Monday, October 2
Erie, Colo.
All Day
Colorado
vs
First Two Rounds
Biwer is one out of the lead after recording two subpar rounds Monday.
Photo by: Scott Eklund/UW Athletics
Golfers In Fifth In Own Mark Simpson-CU Invitational
October 02, 2023 | Men's Golf
After a slow start, Buffs zoom up the standings to be in contention
ERIE — The University of Colorado men's golf team got off to a slow start but rallied over the last round-and-a-half and ended the day in fifth place here Monday after two rounds of the 13th annual Mark Simpson-Colorado Invitational.
San Francisco owns the team lead with a 18-under par 558 total, ahead of runner-up Texas-El Paso by seven strokes (565). Nevada and Colorado State are tied for third (566), with Colorado in fifth (9-under 567) before four strokes separate the next two teams, Washington State and Northern Colorado (571).
Colorado started slow and was as many as 5-over par and in 12th place at one point, eventually reducing to 3-over after nine before some birdie putts started to fall. The scorers played the back nine at 6-under for a 285 total – 3-under – for the first round. CU tied USF for the best team score in the afternoon, a 6-under 282.
"Once again, a really slow start, at one point five over par, but after settling down, things were really good," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "I was really impressed in how the team battled. They've been working really hard, and that showed up the last 27 or so holes of the day."
Junior Justin Biwer led the Buffaloes on Monday, as his 71-68—139 scorecard (5-under par) has him tied for third and one back of the lead heading into the final round. He had a team-high 11 birdies with 19 pars opposite six bogeys in tackling the 7,787-yard, par-72 Colorado National Golf Club course layout. After a rocky start (three bogeys in his first six holes), he worked back to getting 2-under through 11 in round two. He closed strong, birdying four of his last seven holes (with a bogey) including Nos. 17 and 18 to close his day.
Sophomore Hunter Swanson is also in the hunt, two off the lead after a 72-68—140 effort; he's tied for seventh after recording eight birdies and 24 pars, with a team-low of four bogeys.
The afternoon 68's by Biwer and Swanson tied for the low score the second time around the CNGC track (with two others), as just 10 scores in the 60s were posted for the second 18.
"Justin is just a competitor, and a few bad shots here or there do not bother him," Edwards said. "He was 3-over through seven and then plays the last 29 holes at 8-under. As for 'Swanny,' he's a tough player. He is always going to be a factor and he showed that again today in both rounds."
Junior Dylan McDermott is lurking five off the lead after fashioning a 71-72—143 (1-under) scorecard Monday, tying him for 23rd. He had eight birdies and 22 pars with five bogeys and a double. After that double-bogey on the par-3 9th, he answered with 17 straight holes of par or better that including four of his birdies.
Freshman Brandon Knight is tied for 40 after a 71-74—145 performance; he had CU's lone eagle (one of just 10 overall on Monday), with four birdies, 24 pars and seven bogeys. He drove the green on the 364-yard, par-4 17th hole and sank a 20-foot putt for his eagle, already the third of his young collegiate career.
Junior Frederik Eisenbeis had back-to-back 76s, as he is tied for 79th with an 8-over 152 total. He had five birdies and 19 pars against 11 bogeys and a double. He did start each round in good fashion, opening with a birdie in the morning and then going par-birdie in the afternoon.
Four Buffaloes are participating as individuals, with junior Jack Holland posting the best score (74-70—144), which has him tied for 30th. He had seven birdies, 22 pars and seven bogeys on his way to finish the day even.
Junior Tucker Clark (71-76) and sophomore Robby Keilch (75-72) are tied for 56th with 3-over 147 scores; Clark had six birdies and 21 pars and nine bogeys, while Keilch had seven birdies and 22 pars, with five bogeys, a double and a triple.
Rounding out the CU contingent was freshman Ty Holbrook, who is tied for 82nd after posting a 79-74—153 effort. He had six birdies and 16 pars with 13 bogeys and a double.
Mercer's Tobias Jonsson and San Francisco's Benjamin Partridge are tied for the individual lead with 6-under 138 scorecards; they lead four players by a single stroke, with 20 players within four shots of the top spot.
The third and final round will commence Tuesday morning; the top four teams will play off the No. 1 tee starting at 8:10 a.m.; the remainder of the field will have a shotgun start at 8:30. Colorado will be paired with Washington State, Mercer and Northern Colorado and will start om holes 4 through 7.
