good overall so far, have made quite a few birdies," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "We are in a good position going in to tomorrow, although we have a tough stretch to finish the second round on. But it provides a great opportunity to position ourselves for the final round."
The forecast late Friday shows the area clear of storm cells with temperatures in the mid-50's when teams resume the second round first thing Saturday.
Senior Brandon Knight is tied for fourth at present, as he is 7-under par with four holes remaining to complete the second round. After opening with four pars on 10 through 13, he proceeded to birdie five of his next six holes, with the only blemish in his morning round a bogey on the 606-yard, par-5 9th hole to finish with a 4-under 68. It was more of the same in the afternoon round, birdying three of the holes he did the first time around (14, 18 and 1, all par-5's). Through 32 holes, he has eight birdies and 22 pars and that single bogey, starting round two with 13 straight holes of par or better after starting the day with 17 in such fashion. He's playing the par-5's the second-best at 5-under par in the 88-man field; Knight is also tied for sixth at 2-under on the par-4's and in pars with 23.
Knight has taken a liking to the UNM course. He shot the second-lowest score by a Buff ever in 70 years in the Tucker last year – a 6-under 66 in the second round – that helped him finish 2-under for 24th.
Junior Parker Paxton is tied for 14th as he is 4-under par with five holes left to complete his second time around UNM's track. In opening with a 3-under 69, he had CU's lone eagle on the day, on the 544-yard, par-5 1st hole. It was his first round in the 60's in the Tucker, as he had three straight 71's in tying for 19th a year ago after an 8-over par effort as a freshman.
Senior Ty Holbrook started the day with a 2-over 74, but is also 3-under in his second loop with six holes to polish off the round. Tied for 26th, his four birdies in the incomplete round are the most by a Buff. He started the second 18 with one of those birds on the 517-yard, par-4 10th hole, one of just three on the hole in the afternoon; there were just seven on the hole in the morning (24 in the p.m. have yet to play it).
Junior Asher Whitaker also opened with a 4-over 74, and was 1-over through 13, thus at 3-over is tied for 58th. He had it a 2-under midway through round two, but a double bogey and a bogey before the weather hit sent him over – at least temporarily – to the unhappy side of par.
Sophomore Tyler Long struggled down the stretch in the morning; 1-under through eight holes after starting on 13, he played the last 10 at 6-over and finished with a 77. He was having a much better go at it in the afternoon, as after starting with a bogey, he birdied three of the next six holes – all par-5's, at was 4-over with six holes left ahead of him as he is tied for 70th.
Sophomore Casey Kosney is competing as an individual – one of 13 doing so in the tournament – as is 5-over par with four holes left to finish. Currently tied for 76th, he carded a 4-over 76 in the first round, scoring three birdies that he had already matched in the second round.
San Diego State freshman Brayden Forte is the individual leader, standing at 11-under par with four holes left to finish round two. He leads Santa Clara's Emil Nielsen by two strokes.
The second round will resume at 7:30 a.m., with play continuing into the third round; teams will remain paired with the same three schools they were with Friday, meaning Colorado will start again on No. 10 with Arkansas State, San Diego State and UTEP.
ALUMNI WATCH: The Paul twins are both in the FedEx Open de France on the Le Golf National course in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. Yannik ('18) is tied for 17th at 6-under (69-67—136) through two rounds, while Jeremy ('17) is 3-under (69-70), tied for 54th. He is on the cutline, as a few rounds have yet to be completed when play was halted due to darkness.
