Monday, March 27
Eugene, Ore.
All Day
Colorado
vs
First Two Rounds
Justin Biwer (left) and assistant coach Derek Tolan watch an opponent putt in the cold Monday.
Photo by: © Erik Dresser - 2024
Golfers In Fourth At Oregon Duck Invitational
March 27, 2023 | Men's Golf
Biwer in contention for medalist honors in weather-challenging event
EUGENE, Ore. — The University of Colorado men's golf team was in fourth place late in the second round of the 33rd annual Oregon Duck Invitational here Monday when play was suspended due to darkness.
Host and No. 23 Oregon was ahead of No. 23 Colorado State by seven strokes when play was called at 7 p.m. local Pacific time. The Ducks were 1-over par as a team; CSU was 8-over; Oregon State was in third (12-over), followed by the Buffaloes (14-over) with Kansas rounding out the top five (16-over).
Colorado, ranked No. 52, was in third place after the first round, which was delayed by 75 minutes due to frost; the Buffaloes shot a 4-over par 288 and were one out of the lead. Most of the round was played in the upper 30s, eventually "warming" to 41 by the end of the round, which saw just five players under par (just two in the 60s, both 69s) and six who equaled par on the 6,995-yard, par-71 Eugene Country Club course.
It was cold all day, with temperatures hovering around 40 degrees, with light rain commencing during the afternoon round that eventually turned into moderate showers. Half the field has either two or three holes remaining to finish in the second round, the other half either four or five.
Sophomore Justin Biwer is tied for third at present with four holes left in his second round; he's in at even-par after scoring four birdies in the morning with 13 pars and a bogey, following with a birdie, 11 pars, a bogey and a double in the afternoon. With one of the two 69's in the morning, which included a 33 on the front nine, he was tied for the lead heading into round two after birdying his last two holes (Nos. 2 and 3) in the first round. He played the par-3's at 2-under on Monday, the best in the field as only two others were under par on the shorts.
Freshman Hunter Swanson is currently tied for 11th as he is 2-over par with five holes remaining to play in round two. The only Buff under par in the afternoon (minus-1), he opened with a 74 after recording 15 pars and three bogeys in the morning. He had three birdies and two bogeys among his 13 holes in the second round.
Sophomore Tucker Clark was tied for third after fashioning a 1-under 70, one of five subpar scores in the first round, but slid a little bit into a tie for 16th after standing 4-over through 13 holes in the afternoon. He has two birdies and 25 pars with just three bogeys and a double through 31 holes as he also needs to finish five to complete his second round. The 25 pars tied for the third-most Monday.
Sophomore Dylan McDermott, CU's stroke average leader (69.8) has endured his toughest two rounds of the season. His morning 76 was his high round of the year – three strokes over his previous high – as he had five birdies on the front nine en route to a 39 on that side, also his high-nine of the season. He had 10 pars, three bogeys and a double in the afternoon with four holes remaining, and no doubt appreciates a fresh start out of the gate Tuesday as he is tied for 57th at 10-over; he has six top 15 finishes in seven events this year.
Sophomore Jack Holland had his struggles on Monday, despite matching Biwer with a team-high four birdies the first time around the ECC track. He's tied for 60th, currently 11-over par with four holes left in the second round. He's had 10 bogeys and three doubles that had offset his five birdies and 14 pars.
"Justin and Hunter played really well," head coach Roy Edwards said. "Tucker had a very good first round and was hanging in there in round two. Everyone had some good moments, and generally a good ball-striking day. It was really a difficult day to play golf, and the entire team did a great job of battling all day."
UTEP's Max Schliesing owns the individual lead, as he is 4-under through 33 holes, which included 3-under after 15 in the second round. Oregon's Nate Stember was two back, the only other player in the field on the proverbial "happy side of par."
The second round will resume at 9:15 a.m. MDT with a shotgun start where the teams left the course Monday; the third and final round will follow without a break or a re-pairing of the teams. CU played with CSU on Monday.
