Roy Edwards - Head Coach - Staff Directory - University of Colorado Athletics

Staff Directory

Roy Edwards

Title:
Head Coach
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QUICK FACTS

COACHING

Kansas: Assistant Men’s Golf Coach 1999-2001
Vanderbilt: Assistant Men’s and Women’s Golf Coach 2001-2002
Kansas: Assistant Men’s and Women’s Golf Coach 2002-2006
Colorado: Head Men’s Golf Coach 2006-current

VANDERBILT

Best finish for both the men’s and women’s team in SEC History in 2002
Coached first-ever men’s All-American in Brandt Snedeker
Coached first-ever women’s All-American in Nicki Cutler
Highest final national ranking for men’s team
First-ever berth in NCAA Finals for women’s team
Women’s team reached rank of #1 in fall 2001

KANSAS

Men’s team was ranked #1 in fall 1999
1999 Big 12 Champions
Men’s NCAA Regional 2003, 2004, 2005
Coached All-Americans Kristoffer Marshall and Gary Woodland
Coached Big 12 Player of the Year Amanda Costner
One of three finalists for the GCAA Jan Strickland Assistant Coach of the Year in 2005

COLORADO

NCAA Championship appearances in 10 seasons
Coached All-Americans Pat Grady, Derek Tolan, Jeremy Paul, Yannik Paul, and Dylan McDermott
18 Major Tournament Team Victories
All-time winningest coach in Colorado Golf history
Individual victories
Named as one of the 20 best coaches in college golf by Golfweek
21st place – 2023 NCAA Championship Finals
3rd place – 2023 NCAA Norman Regional

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

Coached at 6 NCAA Championship Finals (2001, 2002, 2008, 2015, 2023

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP REGIONALS

17 total team appearances as assistant or head coach

(Edwards is the only coach in NCAA history to coach both a major championship winner and FedEx Cup Champion who are different players: Brandt Snedeker and Gary Woodland.)

PGA TOUR

Brandt Snedeker
Gary Woodland

LPGA TOUR

Nicki Cutler

DP WORLD TOUR

Yannik Paul

CHALLENGE TOUR

Yannik Paul
Jeremy Paul
Daniel O’Loughlin

PGA TOUR LATIN AMERICA, PGA TOUR CANADA, KORN FERRY TOUR

Derek Tolan
Jeremy Paul
Yannik Paul
Luke Symons
Michael Baird
Pat Grady
Justin Bardgett
Derek Fribbs
Ryan Schmitz

ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS

Colorado: Pat Grady, Philip Juel-Berg, Spencer Painton, John Souza, Daniel O’Loughlin,Victor Bjorlow, John Paterson, Kristoffer Max, Jack Holland, Justin Biwer
Kansas: Casey Harbour, Kevin Ward, Pete Krsnich, Luke Trammell, Jennifer Bawanan, Chelsey Pryor, Amanda Costner
Vanderbilt: Joni Gossett, Meredith Ward

Roy Edwards is in his 19th season as head coach of the University of Colorado men’s golf team, having been named to the position on July 14, 2006, following in the footsteps of the only two coaches the program had ever known over a span of six decades. Among the 306 Division I programs, he’s tied for 53rd in coaching longevity (19th among 135 FBS schools), and with CU returning to the Big 12 Conference for the 2024-25 season, he is third in tenure in the conference behind BYU’s Bruce Brockbank (33rd season), Texas Tech’s Greg Sands (24th),

Edwards, 47, is just the third full-time men’s golf coach in Buffalo history. He came to CU with an impressive pedigree, joining the Buffaloes from his alma mater, the University of Kansas, where he had served as the assistant for both the men’s and women’s programs for the previous four years (2002-06). He held the same position at Vanderbilt University for a year prior to returning to KU.

Edwards replaced the late Mark Simpson, who passed away from complications due to lung cancer in December 2005. Simpson had held the post since 1977, when he followed in the footsteps of his college head coach, Les Fowler. Fowler took over as player-coach in 1948 and remained on board until Simpson, his assistant, replaced him. Thus, Edwards is only the program’s third full-time head coach since 1948.

Each of his predecessors had to lead the Buffaloes into stronger conferences, Fowler into the Big Seven in 1949 and Simpson into the Big 12 in 1996; but Edwards was faced with the most daunting task in CU golf history. He led the charge when the Buffaloes joined the Pacific-10 Conference on July 1, 2011 (making it the Pac-12), with Colorado becoming a member of the most prestigious men’s golf conference in the nation at the time.