NOTES: Colorado received votes in the second Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches poll released Friday, earning 24 points that had the Buffs rank 39th out of 53 teams that were mentioned on ballots … The temperature was a crisp 56 degrees when the teams teed off, but warmed into the low 70's by early afternoon with mostly sunny … The average score for the 88 completed rounds was 72.23; there are 31 players under par at present and another 11 sitting at even-par, all with four to seven holes to finish in round two (the five CU scorers were a shade above that at 72.4) … Six holes are playing +0.23 over par, in order 13, 10, 8, 17, 11 and 7; the Buff quintet played those at 4-over in the morning, and also 4-over in the afternoon while the weather was dramatically changing … The Buffs are tied with Arizona and New Mexico playing the par-5's the best at 18-under; tied for fourth with three others playing the par-4's at 7-over (San Diego State is the only team under par at minus-4), and are tied for sixth with five teams on the par-3's at 6-over (Grand Canyon is even) … Colorado is tied for eighth in birdies (29, Santa Clara leads with 40), is second in pars (101; BYU has 102), and has the second-fewest bogeys (22; BYU tops with 19) … Former Buff and current assistant coach Hunter Swanson ('26) has CU's all-time low round here – a 7-under 65 in the second round last year – combined with Knight's 66, it led CU to a 17-under 271 team score, its lowest team round in the Tucker and tied for its third-lowest ever on a par-72 course … Two Buffs shot 5-under 67's, Ed McGlasson ('06) in 2004 and Justin Biwer ('25) in 2024.
Play was called at 5:15 p.m. due to heavy rains and lightning. The five CU designated scorers have a combined 25 holes to finish, with the Buffaloes standing at 11-under par as a team, tied for fourth with BYU. San Diego State was in the lead at 14-under, with host New Mexico and Santa Clara tied for second at 12-under.
Colorado was in seventh after a 3-under 285 team score the first time around the 7,555-yard, par-72 UNM Championship Course track. This is CU's third tournament in 11 days (seven-plus rounds).
"We're pretty good overall so far, have made quite a few birdies," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "We are in a good position going in to tomorrow, although we have a tough stretch to finish the second round on. But it provides a great opportunity to position ourselves for the final round."
The forecast late Friday shows the area clear of storm cells with temperatures in the mid-50's when teams resume the second round first thing Saturday.
Senior Brandon Knight is tied for fourth at present, as he is 7-under par with four holes remaining to complete the second round. After opening with four pars on 10 through 13, he proceeded to birdie five of his next six holes, with the only blemish in his morning round a bogey on the 606-yard, par-5 9th hole to finish with a 4-under 68. It was more of the same in the afternoon round, birdying three of the holes he did the first time around (14, 18 and 1, all par-5's). Through 32 holes, he has eight birdies and 22 pars and that single bogey, starting round two with 13 straight holes of par or better after starting the day with 17 in such fashion. He's playing the par-5's the second-best at 5-under par in the 88-man field; Knight is also tied for sixth at 2-under on the par-4's and in pars with 23.
Knight has taken a liking to the UNM course. He shot the second-lowest score by a Buff ever in 70 years in the Tucker last year – a 6-under 66 in the second round – that helped him finish 2-under for 24th.
Junior Parker Paxton is tied for 14th as he is 4-under par with five holes left to complete his second time around UNM's track. In opening with a 3-under 69, he had CU's lone eagle on the day, on the 544-yard, par-5 1st hole. It was his first round in the 60's in the Tucker, as he had three straight 71's in tying for 19th a year ago after an 8-over par effort as a freshman.
Senior Ty Holbrook started the day with a 2-over 74, but is also 3-under in his second loop with six holes to polish off the round. Tied for 26th, his four birdies in the incomplete round are the most by a Buff. He started the second 18 with one of those birds on the 517-yard, par-4 10th hole, one of just three on the hole in the afternoon; there were just seven on the hole in the morning (24 in the p.m. have yet to play it).
Junior Asher Whitaker also opened with a 4-over 74, and was 1-over through 13, thus at 3-over is tied for 58th. He had it a 2-under midway through round two, but a double bogey and a bogey before the weather hit sent him over – at least temporarily – to the unhappy side of par.
Sophomore Tyler Long struggled down the stretch in the morning; 1-under through eight holes after starting on 13, he played the last 10 at 6-over and finished with a 77. He was having a much better go at it in the afternoon, as after starting with a bogey, he birdied three of the next six holes – all par-5's, at was 4-over with six holes left ahead of him as he is tied for 70th.
Sophomore Casey Kosney is competing as an individual – one of 13 doing so in the tournament – as is 5-over par with four holes left to finish. Currently tied for 76th, he carded a 4-over 76 in the first round, scoring three birdies that he had already matched in the second round.
