University of Colorado Athletics
Men's Golf
Hunter Swanson
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- hunter.swanson@colorado.edu
Hunter Swanson is in his first year as an assistant coach for the University of Colorado's men's golf team, hired July 13, 2026, less than two months after completing an outstanding career competing for the Buffaloes.
Swanson is the fifth former Buffalo that head coach Roy Edwards has hired on his staff in his 21 seasons, joining Ben Portie, Jim Grady, Patrick Grady and Derek Tolan.
In lettering four years under Edwards, as a senior, he was the recipient of CU’s co-Male Career Athletic Achievement Award, the fifth golfer to win the program-wide honor since its inception in 1989 (previous winners were Matt Call, Kane Webber, Derek Tolan and Justin Biwer). He led the team in stroke average for the ’25-26 season, his 70.54 mark the fifth-best in school history (as was his 69.83 figure for the fall season). Incredibly, he did not have a score worse than a double bogey on his last 1,025 holes as a Buffalo (and only 15 doubles) as he made 85.0 percent of his holes in par or better fashion (out of 702).
Swanson finished his career with the second most rounds played – 153 – and the third-best average 71.67, behind two of his former teammates, Justin Biwer and Dylan McDermott (70.95 and 71.10, respectively) and just ahead of Daniel O’Loughlin (71.68) and Jeremy Paul (71.72). He also owned the best middle round average in CU annals (71.06 for 53 rounds).
He ranked in the top echelon of several career categories: second in major tournaments played (50) and even par rounds (25), third in rounds in the 60s (44) and 54-hole tournaments with 220 scores or better (34), tied for third in tournaments under par (22), fourth in tournaments at or under par (24), fifth in subpar rounds (56). rounds of par or better (81) and first round scoring (71.62), sixth in final round average (72.33) and 14th in top 20 finishes (19). Swanson also was first in pars (1,706), third in birdies (502) and eighth in eagles (14). He had five stretches where he scored par or better on 30 or more straight holes, topped by 42 in the 2023 Maui Jim Individual, the fourth-longest streak in the CU record book.
He became the 17th member to join CU’s prestigious 10,000-stroke club, he finished fifth on the list with 10,965 but owned the third best average (71.67). He mastered the par-5 holes, playing them 183-under par for his career (over par just twice), the second-best by a Buff. He had three top five career efforts, topped by a fourth place in the 2024 Washington State Palouse Collegiate (a 12-under 65-67-69—201).
Swanson enjoyed an outstanding amateur career. He was twice named as the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado (JGAC) Player of the Year for 2020 and 2021. During the latter, he tied for first but lost in a playoff in two major events: in the First Tee National Championship at Clemson, S.C. and in the Colorado Junior PGA Championship; his third round 67s in both were the low rounds of each tournament. He reached the quarterfinals of the Colorado Golf Association’s Match Play Championship.
In the summer before he enrolled at CU, Junior Golf Scoreboard ranked him as the No. 1 prep golfer in Colorado (and No. 99 in the United States). He won the Colorado Junior PGA Championship, tied for second in the AJGA Hale Irwin Amateur, tied for third in the CGA’s Western Chapter, tied for fourth in the Boys Junior America’s Cup and was a member of Team Colorado, the team’s top performer. In the summer of 2023, he had 18 sanctioned rounds with a 68.8 average, with numerous top finishes, headlined by second-place in the Nevada State Amateur, the low amateur and fifth overall in the Rocky Mountain Open and was 13th in the Pacific Coast Amateur (where a 65 was the third-best score in the final round and tied for the fifth-best over the four days. He also teamed with Colorado Mines freshman Maxwell Lange in the USGA Four Ball; they tied for 27th in stroke play and won two matches before bowing out in the quarterfinals.
Other top efforts included in 2024, he tied for third in the Southwestern Amateur, the third-best finish by a Buff golfer in the event and one stroke out of the lead and tied for 27th in both the Trans-Mississippi Amateur and in the North South Amateur stroke play at Pinehurst, but lost his first match. prequalified for the PGA’s Farmers Insurance Open with a 3-under 68, and then in the Monday qualifier shot a 2-under 70 tying him for 18th (the top four qualified); he was low amateur of the 10 attempting to qualify. And in 2025, he was medalist in Local U.S. Open Qualifying (6-under 66), tying for 17th in final qualifying. He teamed with former Buff Wes Erling to win the CGA Four Ball Championship, and finished 20th in the Southwestern Amateur, with his 5-under 283 score including two bogey-free rounds in the 60s).
His best rounds in competition have been an 8-under 64 in the first round in the Toyota Tour Cup Championship in LaQuinta, Calif., on Dec. 11, 2021, and a 7-under 64 in the second round, Ka’anapali Classic at Lahaina, Maui, on Oct. 28, 2025.
Swanson graduated with a degree in Business (Marketing) from CU Boulder in May 2026. He turned professional shortly after his graduation, and in his first tournament as a pro, he tied for sixth in the Colorado Open with an impressive 15-under par effort.
At Denver’s Northfield High School, he was a four-time, first-team All-State performer (he was the first in Northfield’s history), a three-time, first-team All-Denver Prep School League selection, and a two-time DPS medalist. As a junior, he tied for sixth in the 2020 4A State Championship, after tying for second as a sophomore, and was also sixth as a freshman in 2018. He was named a “Future Famer” by the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in its 2022 induction class.
He was born March 15, 2004, in Thornton, Colo. His hobbies – other than being a self-proclaimed “golf addict” include fishing and listening to country music. He started early in the game as a 5-year old; he was a 13-year member of the First Tee of Green Valley Ranch, and had the privilege of playing with well-known professionals Annika Sorenstam and Retief Goosen in First Tee events. In his travels, he tied the course record with a bogey-free 66 (-6) at Seven Bridges Golf Club in Woodridge, Ill., In 2023.