NOTES: The tournament is named for CU's longtime head coach Mark Simpson, who after 29 years coaching the Buffs passed away on Dec. 5, 2005 at the age of 55 … This is just the second time all six Division I Front Range schools are participating in the Simpson (Air Force, CU, CSU, Denver, Northern Colorado and Wyoming); the other year was the 2012 event … Wyoming is the defending champion, but the Cowboys are in ninth place, 21 out of first … Colorado has won or shared eight titles in the previous 12 events; Washington State (2013) and Boise State (2021) are other past champions in this year's field … There are 23 freshmen competing in the 100-man field here; USF's Svante Palmgren leads the rookies with a 5-under 139 scorecard … The average score for all 200 rounds on Monday was 73.50 (73.24 in morning, 73.77 in the afternoon) … There are 29 players under par with 10 others at even through 36 holes … The Buffs are seventh in birdies (36) and 10th in pars (108); eight teams including the Buffs have eagles, but only CSU and Valpo have two … The Buffs are playing the par-5 holes at 12-under, which is fourth-best in the field, and the par-4s at 4-under, which is tied for third best; CU is 15-over on the par-3s, 10th overall … Biwer now has seven subpar rounds (out of eight overall) this season, with his 47th the fourth-most in CU history … Colorado has two remaining team events in its fall season, as next up is the Fallen Oak Collegiate Invitational in Biloxi, Miss.; there are three tri-hosts of the event: Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Southern Mississippi.
San Francisco owns the team lead with a 18-under par 558 total, ahead of runner-up Texas-El Paso by seven strokes (565). Nevada and Colorado State are tied for third (566), with Colorado in fifth (9-under 567) before four strokes separate the next two teams, Washington State and Northern Colorado (571).
Colorado started slow and was as many as 5-over par and in 12th place at one point, eventually reducing to 3-over after nine before some birdie putts started to fall. The scorers played the back nine at 6-under for a 285 total – 3-under – for the first round. CU tied USF for the best team score in the afternoon, a 6-under 282.
"Once again, a really slow start, at one point five over par, but after settling down, things were really good," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "I was really impressed in how the team battled. They've been working really hard, and that showed up the last 27 or so holes of the day."
Junior Justin Biwer led the Buffaloes on Monday, as his 71-68—139 scorecard (5-under par) has him tied for third and one back of the lead heading into the final round. He had a team-high 11 birdies with 19 pars opposite six bogeys in tackling the 7,787-yard, par-72 Colorado National Golf Club course layout. After a rocky start (three bogeys in his first six holes), he worked back to getting 2-under through 11 in round two. He closed strong, birdying four of his last seven holes (with a bogey) including Nos. 17 and 18 to close his day.
Sophomore Hunter Swanson is also in the hunt, two off the lead after a 72-68—140 effort; he's tied for seventh after recording eight birdies and 24 pars, with a team-low of four bogeys.
The afternoon 68's by Biwer and Swanson tied for the low score the second time around the CNGC track (with two others), as just 10 scores in the 60s were posted for the second 18.
"Justin is just a competitor, and a few bad shots here or there do not bother him," Edwards said. "He was 3-over through seven and then plays the last 29 holes at 8-under. As for 'Swanny,' he's a tough player. He is always going to be a factor and he showed that again today in both rounds."
Junior Dylan McDermott is lurking five off the lead after fashioning a 71-72—143 (1-under) scorecard Monday, tying him for 23rd. He had eight birdies and 22 pars with five bogeys and a double. After that double-bogey on the par-3 9th, he answered with 17 straight holes of par or better that including four of his birdies.
Freshman Brandon Knight is tied for 40 after a 71-74—145 performance; he had CU's lone eagle (one of just 10 overall on Monday), with four birdies, 24 pars and seven bogeys. He drove the green on the 364-yard, par-4 17th hole and sank a 20-foot putt for his eagle, already the third of his young collegiate career.
Junior Frederik Eisenbeis had back-to-back 76s, as he is tied for 79th with an 8-over 152 total. He had five birdies and 19 pars against 11 bogeys and a double. He did start each round in good fashion, opening with a birdie in the morning and then going par-birdie in the afternoon.
Four Buffaloes are participating as individuals, with junior Jack Holland posting the best score (74-70—144), which has him tied for 30th. He had seven birdies, 22 pars and seven bogeys on his way to finish the day even.
