Monday, May 15
Norman, Okla.
All Day
Colorado
vs
First Round
Assistant coach Derek Tolan fist-bumps Hunter Swanson after the Buff freshman eagled No. 3 Monday.
Photo by: Brent DePaepe/CU Athletics
Golfers Open In Fifth At NCAA Central/Norman Regional
May 15, 2023 | Men's Golf
Freshman Swanson Cards 3-under 69 to lead Buffaloes
NORMAN, Okla. — The University of Colorado men's golf team opened strong and led for several holes before a bit of a rough finish placed the Buffaloes in fifth place after the first round here Monday of the NCAA Central/Norman Regional.
No. 5 and top seed Texas Tech opened with a 10-under 278 to take a one stroke lead over host and No. 9 Oklahoma (9-under 279). No. 17 Alabama is currently third, three back at 7-under 281, the top three seeds held their positions after 18 holes. No. 32 Duke (283) and No. 52 Colorado (284) round out the top five, with No. 44 North Florida the only other team under par (3-under 285).
The top five teams will advance to the NCAA Championship Finals in two weeks in Scottdale, Ariz., along with the highest finishing individual not on one of those schools.
Oklahoma took the early lead, but the Buffaloes were never far behind. When Dylan McDermott birdied the par-5 8th hole, CU tied the Sooners for the lead at 8-under. Texas Tech joined the pair shortly, but the Buffs surged ahead when players on both OU and TTU bogeyed. CU would either hold or be in the lead for the next hour; Tech got hot with seven birdies down the stretch to take over the top spot, while the Buff slipped a bit, playing the last four at 4-over.
Still, only seven strokes separate the top six teams; history shows the battle for the last qualifying spot to advance to the finals in regionals CU has been involved has been one stroke 12 times, after seven others involved ties and a subsequent playoff.
Colorado was a bit lacking in birdies Monday (13), but made up for it with a lack of holes worse than par; the four players who scored for the team had just nine bogeys; that was one fewer than Alabama and matched Texas Tech. Oklahoma's quartet also had nine but had a double bogeys, while Duke's had the fewest bogeys with five, but had to count two doubles.
Freshman Hunter Swanson carded a 3-under 69 to lead the Buffaloes on the 7,452-yard, par-72 Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club course layout. That tied the second-best score by a CU freshman in an NCAA regional; he is tied for sixth. He recorded his first eagle of his collegiate career on the 331-yard, par-4 3rd hole, as he drove it off the tee to about 45 yards out from the pin; his chip shot took one hop and the ball spun slowly into the hole. He otherwise had three birdies, 12 pars and just two bogeys in his first postseason round.
His 69 was the best first round by a Buff freshman in postseason play, topping 70s scored by two others.
Sophomore Justin Biwer opened with a 2-under 70, which has him tied for 12th. He had four birdies, 12 pars and two bogeys on his day, which got off to a very good start as he birdied three of the first five holes (Nos. 2, 4 and 5).
McDermott, a sophomore, shot an even-par 72, tying him for 25th; he had three birdies and 12 pars opposite three bogeys. He started out with seven consecutive pars before scoring a birdie on the 600-yard, par-5 8th hole and turned at 1-under. But he would bogey three of the first eight on the back nine before he closed with a birdie on the 586-yard, par-5 18th hole. That secured the Buffs fifth place by themselves, and also kept alive a personal streak that has now reached 12 rounds of par or better, one shy of the school record he set last fall.
Sophomore Jack Holland fashioned a 1-over 73 and is tied for 35th. He had a steady opening day, hanging around par all day with one birdie, 15 pars and two bogeys. Seeded in the No. 5 position by the coaches, he tied the fifth-best score of the 14 playing here in that spot.
Sophomore Tucker Clark turned in a 5-over 77, which has him tied for 63rd. He parred the first seven holes, but then had a rough stretch where he played the next nine holes at 7-over due to a bogey and three doubles. He did rally to finish with birdies on the par-4 16th and par-5 18th.
"Generally, a good start to the tournament," head coach Roy Edwards said. "We came out ready to play. The back nine is a little tougher than the front so we are proud of the way the guys played those holes. Hunter had a really nice round. Justin and Jack were solid. Dylan was off his game a bit and battled with a great birdie to finish the day. We need Tucker, but we're confident that he will get it going tomorrow. He hit a lot of good shots and finished his round well with two birdies."
Alabama's Nick Dunlap and Oklahoma's Drew Goodman share the individual lead after the first round with 6-under 66s; both had identical routes to their scores with an eagle, six birdies, nine pars and two bogeys.