Swanson is the fifth former Buffalo that head coach Roy Edwards has hired on his staff in his 21 seasons, joining Ben Portie, Jim Grady, Patrick Grady and Derek Tolan.
In lettering four years under Edwards, as a senior, he was the recipient of CU’s co-Male Career Athletic Achievement Award, the fifth golfer to win the program-wide honor since its inception in 1989 (previous winners were Matt Call, Kane Webber, Derek Tolan and Justin Biwer). He led the team in stroke average for the ’25-26 season, his 70.54 mark the fifth-best in school history (as was his 69.83 figure for the fall season). Incredibly, he did not have a score worse than a double bogey on his last 1,025 holes as a Buffalo (and only 15 doubles) as he made 85.0 percent of his holes in par or better fashion (out of 702).
Swanson finished his career with the second most rounds played – 153 – and the third-best average 71.67, behind two of his former teammates, Justin Biwer and Dylan McDermott (70.95 and 71.10, respectively) and just ahead of Daniel O’Loughlin (71.68) and Jeremy Paul (71.72). He also owned the best middle round average in CU annals (71.06 for 53 rounds).
He ranked in the top echelon of several career categories: second in major tournaments played (50) and even par rounds (25), third in rounds in the 60s (44) and 54-hole tournaments with 220 scores or better (34), tied for third in tournaments under par (22), fourth in tournaments at or under par (24), fifth in subpar rounds (56). rounds of par or better (81) and first round scoring (71.62), sixth in final round average (72.33) and 14th in top 20 finishes (19). Swanson also was first in pars (1,706), third in birdies (502) and eighth in eagles (14). He had five stretches where he scored par or better on 30 or more straight holes, topped by 42 in the 2023 Maui Jim Individual, the fourth-longest streak in the CU record book.
He became the 17th member to join CU’s prestigious 10,000-stroke club, he finished fifth on the list with 10,965 but owned the third best average (71.67). He mastered the par-5 holes, playing them 183-under par for his career (over par just twice), the second-best by a Buff. He had three top five career efforts, topped by a fourth place in the 2024 Washington State Palouse Collegiate (a 12-under 65-67-69—201).
Swanson enjoyed an outstanding amateur career. He was twice named as the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado (JGAC) Player of the Year for 2020 and 2021. During the latter, he tied for first but lost in a playoff in two major events: in the First Tee National Championship at Clemson, S.C. and in the Colorado Junior PGA Championship; his third round 67s in both were the low rounds of each tournament. He reached the quarterfinals of the Colorado Golf Association’s Match Play Championship.
In the summer before he enrolled at CU, Junior Golf Scoreboard ranked him as the No. 1 prep golfer in Colorado (and No. 99 in the United States). He won the Colorado Junior PGA Championship, tied for second in the AJGA Hale Irwin Amateur, tied for third in the CGA’s Western Chapter, tied for fourth in the Boys Junior America’s Cup and was a member of Team Colorado, the team’s top performer. In the summer of 2023, he had 18 sanctioned rounds with a 68.8 average, with numerous top finishes, headlined by second-place in the Nevada State Amateur, the low amateur and fifth overall in the Rocky Mountain Open and was 13th in the Pacific Coast Amateur (where a 65 was the third-best score in the final round and tied for the fifth-best over the four days. He also teamed with Colorado Mines freshman Maxwell Lange in the USGA Four Ball; they tied for 27th in stroke play and won two matches before bowing out in the quarterfinals.
Other top efforts included in 2024, he tied for third in the Southwestern Amateur, the third-best finish by a Buff golfer in the event and one stroke out of the lead and tied for 27th in both the Trans-Mississippi Amateur and in the North South Amateur stroke play at Pinehurst, but lost his first match. prequalified for the PGA’s Farmers Insurance Open with a 3-under 68, and then in the Monday qualifier shot a 2-under 70 tying him for 18th (the top four qualified); he was low amateur of the 10 attempting to qualify. And in 2025, he was medalist in Local U.S. Open Qualifying (6-under 66), tying for 17th in final qualifying. He teamed with former Buff Wes Erling to win the CGA Four Ball Championship, and finished 20th in the Southwestern Amateur, with his 5-under 283 score including two bogey-free rounds in the 60s).
His best rounds in competition have been an 8-under 64 in the first round in the Toyota Tour Cup Championship in LaQuinta, Calif., on Dec. 11, 2021, and a 7-under 64 in the second round, Ka’anapali Classic at Lahaina, Maui, on Oct. 28, 2025.
Swanson graduated with a degree in Business (Marketing) from CU Boulder in May 2026. He turned professional shortly after his graduation, and in his first tournament as a pro, he tied for sixth in the Colorado Open with an impressive 15-under par effort.
At Denver’s Northfield High School, he was a four-time, first-team All-State performer (he was the first in Northfield’s history), a three-time, first-team All-Denver Prep School League selection, and a two-time DPS medalist. As a junior, he tied for sixth in the 2020 4A State Championship, after tying for second as a sophomore, and was also sixth as a freshman in 2018. He was named a “Future Famer” by the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in its 2022 induction class.
He was born March 15, 2004, in Thornton, Colo. His hobbies – other than being a self-proclaimed “golf addict” include fishing and listening to country music. He started early in the game as a 5-year old; he was a 13-year member of the First Tee of Green Valley Ranch, and had the privilege of playing with well-known professionals Annika Sorenstam and Retief Goosen in First Tee events. In his travels, he tied the course record with a bogey-free 66 (-6) at Seven Bridges Golf Club in Woodridge, Ill., In 2023.
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