Junior Tucker Clark (71-76) and sophomore Robby Keilch (75-72) are tied for 56th with 3-over 147 scores; Clark had six birdies and 21 pars and nine bogeys, while Keilch had seven birdies and 22 pars, with five bogeys, a double and a triple.
Rounding out the CU contingent was freshman Ty Holbrook, who is tied for 82nd after posting a 79-74—153 effort. He had six birdies and 16 pars with 13 bogeys and a double.
Mercer's Tobias Jonsson and San Francisco's Benjamin Partridge are tied for the individual lead with 6-under 138 scorecards; they lead four players by a single stroke, with 20 players within four shots of the top spot.
The third and final round will commence Tuesday morning; the top four teams will play off the No. 1 tee starting at 8:10 a.m.; the remainder of the field will have a shotgun start at 8:30. Colorado will be paired with Washington State, Mercer and Northern Colorado and will start om holes 4 through 7.
NOTES: The tournament is named for CU's longtime head coach Mark Simpson, who after 29 years coaching the Buffs passed away on Dec. 5, 2005 at the age of 55 … This is just the second time all six Division I Front Range schools are participating in the Simpson (Air Force, CU, CSU, Denver, Northern Colorado and Wyoming); the other year was the 2012 event … Wyoming is the defending champion, but the Cowboys are in ninth place, 21 out of first … Colorado has won or shared eight titles in the previous 12 events; Washington State (2013) and Boise State (2021) are other past champions in this year's field … There are 23 freshmen competing in the 100-man field here; USF's Svante Palmgren leads the rookies with a 5-under 139 scorecard … The average score for all 200 rounds on Monday was 73.50 (73.24 in morning, 73.77 in the afternoon) … There are 29 players under par with 10 others at even through 36 holes … The Buffs are seventh in birdies (36) and 10th in pars (108); eight teams including the Buffs have eagles, but only CSU and Valpo have two … The Buffs are playing the par-5 holes at 12-under, which is fourth-best in the field, and the par-4s at 4-under, which is tied for third best; CU is 15-over on the par-3s, 10th overall … Biwer now has seven subpar rounds (out of eight overall) this season, with his 47th the fourth-most in CU history … Colorado has two remaining team events in its fall season, as next up is the Fallen Oak Collegiate Invitational in Biloxi, Miss.; there are three tri-hosts of the event: Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Southern Mississippi.
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS | |||
| T3. | Justin Biwer | 71-68—139 | |
| T7. | Hunter Swanson | 72-68—140 | |
| T23. | Dylan McDermott | 71-72—143 | |
| T30. | *Jack Holland | 74-70—144 | |
| T40. | Brandon Knight | 71-74—145 | |
| T56. | *Tucker Clark | 71-76—147 | |
| T56. | *Robby Keilch | 75-72—147 | |
| T79. | Frederik Eisenbeis | 76-76—152 | |
| T82. | *Ty Holbrook | 79-74—153 | |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| T1. | Tobias Jonsson, Mercer | 68-70—138 |
| T1. | Benjamin Partridge, USF | 67-71—138 |
| T3. | Connor Jones, Colorado State | 67-72—139 |
| T3. | Justin Biwer, Colorado | 71-68—139 |
| T3. | Svante Palmgren, USF | 68-71—139 |
| T3. | Renato Naula, USF | 70-69—139 |
| TEAM STANDINGS |
| 1. | San Francisco | 276-282—558 |
| 2. | Texas-El Paso | 281-284—565 |
| T3. | Nevada | 280-286—566 |
| T3. | Colorado State | 283-283—566 |
| 5. | COLORADO | 285-282—567 |
| T6. | Washington State | 282-289—571 |
| T6. | Northern Colorado | 285-286—571 |
| 8. | Mercer | 288-287—575 |
| 9. | Wyoming | 289-290—579 |
| T10. | Boise State | 291-291—582 |
| T10. | UT-Arlington | 290-292—582 |
| T12. | Denver | 293-290—583 |
| T12. | Grand Canyon | 290-293—583 |
| T14. | Utah Valley | 294-293—587 |
| T14. | Rice | 293-294—587 |
| 16. | Valparaiso | 287-302—589 |
| 17. | Air Force | 301-308—609 |
Players Mentioned
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