But with CU returning to the Big 12, along with traditional top national programs in Arizona and Arizona State, the Big 12 should hold its own among the national elite. Just six schools remain from the original Big 12, and with the reshuffling, nine new ones have been added since 2011, with one (CU) coming back to its roots since the middle of last century.

In a 2015 summer poll by Golfweek of golf coaches nationwide, asking them to rate their peers, Edwards came up as No. 18 on the list. The publication commented about Edwards, “If you have ever spoken with Edwards at length, you know he is a student of the profession.”

It took less than three years for Edwards to put his stamp on the CU golf program, perhaps in no bigger way than completing the dream of both Fowler and Simpson. One of the few major golf programs in the nation without its own true home golf course and facilities, Edwards played an integral part in working with Colorado alum Steve Kerr in the latter’s acquisition of Vista Ridge Golf Club in Erie in 2009. The club was renamed Colorado National Golf Club and has since served as the official home for the university’s men’s and women’s golf teams. In 2012, the George Boedecker Jr. CU Golf Practice Facility, a 5,600-square foot state-of-the-art indoor complex was constructed at CNGC, one that matches any in the nation.

He also initiated the Colorado Partners program, a group that quickly grew to well over 100 members who contribute financially to augment the school’s golf budget, and established the Colorado Golf Day which is an annual celebration and fundraiser for the golf program for fans and alumni alike.

On the course, under Edwards the Buffaloes have appeared in 15 out of a possible 16 NCAA Championships, 10 times as a team and five times with individuals earning selections. Through the 2023-24 season, his CU teams have won 19 major tournaments, the most under one coach in school history as he surpassed Simpson’s 16 when the Buffs won two fall ’19 events. In addition, the Buffaloes have 29 runner-up finishes in his tenure and his golfers have won 21 medalist honors. In his tenure against Division I competition (through the fall of 2024), CU owns a head-to-head record of 1,869-1,367-50 (a 57.6 winning percentage), and as a member of the Pac-12, the Buffs finished 1,325-916-40 (59.0).

A capsule look at some of Edwards’ top CU teams:

The 2023-24 Buffaloes fell a little short of expectations, partly due to a slow start out of the gate in the fall and playing one of the tougher schedules in recent years. Still, there were moments: CU won the Wyoming Match Play Championship, and post a pair of runner-up finishes in its own Simpson-CU and the San Diego Lamkin invitationals. In the final Pac-12 Championship, the Buffs finished eighth; junior Justin Biwer tied for 15th in the event and earned an individual invite to the NCAA Regionals.
The 2022-23 Colorado team was arguably his best team to date, and was also the first Buffalo squad to qualify for the NCAA Championship Finals for the first time since the 2001-02 season. The team gradually peaked at the right time; though CU didn’t win any tournaments, it had three runner-up finishes and nine top five efforts led by a fairly young team (regulars of one senior, five sophomores and a freshman). One of those sophomores, Dylan McDermott, led or tied for the team lead in 36 statistical categories, including setting 10 school records, earned first-team All-Pac-12 Conference honors (just CU’s second first-teamer) and was an honorable mention All-American; his final ranking by GolfStat as the No. 43 player in the nation was the fourth-highest by a Buff since those rankings were created in the late 1990s. With four rounds in the 60s, his second-place finish led the Buffaloes to a tie for third place in the Pac-12 Championships (one stroke out of second, 14 back of titlist Stanford); sophomore Justin Biwer had a pair in the 60s, three other Buffs had one sub-70 score and sophomore transfer Tucker Clark had three straight 1-under 70s that kept CU in the hunt from start to finish. Biwer, freshman Hunter Swanson and sophomore Jack Holland all finished in the top 16 in the Norman Regional to enable Colorado to finish third (five out of the lead), while Clark and McDermott were back a bit but still finished even par. The end result was CU heading to the NCAA Finals for the first time in 21 years, where CU was three behind the cutline at the midway point, but couldn’t gain any ground and finished 21st after the field was reduced after three rounds. McDermott did advance individually and tied for 48th.
The 2021-22 Buffaloes are by far the youngest team in program history, with six freshmen on the nine-man roster which has no seniors (due to an extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to COVID). One would think having so many freshmen would mean limited success, except that GolfStat rated these Buffaloes as the top freshman performing class for the fall ’21 portion of the season. The team as a whole posted a 72.54 stroke average for 107 rounds – second-best in school history and just .05 off the top mark. It finished with a 73.21 average and freshman Justin Biwer set numerous records.
The 2019-20 squad won two fall tournaments and appeared to have a great shot at returning to the NCAA’s as a team after a year’s absence, and possibly advance to the NCAA Finals as well. But the COVID-19 pandemic ceased all competition the second week of March, just as the team was beginning to jell for the spring season.
The 2017-18 edition of the CU squad finished in the top 10 in 12 of 13 tournaments, including seven in the top six. The jewel performance of the year came in the Pac-12 Championships where Colorado finished second, its best conference finish in a decade, pushing eventual champion and host USC to the max in falling to the Trojans on their home turf by just four strokes. Senior Yannik Paul and sophomore Ross Macdonald, who both tied for second in the Pac-12 meet, earned first-team and honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors, respectively, while Paul earned honorable mention All-America honors. The team had five players with sub-73 averages, leading to a best-ever team mark of 72.51, slicing almost a stroke off its previous record. The Buffs finished ranked No. 43 by Golfweek and No. 46 in Golf Stat, despite coming up just short of advancing to the NCAA Finals with a seventh place finish in the West Regional.
The 2016-17 Buffaloes finished as the No. 32 team in the country as ranked by Golfweek, their highest final rank in any of the rankings in the Edwards Era. The team peaked at No. 18 (Golfweek & GolfStat) and cracked the top 25 of the GCAA coaches poll for the first time in three decades, ascending to No. 19 at the end of March. The team’s nine top five finishes was also a school best as the Buffaloes matched their previous best with 16 single rounds in tournament play that were par or better. Colorado won two tournaments and in the spring’s second event, the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate, the Buffs recorded a school record 22-under 266 in the second round, which also was the low single round in the NCAA for the ’16-17 season. However, the end of the year was disappointing, as CU finished seventh in the Pac-12 Championships (the first conference meet CU hosted since 1972) and 12th in the NCAA Central Regional at Purdue; the Buffs did have to compete in both without their scoring leader, Jeremy Paul, who turned pro just prior to the Pac-12s.
His 2013-14 Buffaloes set the mark for stroke average (73.76) at the time, as well as recording the most top five major tournament finishes (eight; all were actually in the top four), which included one win in CU’s own Mark Simpson Invitational and three runner-up efforts. Over the course of four tournaments, the Buffs set two other impressive school marks: most consecutive rounds at or under par (12), and the most subpar in a row (6). According to GolfStat, CU had the nation’s top performing freshman class, headlined by twin brothers Jeremy and Yannik Paul and Ethan Freeman. The Buffs finished fourth at the Pac-12 Championships, but over the last two rounds, CU was second (718) to only Washington (716), making an impressive climb from 10th at the midway point into fourth place.
His seventh team, the 2012-13 squad, returned to the NCAA’s after a three-year absence, finishing eighth in the Central (Fayetteville) Regional. The Buffaloes captured two major tournaments, the Air Force Falcon and Bandon Dunes invitationals, marking the first time Colorado had won a major in both the fall and spring portions of the season (in the latter, CU was the first team in the four-year history of the event to finish under par as a team). The Buffs also finished second on three other occasions and posted nine top 10 finishes overall.
In 2011-12, his sixth season, the Buffs stormed out of the gate to win its first two fall tournaments, their own Mark Simpson Invitational and Air Force’s Miranda Invitational; the victories propelled CU to an early No. 10 national ranking. The team successfully navigated its way through its first season in the ultra-competitive Pac-12 Conference, finishing eighth in a league championship that featured eight teams ranked in the top 30. The Buffs just missed qualifying for the NCAA championships but Derek Fribbs was selected to play as an individual.
His third Buffalo team (2008-09) sported one of the nation’s dynamic duos in Patrick Grady and Derek Tolan, as each won two tournaments and combined for 14 top 10 finishes. But the team was also balanced as a whole, with 32 top 20 performances posted by seven different golfers. The Buffs posted 11 top 10 finishes in major tournaments, highlighted by a 34-stroke win in the DU-Ron Moore and three runner-up finishes in the USF Olympic Club, Western Intercollegiate and its own CU-Stevinson Ranch Invitational. In the Big 12 Championships, the Buffs posted their best conference finish in 28 years when they took second place; it tied for the largest improvement from one season to another in Big 12 history after finishing 10th in 2008. CU was in the hunt for the title and briefly took the lead on the back nine of the fourth and final round but eventually succumbed to No. Oklahoma State, a team that featured Rickie Fowler, Peter Uihlein, Kevin Tway and Morgan Hoffman in its lineup.
His second team, in 2007-08, became just the third in school history to win two major tournaments in the same season, as the Buffs won the Louisiana Classics and the Ohio State Kepler Intercollegiate. The Buffs finished 10th in the Big 12 meet, which moved to a 72-hole format for the first time, and was again invited to the NCAA’s, placing 18th in the Central Regional. Junior Derek Tolan was one of two individuals to advance out of the regional into the finals, the first Buff to do so since 1993.
Edwards’ first CU team (2006-07) had moderate success, his team did something that neither Fowler’s or Simpson’s initial ones did, and that was to qualify for the NCAA Championships (though in fairness, more teams are invited today than when they coached, but it still was an impressive accomplishment). The team placed 20th in the NCAA Central Regional.