NOTES: This is the sixth time the Buffaloes are playing in the Duck Invite, with their best finish fourth-place efforts in 2009 and 2014; Jeremy Paul tied for medalist honors in the latter with a 3-under 213 score … Light rain began to fall about a third of the way through the afternoon round, but the temperature was never warmer than 43 … The average score for the 84 rounds in the tournament so far is 74.83; it will be significantly higher when round two is completed … Only 13 strokes separated the 14-team field after the first round, but expanded to 35 after approximately 32 holes … Colorado played the par-3s the best on Monday (4-over), the par-4s at 24-over (seventh) and the par-5s at 2-under (tied for seventh) … Through all holes completed, Colorado has the ninth-most birdies (17, Oregon State the most with 27) and the second-most pars (105; Oregon tops the list with 118) … Only two players in the 84-man field are under par, with three others even; the other 79 duffers are a combined 669-over … Friday saw just five scores in the 60's as just 15 were recorded overall … Brandon Knight, a member of CU's 2023 recruiting class and the '22 California State champion, won the San Francisco City Championship on Sunday, going 5-0 in match play with a 1-up victory over Mitchell Hoey, a sophomore at St. Mary's, in the 36-hole final at TPC Harding Park (where the Buffaloes will play later this week in Stanford's The Goodwin). Knight led by two holes one time (after six holes), otherwise the intensely-competitive match either saw each player either up by one when it wasn't tied on 17 separate occasions.
Host and No. 23 Oregon was ahead of No. 23 Colorado State by seven strokes when play was called at 7 p.m. local Pacific time. The Ducks were 1-over par as a team; CSU was 8-over; Oregon State was in third (12-over), followed by the Buffaloes (14-over) with Kansas rounding out the top five (16-over).
Colorado, ranked No. 52, was in third place after the first round, which was delayed by 75 minutes due to frost; the Buffaloes shot a 4-over par 288 and were one out of the lead. Most of the round was played in the upper 30s, eventually "warming" to 41 by the end of the round, which saw just five players under par (just two in the 60s, both 69s) and six who equaled par on the 6,995-yard, par-71 Eugene Country Club course.
It was cold all day, with temperatures hovering around 40 degrees, with light rain commencing during the afternoon round that eventually turned into moderate showers. Half the field has either two or three holes remaining to finish in the second round, the other half either four or five.
Sophomore Justin Biwer is tied for third at present with four holes left in his second round; he's in at even-par after scoring four birdies in the morning with 13 pars and a bogey, following with a birdie, 11 pars, a bogey and a double in the afternoon. With one of the two 69's in the morning, which included a 33 on the front nine, he was tied for the lead heading into round two after birdying his last two holes (Nos. 2 and 3) in the first round. He played the par-3's at 2-under on Monday, the best in the field as only two others were under par on the shorts.
Freshman Hunter Swanson is currently tied for 11th as he is 2-over par with five holes remaining to play in round two. The only Buff under par in the afternoon (minus-1), he opened with a 74 after recording 15 pars and three bogeys in the morning. He had three birdies and two bogeys among his 13 holes in the second round.
Sophomore Tucker Clark was tied for third after fashioning a 1-under 70, one of five subpar scores in the first round, but slid a little bit into a tie for 16th after standing 4-over through 13 holes in the afternoon. He has two birdies and 25 pars with just three bogeys and a double through 31 holes as he also needs to finish five to complete his second round. The 25 pars tied for the third-most Monday.
Sophomore Dylan McDermott, CU's stroke average leader (69.8) has endured his toughest two rounds of the season. His morning 76 was his high round of the year – three strokes over his previous high – as he had five birdies on the front nine en route to a 39 on that side, also his high-nine of the season. He had 10 pars, three bogeys and a double in the afternoon with four holes remaining, and no doubt appreciates a fresh start out of the gate Tuesday as he is tied for 57th at 10-over; he has six top 15 finishes in seven events this year.
