Wednesday, May 18
Norman, Okla.
All Day
Colorado
vs
Third Round
Biwer made quite the mark on the CU golf program as a freshman.
Biwer Ties For 40th at NCAA Midwest Regional
May 18, 2022 | Men's Golf
Buff still sets 19 CU freshman records in landmark season
NORMAN, Okla. — University of Colorado freshman golfer Justin Biwer closed with a 5-over par 77 here in Wednesday's final round of the NCAA Midwest/Norman Regional, finishing in a tie for 40th place and missing out on qualifying for the NCAA Finals later this month.
The top five teams and one individual not on those five advanced. The top five actually remained the same as after the second round, though host and No. 1 Oklahoma regained its first round lead over No. 18 Auburn and claimed the regional title with a 26-under 838 score; the Tigers held on to second with an 848 total, edging No. 25 Ole Miss (849). No.7 Texas (852) and No. 50 Utah (860) were the other two schools to advance to the NCAA Finals and were also the only other two teams out of the 13 here under par.
Mississippi's Jackson Suber was the medalist, as he closed with a 4-under 67, tied for the low score of the round, for an overall total of 8-under 205. Texas' Travis Vick, the leader heading into the final round, finished a shot behind at 206 after a 72 on Wednesday. South Carolina's Evans Lewis was the individual who qualified to advance to the NCAA Finals, as he tied for fifth with a 3-under 210 score after he fired a closing round 69.
As it turned out, Biwer would have needed to shoot a 64 to beat Lewis on a day where the pin placements were the toughest of the three rounds and only six players in the 75-man field shot scores in the 60s. In the end, he finished with a 6-over 222 score on the 7,452-yard, par-72 Oklahoma's Jimmie Auston Golf Club course layout.
Biwer had two birdies and 10 pars on the plus side with five bogeys and one double, the latter his only hole worse than bogey for the week (and just his 14th in 612 holes this season, all doubles). He opened with three straight bogeys, but birdied No. 4, which had bogeyed the first two rounds. A double on No. 7 and then a bogey on No. 9 had him 5-over at the turn; he had one birdie (on No. 16) and a bogey (on No. 13) with seven pars on the back nine en route to 77, matching his high score for the year.
"A tough day for Justin. He had similar starts all three days, just didn't rebound today like he did the first two rounds,"
CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "He still did a really good job of handling things and competing. Overall, it was one of the best, if not the best freshman seasons in our golf history. It's a lot to build on for Justin, he has all the tools to be a great player and we look forward to what the future holds."
His tying for 40th was the fifth-best by a CU freshman in a regional, though the best by one who played as an individual representing the team. It was the third-best score by a frosh:
TOP FINISHES / CU FRESHMEN IN NCAA REGIONALS
The top five teams and one individual not on those five advanced. The top five actually remained the same as after the second round, though host and No. 1 Oklahoma regained its first round lead over No. 18 Auburn and claimed the regional title with a 26-under 838 score; the Tigers held on to second with an 848 total, edging No. 25 Ole Miss (849). No.7 Texas (852) and No. 50 Utah (860) were the other two schools to advance to the NCAA Finals and were also the only other two teams out of the 13 here under par.
Mississippi's Jackson Suber was the medalist, as he closed with a 4-under 67, tied for the low score of the round, for an overall total of 8-under 205. Texas' Travis Vick, the leader heading into the final round, finished a shot behind at 206 after a 72 on Wednesday. South Carolina's Evans Lewis was the individual who qualified to advance to the NCAA Finals, as he tied for fifth with a 3-under 210 score after he fired a closing round 69.
As it turned out, Biwer would have needed to shoot a 64 to beat Lewis on a day where the pin placements were the toughest of the three rounds and only six players in the 75-man field shot scores in the 60s. In the end, he finished with a 6-over 222 score on the 7,452-yard, par-72 Oklahoma's Jimmie Auston Golf Club course layout.