San Diego State freshman Brayden Forte is the individual leader, standing at 11-under par with four holes left to finish round two. He leads Santa Clara's Emil Nielsen by two strokes.
The second round will resume at 7:30 a.m., with play continuing into the third round; teams will remain paired with the same three schools they were with Friday, meaning Colorado will start again on No. 10 with Arkansas State, San Diego State and UTEP.
ALUMNI WATCH: The Paul twins are both in the FedEx Open de France on the Le Golf National course in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. Yannik ('18) is tied for 17th at 6-under (69-67—136) through two rounds, while Jeremy ('17) is 3-under (69-70), tied for 54th. He is on the cutline, as a few rounds have yet to be completed when play was halted due to darkness.
NOTES: Colorado received votes in the second Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches poll released Friday, earning 24 points that had the Buffs rank 39th out of 53 teams that were mentioned on ballots … The temperature was a crisp 56 degrees when the teams teed off, but warmed into the low 70's by early afternoon with mostly sunny … The average score for the 88 completed rounds was 72.23; there are 31 players under par at present and another 11 sitting at even-par, all with four to seven holes to finish in round two (the five CU scorers were a shade above that at 72.4) … Six holes are playing +0.23 over par, in order 13, 10, 8, 17, 11 and 7; the Buff quintet played those at 4-over in the morning, and also 4-over in the afternoon while the weather was dramatically changing … The Buffs are tied with Arizona and New Mexico playing the par-5's the best at 18-under; tied for fourth with three others playing the par-4's at 7-over (San Diego State is the only team under par at minus-4), and are tied for sixth with five teams on the par-3's at 6-over (Grand Canyon is even) … Colorado is tied for eighth in birdies (29, Santa Clara leads with 40), is second in pars (101; BYU has 102), and has the second-fewest bogeys (22; BYU tops with 19) … Former Buff and current assistant coach Hunter Swanson ('26) has CU's all-time low round here – a 7-under 65 in the second round last year – combined with Knight's 66, it led CU to a 17-under 271 team score, its lowest team round in the Tucker and tied for its third-lowest ever on a par-72 course … Two Buffs shot 5-under 67's, Ed McGlasson ('06) in 2004 and Justin Biwer ('25) in 2024.
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
| T4. | Brandon Knight | 68-[-3]—[-7] |
| T14. | Parker Paxton | 69-[-1]—[-4] |
| T26. | Ty Holbrook | 74-[-3]—[-1] |
| T58. | Asher Whitaker | 74-[+1]—[+3] |
| T70. | Tyler Long | 77-[-1]—[+4] |
| T76. | *Casey Kosney | 76-[+1]—[+5] |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Brayden Forte, San Diego State | 66-[-5]—[-11] |
| 2. | Emil Nielsen, Santa Clara | 66-[-3]—[-9] |
| 3. | Johnnie Clark, New Mexico | 67-[-3]—[-8] |
| T4. | Brandon Knight, Colorado | 68-[-3]—[-7] |
| T4. | Thayer Plewe, New Mexico | 67-[-2]—[-7] |
| TEAM STANDINGS |
| 1. | San Diego State | 277-{-3]—[-14] |
| T2. | Santa Clara | 280-{-4]—[-12] |
| T2. | New Mexico | 275-[+1]—[-12] |
| T4. | COLORADO | 285-[-8]—[-11] |
| T4. | Brigham Young | 278-[-1]—[-11] |
| 6. | Texas-El Paso | 282-[-2]—[-8] |
| 7. | Grand Canyon | 292-[-11]—[-7] |
| T8. | Long Beach State | 278-[+4]—[-6] |
| T8. | Arkansas State | 287-[-5]—[-6] |
| 10. | New Mexico State | 292-[-9]—[-5] |
| T11. | Nevada-Las Vegas | 292-[-8]—[-4] |
| T11. | UC Santa Barbara | 288-[-4]—[-4] |
| 13. | Arizona | 286-[+1]—[-1] |
| 14. | SMU | 286-[+5]—[+3} |
| 15. | Missouri | 286-[+8]—[+6] |
Players Mentioned
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