At Kansas, he was heavily involved in recruiting and the day-to-day functions for both the men’s and women’s teams, managed the Jayhawks’ Birdie Club and was the main contact for both golf camps. A KU graduate, he returned to his alma mater in August 2002 as the assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s programs and further developed all the skills necessary to one day become a head coach. Among his many duties were coordinating and managing a $1 million-plus fundraising campaign for KU’s golf practice facility and establishing an annual booster club program.

During his time at Kansas, he was one of three finalists for the Golf Coaches Association of America Assistant Coach of the Year in 2004 and helped coach six first-team All-Big 12 players (five men, one woman) and four Academic All-Americans; one of those players was Gary Woodland, the 2019 U.S. Open champion. He started his coaching career as a volunteer/graduate assistant in 1998, working three years in that capacity before moving on to Vanderbilt for his first full-time assistant coaching position. During this time, he was also the Junior Golf Director for the Kansas Golf Association, running all activities for over 600 junior members of the KGA.

He was the assistant for both the men’s and women’s teams at Vanderbilt for the 2001-02 season. He was a part of history as both teams experienced two of the best seasons in the programs' existence the year he was a part of the program. He had a hand in coaching a pair of first-team All-Southeastern Conference players, including Brandt Snedeker, a first-team All-American, the 2007 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, a 9-time winner on the PGA Tour and the 2012 Fed Ex Cup champion.

Between KU and Vanderbilt, he coached five players who attained some level of All-American status, ranging from first-team to honorable mention.

A three-year member of the Jayhawk golf team, he lettered as a senior under legendary and long-time coach Ross Randall and earned his bachelors of science degree in business administration from Kansas in 2000. Simultaneously while finishing his degree, he worked as a volunteer assistant coach for the men’s team. His career playing highlights include being named the PGA Midwest Section Player of the Year in 1995 and the Heart of America Four-Ball champion in 1997. As a student, he was also heavily involved on KU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and held several leadership roles on campus.

Born October 14, 1976 in Kansas City, Mo., but truly a native of Hutchinson, Kan., he was a four-year letterman in golf at Hutchinson (Kan.) High School under legendary Kansas high school coach Rusty Hilst, one of his early mentors in the game. His hobbies include playing golf, cooking and traveling, and he was also an Eagle Boy Scout in high school. His father, R.A., is a distinguished KU alum who was awarded the 2002 Fred Ellsworth Medallion for "unique and significant service to the university" (which two grandparents also earned). An uncle, Ray Evans, is recognized as one of the greatest athletes in KU history, as he was a two-time All-American in basketball (1942-43) and was KU's first football All-American after returning from World War II in 1947; he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1964.

Edwards is married to the former Shelly Bonfantine of Albuquerque, N.M., as they wed on July 7, 2007 (07-07-07); she is a former golfer at the University of New Mexico. They are the parents of two sons, Ashton Ross (14) and Luke Leo (11). In January 2020, Edwards was presented with an “Honorary C” Award, given by CU’s Alumni C Club to those for their dedication of service and/or contribution to CU Athletics.