The second round is set for Tuesday, with the Buffaloes paired with North Florida (again) and Duke; they will tee off on No. 10 beginning at 7:30 a.m. mountain time. The third and final round will be Wednesday.
NOTES: Rain, heavy at times, started before sunrise but ended before the teams teed off at 11 a.m. central, some three hours later than originally scheduled … The 4-under 284 team score is the fifth-best ever by the Buffaloes in 67 regional rounds since the format was created in 1989 … The best-ever score by a Buff freshman in a regional was a 67 by Kane Webber in the 2000 Central Regional in Victoria, Texas; Swanson tied Matthew Zions' 69 he scored in Columbus, Ohio … The No. 5 seed player for all 14 schools averaged 74.3 Monday; the No. 1 seeds, including the five individuals, averaged 72.2 for 19 rounds … The average score for all 75 rounds Monday was 73.35; there were 11 rounds in the 60s – 24 under par overall – and another 11 even … Colorado played the par-4's the fifth-best at even-par, the par-3s at 6-over (tied for eighth) and the par-5s at 5-under (tied for fourth) … The Buffs had the second-fewest bogeys (10, Duke had nine), tied for the most pars (63, with Duke), the 10th-most birdies (13, OU led with 21) … Senior Jack Hughes is also here for the Buffaloes, as the sixth man allowed by the NCAA who can substitute in up to 10 minutes prior to a tee time in case of injury or illness … Oklahoma's sub is junior Jake Holbrook, the older brother of '22 CU recruit Ty Holbrook, who will enroll this summer after taking a "gap" year between high school and college.
NOTES II: The Pac-12 placed eight teams into the postseason; after the first round in five different regionals, four are in the top five: including CU, Arizona State and Stanford stand 1-2 in the Las Vegas regional, with Oregon tied for fifth in the Bath (Michigan) regional. Elsewhere, Washington is seventh, Oregon State tied for eighth, Cal 10th and Arizona 12th.
No. 5 and top seed Texas Tech opened with a 10-under 278 to take a one stroke lead over host and No. 9 Oklahoma (9-under 279). No. 17 Alabama is currently third, three back at 7-under 281, the top three seeds held their positions after 18 holes. No. 32 Duke (283) and No. 52 Colorado (284) round out the top five, with No. 44 North Florida the only other team under par (3-under 285).
The top five teams will advance to the NCAA Championship Finals in two weeks in Scottdale, Ariz., along with the highest finishing individual not on one of those schools.
Oklahoma took the early lead, but the Buffaloes were never far behind. When Dylan McDermott birdied the par-5 8th hole, CU tied the Sooners for the lead at 8-under. Texas Tech joined the pair shortly, but the Buffs surged ahead when players on both OU and TTU bogeyed. CU would either hold or be in the lead for the next hour; Tech got hot with seven birdies down the stretch to take over the top spot, while the Buff slipped a bit, playing the last four at 4-over.
Still, only seven strokes separate the top six teams; history shows the battle for the last qualifying spot to advance to the finals in regionals CU has been involved has been one stroke 12 times, after seven others involved ties and a subsequent playoff.
Colorado was a bit lacking in birdies Monday (13), but made up for it with a lack of holes worse than par; the four players who scored for the team had just nine bogeys; that was one fewer than Alabama and matched Texas Tech. Oklahoma's quartet also had nine but had a double bogeys, while Duke's had the fewest bogeys with five, but had to count two doubles.
Freshman Hunter Swanson carded a 3-under 69 to lead the Buffaloes on the 7,452-yard, par-72 Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club course layout. That tied the second-best score by a CU freshman in an NCAA regional; he is tied for sixth. He recorded his first eagle of his collegiate career on the 331-yard, par-4 3rd hole, as he drove it off the tee to about 45 yards out from the pin; his chip shot took one hop and the ball spun slowly into the hole. He otherwise had three birdies, 12 pars and just two bogeys in his first postseason round.
His 69 was the best first round by a Buff freshman in postseason play, topping 70s scored by two others.
Sophomore Justin Biwer opened with a 2-under 70, which has him tied for 12th. He had four birdies, 12 pars and two bogeys on his day, which got off to a very good start as he birdied three of the first five holes (Nos. 2, 4 and 5).
McDermott, a sophomore, shot an even-par 72, tying him for 25th; he had three birdies and 12 pars opposite three bogeys. He started out with seven consecutive pars before scoring a birdie on the 600-yard, par-5 8th hole and turned at 1-under. But he would bogey three of the first eight on the back nine before he closed with a birdie on the 586-yard, par-5 18th hole. That secured the Buffs fifth place by themselves, and also kept alive a personal streak that has now reached 12 rounds of par or better, one shy of the school record he set last fall.
