Colorado University Athletics
Edwards Signs Four Recruits To Men's Golf Program
November 19, 2015 | Men's Golf
BOULDER —University of Colorado men's golf coach Roy Edwards has added four new golfers to the program, all of whom signed letters-of-intent within the last few days to join the Buffaloes program.
The group includes two recruits from California, Haoyuan “Jack” Li and Scott Mitchell, as well as two Europeans with ties to Denmark where current CU senior Philip Juel-Berg hails from, Victor Bjorlow and Morton Toft Hansen.
“I couldn't be more pleased with the signings of Scott, Jack, Morten, and Victor,” Edwards said. “Players build programs and we have high expectations for all of these guys. If they work hard, are coachable, embrace challenges, and they believe in themselves, they will all be very good players at Colorado. We are very fortunate to have this group join with an already strong nucleus of guys on the team who will be back next year.”
Edwards also cited the fact that CU's strong worldwide reputation as a golf program within the nation's strongest golfing conference, the Pac-12, was a factor in attracting the quartet to sign with the Buffs.
Bjorlow is a native of Copenhagen who now attends the Sotogrande International School in Sotogrande, Spain, where he is maintaining a 4.0 grade point average. A member of the Danish National A Team, he also was on the Andalucia golf team that won the Spanish National State Championship in 2014. He's finished very high in six major European competitions over the course of the last 16 months, including a second place showing in the 2015 Spanish International Championship (290, +2 … which included a career-best 9-under par 63 in the third round). He was also third in the 2015 Norwegian Winter Open (293, +5) and in the Danish Junior Championship (match play); sixth in the 2015 Spanish National Championship (292, +4), 12th in the '14 Spanish International event (290, +2) and 15th in the 2015 Danish International Amateur; all competitions had between 90 and 120 players.
Edwards on Bjorlow: “Victor actually initially approached us in the recruiting process this summer. He is a high-speed player that has tremendous upside. He has lived in Spain most of his life but maintains his Danish citizenship. He was recently added to the Danish Junior National Team and we see him as a guy who will continue to get better rapidly.”
Hansen is from Gilleleje, Denmark (northeastern coast of the country), and attends school at Gribskov Gymnasium in nearby Helsinge. He has compiled an impressive amateur resume with top finishes in many European as well as international competitions, as he has top five finishes in Belgium, Thailand and Turkey (he was third in the Turkish Amateur in September with a 72-73-73-74—291 (+3) performance). He finished first this past summer in the European team championship stroke play qualifier and was a member of the Danish National Team that won the event in 2014 (boys' team) and finished second this year (men's team). He also had an outstanding effort in a professional tournament, finishing as the second low amateur and tying for 20th overall in the Thisted Forsikring Championship with a 74-75-74—223 (+7) scorecard.
Edwards on Hansen: “Morten is one of the elite men's players in Europe and we feel he has an opportunity to be a key player for us during his career at Colorado. Along with Victor, the success that Philip Juel-Berg has had here really opened the door up for us to have an opportunity to attract Morten to Colorado.”
Li moved to the United States from China, where he was born in Hainan, the island off the country's southern coast and just east of Vietnam; his family moved to California after he started school; he will graduate from Great Oak High School in Temecula, Calif., this June. A four-year letterman in golf, he owned an impressive 74.3 stroke average as a freshman which he whittled down to a 70.8 figure his senior year. He has twice qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur, first the summer prior to his freshman year in high school when he finished third in local qualifying (6-under 138), and this past summer. He did not advance out of stroke qualifying his first time, but did so this year (76-74—150, tie for 60th), but lost to the No. 1 seed in the first round of match play; he made a 45-foot putt on the last hole to advance out of the stroke competition. In 2011, he claimed the HSBC China Junior Open championship. As a sophomore, he did not play in high school events as he participating in the U.S. Open Qualifying School for junior amateurs.
Edwards on Li: “Jack has been one of the top players in California in the class of 2016 for some time. He has played a ton of consistent golf and is a guy I would describe as a 'golf rat'. He is always on the course. He and his family love the game and he will be a very strong addition for us.”
Mitchell hails from Santa Rosa, Calif., where he will graduate from Laurel Springs High School in nearby Ojai this coming June. He reached the semifinals of the NCGA (Northern California Golf Association) Match Play Championships this past summer, when he also qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur (doing so by birdying four his last five holes to finish third with a 3-under 141). In the Junior Am in Bluffton, S.C., he shot a 77-72—149 to tie for 47th in the stroke play qualifier before falling to the No. 11 seed in the first round of match play. His best career round came last month when he recorded a 6-under 66 in the NCGA Fall Series VIII at Poppy Ridge Golf Club, which enabled him to finish second with a 3-under 141 (he tied for fourth in the same event as a sophomore with a 69-71—140 scorecard). He also has several other top 10 finishes in NCGA competition, including one other runner-up effort.
Edwards on Mitchell: “Scott really came on the scene nationally this summer and has played some very high level golf at both the junior and men's amateur levels. He is a tremendous ball-striker and comes from an athletic family as his sister is on the tennis team at Syracuse.”
OTHER PROGRAM NEWS: Junior Jeremy Paul is ranked 25th in the final fall standings for Team Europe for the 2016 Arnold Palmer Cup, which matches collegiate golfers from the United States against those from Europe in annual competition next June. The top six on each list automatically qualify for their respective countries along with four at-large selections.