In 2013, in a quest to create more competitive opportunities for collegiate golfers, Edwards founded the Saguaro Amateur, along with Wyoming coach Joe Jensen, at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Arizona. The Saguaro Amateur eventually grew and became the Troon Saguaro Amateur Series in 2017. The series is a collection of world-amateur ranked tournaments that take place during college golf’s off-season on some of the best courses in the western United States and features many of the top amateur and college players in the country.

THE EDWARDS ERA AT COLORADO

		Conf.	NCAA	NCAA	Dual	H-T-H Record	Stroke Averages---------					All-	All-	Academic	GCAA
Season	Conference	Finish	Regional	Finish	Record	vs. Division I	Fall	Spring	Overall	Stroke Champion, Class	Avg.	Conf.	Americas	All-Conf	Scholars
2006-07	Big 12	11th/12	20th/27	…	…	89-91-2	76.31	75.50	75.79	Michael Baird, Jr.	74.23	…	…	2 (2)	…
2007-08	Big 12	10th/12	18th/27	[1]	…	103-80-1	75.87	74.86	75.22	Michael Baird, Sr.	74.27	…	…	1 (0)	…
2008-09	Big 12	2nd/12	9th/13	…	…	128-56-2	73.51	74.46	74.06	Derek Tolan, Sr.	71.90	2 (2)	2 (0)	1 (1)	1
2009-10	Big 12	9th/12	[1]	…	0-1	84-109-1	74.59	74.64	74.62	Justin Bardgett, Sr.	73.14	…	…	1 (1)	…
2010-11	Big 12	10th/12	…	…	0-1	63-107-3	74.36	75.43	75.09	Sebastian Heisele, Jr.	74.31	…	…	3 (0)	…
2011-12	Pac-12	8th/12	[1]	…	0-1	95-73-4	73.12	74.19	73.78	Kevin Kring, Sr.	72.88	…	…	…	…
2012-13	Pac-12	10th/12	8th/14	…	…	104-79-0	73.43	75.09	74.36	Jason Burstyn, Sr.	73.12	…	…	…	…
2013-14	Pac-12	4th/12	12th/14	…	1-1	123-53-7	74.23	73.39	73.76	Jeremy Paul, Fr.	72.51	…	…	1 (0)	…
2014-15	Pac-12	11th/12	6th/14	[1]	0-1	97-78-1	73.44	73.59	73.51	Jeremy Paul, So.	72.00	1 (0)	…	1 (0)	1
2015-16	Pac-12	t-6th/12	t-8th/13	…	…	115-62-3	73.08	73.86	73.50	Jeremy Paul, Jr.	70.66	1 (0)	…	1 (1)	1
2016-17	Pac-12	7th/12	12th/13	…	2-1	121-58-4	73.44	74.40	73.93	Jeremy Paul, Sr.	71.75	1 (0)	1 (0)	2 (0)	2
2017-18	Pac-12	2nd/12	7th/13	…	…	133-57-5	72.49	72.52	72.51	Yannik Paul, Sr.	70.24	2 (1)	1 (0)	3 (0)	1
2018-19	Pac-12	10th/12	[1]	…	…	87-89-1	73.21	74.43	73.89	Daniel O’Loughlin, Jr.	71.90	…	…	4 (0)	…
2019-20	Pac-12	Cancelled	...	...	...	64-47-0	72.63	73.46	72.91	Daniel O'Loughlin, Sr.	71.65	...	...	...	...

2020-
21

Pac-12

t-9th/12

[1]

...

69-67-3

N/A

73.34

Daniel O'Loughlin, Sr.

71.56

1 (0)

...

2021-
22

Pac-12

10th/12

[1]

...

87-86-3

72.54

73.88

73.31

Justin Biwer, Fr.

70.91

1 (0)

...

2022-
23

Pac-12

t-3rd/12

3rd/14

..21st.

...

147-74-5

71.98

72.78

72.38

Dylan McDermorr, So.

70.12

1 (1)

1 (0)

2023-
24

Pac-12

8th/12

[1]

...

83-93-4

72.93

72.81

73.04

Justin Biwer, Jr.

71.86

...

(NCAA Regional & Finals individual participants in brackets []; First-team All-Conference/All-Americans in parenthesis.)

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