Sophomore Jack Holland fashioned a 1-over 73 and is tied for 35th. He had a steady opening day, hanging around par all day with one birdie, 15 pars and two bogeys. Seeded in the No. 5 position by the coaches, he tied the fifth-best score of the 14 playing here in that spot.
Sophomore Tucker Clark turned in a 5-over 77, which has him tied for 63rd. He parred the first seven holes, but then had a rough stretch where he played the next nine holes at 7-over due to a bogey and three doubles. He did rally to finish with birdies on the par-4 16th and par-5 18th.
"Generally, a good start to the tournament," head coach Roy Edwards said. "We came out ready to play. The back nine is a little tougher than the front so we are proud of the way the guys played those holes. Hunter had a really nice round. Justin and Jack were solid. Dylan was off his game a bit and battled with a great birdie to finish the day. We need Tucker, but we're confident that he will get it going tomorrow. He hit a lot of good shots and finished his round well with two birdies."
Alabama's Nick Dunlap and Oklahoma's Drew Goodman share the individual lead after the first round with 6-under 66s; both had identical routes to their scores with an eagle, six birdies, nine pars and two bogeys.
The second round is set for Tuesday, with the Buffaloes paired with North Florida (again) and Duke; they will tee off on No. 10 beginning at 7:30 a.m. mountain time. The third and final round will be Wednesday.
NOTES: Rain, heavy at times, started before sunrise but ended before the teams teed off at 11 a.m. central, some three hours later than originally scheduled … The 4-under 284 team score is the fifth-best ever by the Buffaloes in 67 regional rounds since the format was created in 1989 … The best-ever score by a Buff freshman in a regional was a 67 by Kane Webber in the 2000 Central Regional in Victoria, Texas; Swanson tied Matthew Zions' 69 he scored in Columbus, Ohio … The No. 5 seed player for all 14 schools averaged 74.3 Monday; the No. 1 seeds, including the five individuals, averaged 72.2 for 19 rounds … The average score for all 75 rounds Monday was 73.35; there were 11 rounds in the 60s – 24 under par overall – and another 11 even … Colorado played the par-4's the fifth-best at even-par, the par-3s at 6-over (tied for eighth) and the par-5s at 5-under (tied for fourth) … The Buffs had the second-fewest bogeys (10, Duke had nine), tied for the most pars (63, with Duke), the 10th-most birdies (13, OU led with 21) … Senior Jack Hughes is also here for the Buffaloes, as the sixth man allowed by the NCAA who can substitute in up to 10 minutes prior to a tee time in case of injury or illness … Oklahoma's sub is junior Jake Holbrook, the older brother of '22 CU recruit Ty Holbrook, who will enroll this summer after taking a "gap" year between high school and college.
NOTES II: The Pac-12 placed eight teams into the postseason; after the first round in five different regionals, four are in the top five: including CU, Arizona State and Stanford stand 1-2 in the Las Vegas regional, with Oregon tied for fifth in the Bath (Michigan) regional. Elsewhere, Washington is seventh, Oregon State tied for eighth, Cal 10th and Arizona 12th.
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS | |||
| T6. | Hunter Swanson | 32-37—69 | |
| T12. | Justin Biwer | 33-37—70 | |
| T25. | Dylan McDermott | 35-37—72 | |
| T35. | Jack Holland | 37-36—73 | |
| T63. | Tucker Clark | 38-39—77 | |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Drew Goodman, Oklahoma | 35-31—66 |
| 1. | Nick Dunlap, Alabama | 33-33—66 |
| 3. | Ludvig Aberg, Texas Tech | 35-32—67 |
| T4. | Ben Lorenz, Oklahoma | 33-35—68 |
| T4. | Will King, Kansas | 34-34—68 |
| TEAM STANDINGS |
| 1. | Texas Tech | 278 |
| 2. | Oklahoma | 279 |
| 3. | Alabama | 281 |
| 4. | Duke | 283 |
| 5. | COLORADO | 284 |
| 6. | North Florida | 285 |
| 7. | Kansas | 288 |
| 8. | Louisiana State | 292 |
| 9. | Princeton | 293 |
| 9. | Mississippi | 293 |
| 11. | Wake Forest | 294 |
| 12. | UNC-Wilmington | 296 |
| 13. | Louisiana | 297 |
| 14. | Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 313 |
Players Mentioned
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