Friday, May 26
Scottsdale, Ariz.
All Day
Colorado
vs
First Round
McDermott led the Buffaloes Friday With a 1-over 71
Photo by: Lexi Hartmann
Buff Golfers Open In Tie For 23rd At NCAA Championship Finals
May 26, 2023 | Men's Golf
Colorado, however, just three strokes off Sunday’s cut position
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The University of Colorado men's golf team opened the first round of the NCAA Championship Finals here Friday in a tie for 23rd place, but the Buffaloes are in decent position since all but team finished the day over par.
No. 11 Georgia Tech was that team, though it turned in an even-par 280. No. 8 Pepperdine and No. 28 Arkansas are tied for second, one back at 281, with a three-way tie between No. 1 Vanderbilt, No. 2 North Carolina and No. 5 Texas Tech for fourth at 2-over 282. Defending national champion and No. 17 Texas opened with a 15-over 295 to stand in 27th.
Colorado, ranked No. 48, landed in a tie for 23rd with Pac-12 rival Oregon with 12-over 292 scores. The top 15 teams after Sunday's third round will advance into the fourth and final one on Monday; currently there are two teams tied for that position with 9-over 289's.
"It's a challenging golf course, and amplified even more so when the winds pick up," head coach Roy Edwards said. At times the wind gusted up to 15 miles per hour but died down by the end of the first round.
All five Buffaloes got off to "safe" starts, parring the 390-yard, par-4 10th hole on the 7,289-yard, par-70 Grayhawk Golf Club course design; half the field (15 teams) started in the morning wave. The Buffs at one point were in second place at 1-over par when the team was five-to-seven holes in, but then hit a rough stretch. CU closed out the back nine from that point on with one birdie, nine pars, five bogeys and two double bogeys to make the turn at 9-over.
The four players who eventually had their scores apply to the team total settled down a bit, recording five birdies (and 22 pars) against nine bogeys. Colorado eventually finished 11th out of the morning pool, and was in 26th as the afternoon rounds commenced. The 292 team score still tied the fourth-best gross score for a single round by a CU team in the finals.
Colorado's top player, sophomore Dylan McDermott, led the Buffaloes Friday with a 1-over 71; that has him tied for 31st. After a slow start with two bogeys in his first four holes (Nos. 11 and 13), he birdied No. 14 before reeling off eight straight pars. After scoring his last bogey of the round on No. 5, he parred the next two holes before birdying the 188-yard, par-3 8th hole to get back to just 1-over.
He was of just a few players designated in the No. 1 position to lead their teams in the opening round, as only 10 of the 30 did so. And including the six individuals who qualified here, the stroke average for the 36 was well above par at 72.9 (72.2 for the 30 team representatives).
Freshman Hunter Swanson carded a 2-over 72, which has him tied for 47th; he had a team-high four birdies opposite four bogeys and a double, mixed in with nine pars. He birdied Nos. 13 and 14 that got him to 1-under at that point, the latest a CU player would be under par in the round.
Sophomore Justin Biwer is tied for 70th after fashioning a 3-over 73, as he had three birdies and five bogeys with 10 pars. He scored CU's first birdie on the day, scoring a 4 on the 650-yard, par-5 11th. He closed the round with a birdie on the par-3 8th, that McDermott would follow with another birdie, just the second hole (with No. 14) that two Buffs birdied together on Friday. When he birdied No. 11, he joined Swanson as the only Buffalo to be on the proverbial "happy side of par" at any point in the first round.
Sophomore Jack Holland shot a 6-over 76 that has him tied for 115th, as he had a birdie and seven bogeys to start here. He shot 38 on each nine, with his birdie coming on No. 7, one of just 17 on the day on the hole, which played the second-toughest in the first round.
Sophomore Tucker Clark recorded a 10-over 80 and is tied for 153rd. He started strong, parring his first seven holes, but then would only par two others; he played his final 10 holes at the 10-over, with eight bogeys and a double.
"I thought we were a little nervy early but settled in," Edwards said. "We had a tough stretch on holes 15 through 17, and then 18 was just brutal. As we have done all year, the guys kept battling and hung in there really well. Justin made a great putt on 8, Dylan chipped one in and Hunter closed with a birdie. We have to just stay patient and play our games. Tomorrow afternoon will be tough conditions, but I expect us to play well."