Biwer had two birdies and 10 pars on the plus side with five bogeys and one double, the latter his only hole worse than bogey for the week (and just his 14th in 612 holes this season, all doubles). He opened with three straight bogeys, but birdied No. 4, which had bogeyed the first two rounds. A double on No. 7 and then a bogey on No. 9 had him 5-over at the turn; he had one birdie (on No. 16) and a bogey (on No. 13) with seven pars on the back nine en route to 77, matching his high score for the year.
"A tough day for Justin. He had similar starts all three days, just didn't rebound today like he did the first two rounds,"
CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "He still did a really good job of handling things and competing. Overall, it was one of the best, if not the best freshman seasons in our golf history. It's a lot to build on for Justin, he has all the tools to be a great player and we look forward to what the future holds."
His tying for 40th was the fifth-best by a CU freshman in a regional, though the best by one who played as an individual representing the team. It was the third-best score by a frosh:
TOP FINISHES / CU FRESHMEN IN NCAA REGIONALS
| t-14th | Knut Ekjord | 1995 | Montgomery, Texas | 70-76-71—217 | (+1) |
| t-24th | Matt Zions | 1999 | Columbus, Ohio | 74-77-69—220 | (+4) |
| t-28th | Jeremy Paul | 2014 | Auburn, Ala. | 75-76-72—223 | (+7) |
| t-30th | Philip Juel-Berg | 2013 | Fayetteville, Ark. | 73-77-76—226 | (+10) |
| t-40th | Justin Biwer | 2022 | Norman, Okla. | 72-73-77—222 | (+6) |
"I obviously struggled today, especially on the greens, but after seven holes, I had to give myself a couple of minutes to take a step back and process everything," Biwer said. "I had to move on from what had already happened. I in no way played well, but was able to sit at a similar place score-wise for the rest of the round and not get down on myself. After seven holes my goal was to not make today my worst round of the season, so I managed to do that at least.
"Overall, I'm still extremely happy with how the season went and to get where I did only as a freshman. With three years left there's a lot of upside and potential to get better and be back here the following years, and hopefully as a full team."
Biwer concludes his freshman season with leaving a huge mark in the CU record book. He established 19 new freshman records for season scoring average (70.91), stroke count in relation to par (-0.53), fall average (70.07), spring average (71.57), first round average (71.0), middle round average (71.1), final round average (70.6), top 20 finishes (7), tournaments under par (8), tournaments of par or better (9), rounds of par of better (23), subpar rounds (20), rounds in the 60's (12), birdies (134) subpar hole percentage (22.5, 138 of 612), par or better hole percentage (82.0, 502 or 612), jumbo percentage (.412) and the fewest holes worse than bogey (14).
He became just the fourth freshman in school history to not shoot a score in the 80s, joining Knut Ekjord (1994-95), Kane Webber (1999-2000) and Victor Bjorlow (2016-17), with 77 the low "high" score among that group his 19th frosh mark.
"I didn't even realize it was that many records, wow," Biwer said when told of his accomplishments. "It's a huge positive I can take away from this year and the success that I had this season. All I can do now is move on and set more goals for the following years to improve as a player and be in these situations again."
His 70.91 season average was also the third-best overall in school history and currently stands second in the Pac-12. He finished tied for 10th among the 18 freshmen who competed here this week (though three beat him by one stroke).
NOTES: Biwer played the long par-5s (over 2,400 yards combined) at 4-under, tied for 22-best in the field; he was 4-over on the par-3s and 6-over on the par-4s … In fact, 31 of Biwer's 34 rounds this season were between 65 and 74, as he had one 75 and two 77's … Temperatures were in the mid-80s and the winds, while occasionally gusting to 12 miles per hour, were less of a factor than on Tuesday … Overall, 19 players finished under par and three at even-par; there were just 25 rounds in the 60s overall … The average score for 225 rounds for the week was 73.59 (73.41 for the final round).
Players Mentioned
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