Sophomore Jack Holland had his struggles on Monday, despite matching Biwer with a team-high four birdies the first time around the ECC track. He's tied for 60th, currently 11-over par with four holes left in the second round. He's had 10 bogeys and three doubles that had offset his five birdies and 14 pars.
"Justin and Hunter played really well," head coach Roy Edwards said. "Tucker had a very good first round and was hanging in there in round two. Everyone had some good moments, and generally a good ball-striking day. It was really a difficult day to play golf, and the entire team did a great job of battling all day."
UTEP's Max Schliesing owns the individual lead, as he is 4-under through 33 holes, which included 3-under after 15 in the second round. Oregon's Nate Stember was two back, the only other player in the field on the proverbial "happy side of par."
The second round will resume at 9:15 a.m. MDT with a shotgun start where the teams left the course Monday; the third and final round will follow without a break or a re-pairing of the teams. CU played with CSU on Monday.
NOTES: This is the sixth time the Buffaloes are playing in the Duck Invite, with their best finish fourth-place efforts in 2009 and 2014; Jeremy Paul tied for medalist honors in the latter with a 3-under 213 score … Light rain began to fall about a third of the way through the afternoon round, but the temperature was never warmer than 43 … The average score for the 84 rounds in the tournament so far is 74.83; it will be significantly higher when round two is completed … Only 13 strokes separated the 14-team field after the first round, but expanded to 35 after approximately 32 holes … Colorado played the par-3s the best on Monday (4-over), the par-4s at 24-over (seventh) and the par-5s at 2-under (tied for seventh) … Through all holes completed, Colorado has the ninth-most birdies (17, Oregon State the most with 27) and the second-most pars (105; Oregon tops the list with 118) … Only two players in the 84-man field are under par, with three others even; the other 79 duffers are a combined 669-over … Friday saw just five scores in the 60's as just 15 were recorded overall … Brandon Knight, a member of CU's 2023 recruiting class and the '22 California State champion, won the San Francisco City Championship on Sunday, going 5-0 in match play with a 1-up victory over Mitchell Hoey, a sophomore at St. Mary's, in the 36-hole final at TPC Harding Park (where the Buffaloes will play later this week in Stanford's The Goodwin). Knight led by two holes one time (after six holes), otherwise the intensely-competitive match either saw each player either up by one when it wasn't tied on 17 separate occasions.
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
| T3. | Justin Biwer | 69-(+2)—(E) |
| T11. | Hunter Swanson | 74-(-1)—(+2) |
| T16. | Tucker Clark | 70-(+4)—(+3) |
| T57. | Dylan McDermott | 76-(+5)—(+10) |
| T60. | Jack Holland | 75-(+7)—(+11) |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Max Charles, Boise State | 70-(-3)=(-4) |
| 2. | Nate Stember, Oregon | 71-(-2)=(-2) |
| T3. | Justin Biwer, Colorado | 69-(+2)=(E) |
| T3. | Connor Jones, Colorado State | 70-(+1)=(E) |
| T3. | Mateo Fuenmayor, Oregon State | 74-(-3)=(E) |
| TEAM STANDINGS |
| 1. | Oregon | 287- (+ 1) |
| 2. | Colorado State | 289- (+ 8) |
| 3. | Oregon State | 290- (+12) |
| 4. | COLORADO | 288- (+14) |
| 5. | Kansas | 294- (+16) |
| 6. | Santa Clara | 297- (+20) |
| 7. | San Jose State | 297- (+21) |
| 8. | Boise State | 287- (+23) |
| 9. | Cal Poly | 293- (+25) |
| 10. | Pacific | 297- (+27) |
| 10. | Texas-El Paso | 300- (+27) |
| 12. | Idaho | 298- (+31) |
| 13. | Grand Canyon | 298- (+32) |
| 14. | Gonzaga | 300- (+36) |
Players Mentioned
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