The 18th hole, a 520-yard, par-4, played the toughest of all the holes Friday, though was a bit easier for the 15 afternoon teams. CU's quintet had a par, two bogeys and two doubles; in the end, the field had just 13 birdies, with 76 pars, 49 bogeys, 16 doubles and two triples. Texas Tech was the only team to not have a player score over par on the hole, while Duke was the only one with three birdies, but was even overall with a bogey and a double by its other duo.
Georgia Tech's Ross Steelman is the individual leader through 18 holes, as he carded a 6-under 64; he had six birdies and 12 pars, one of just two players not to have a bogey or worse all round. He leads three players by two strokes.
The second round is set for Saturday; Colorado will again be paired with Chattanooga and New Mexico and will tee off on No. 1 beginning at 1:20 p.m. local time. After Sunday's third round, the field will be cut to the low 15 teams and nine unaffiliated individuals. The top eight teams will then advance into match play, with quarterfinals and semifinals set for May 30 and the championship match on May 31.
NOTES: Senior Jack Hughes is also on the trip as an alternate in case of illness, injury or simply to substitute in … Temperatures approached the mid-90's by the height of the round, but was only 77 when the Buffs teed off at 8 a.m. local time … The CU travel party arrived here Tuesday after minus one player – Swanson joined the team in time for dinner Wednesday after he advanced into the round of eight (quarterfinals) of the USGA Four Ball Championship in South Carolina; he had five competitive rounds from last Saturday through Tuesday (his partner was Colorado Mines freshman Maxwell Lange) … The average score for all 156 rounds was 73.24 (it was 73.34 after the 78 rounds in the morning, when 10 players shot in the 60s and seven others matched par) … Ohio State's Maxwell Moldovan was the only other bogey-free player; he had one birdie and 17 pars for a 1-under 69 … McDermott and Swanson had CU's best nines, both matching par-35 on the front side … Colorado played the par-3's at 5-over (tied for 17th, three schools were even), the par-4s at 15-over (tied for 20th; Texas Tech was 1-under to lead) and the par-5s at uncharacteristically at 2-over (tied for 25th; Pepperdine led at 7-under) … The Buffs had just nine birdies (tied for 27th, Arkansas and Pepperdine had 20 to top the list) and their 52 pars tied for 16th (Florida State had the high of 61) … There were just two eagles Friday, neither on a par-5: one on a hole-in-one by Oregon's Grayson Leach on the 173-yard par-3 16th and the other on the par-4 12th by Illinois' Jackson Buchanan … The Buffs still avoided big numbers for the most part with "just" two double bogeys (and now have just 15 worse than bogey in its last 792 holes going back to the first round of the Pac-12 Championship).
NOTES II: Four Pac-12 schools advanced into the NCAA Finals, all are bunched together: Stanford leads the way tied for 17th with a 10-over 290, then comes host Arizona State (tied for 21st, 291), and Colorado and Oregon (both tied for 23rd, 292).
No. 11 Georgia Tech was that team, though it turned in an even-par 280. No. 8 Pepperdine and No. 28 Arkansas are tied for second, one back at 281, with a three-way tie between No. 1 Vanderbilt, No. 2 North Carolina and No. 5 Texas Tech for fourth at 2-over 282. Defending national champion and No. 17 Texas opened with a 15-over 295 to stand in 27th.
Colorado, ranked No. 48, landed in a tie for 23rd with Pac-12 rival Oregon with 12-over 292 scores. The top 15 teams after Sunday's third round will advance into the fourth and final one on Monday; currently there are two teams tied for that position with 9-over 289's.
"It's a challenging golf course, and amplified even more so when the winds pick up," head coach Roy Edwards said. At times the wind gusted up to 15 miles per hour but died down by the end of the first round.
All five Buffaloes got off to "safe" starts, parring the 390-yard, par-4 10th hole on the 7,289-yard, par-70 Grayhawk Golf Club course design; half the field (15 teams) started in the morning wave. The Buffs at one point were in second place at 1-over par when the team was five-to-seven holes in, but then hit a rough stretch. CU closed out the back nine from that point on with one birdie, nine pars, five bogeys and two double bogeys to make the turn at 9-over.
The four players who eventually had their scores apply to the team total settled down a bit, recording five birdies (and 22 pars) against nine bogeys. Colorado eventually finished 11th out of the morning pool, and was in 26th as the afternoon rounds commenced. The 292 team score still tied the fourth-best gross score for a single round by a CU team in the finals.
Colorado's top player, sophomore Dylan McDermott, led the Buffaloes Friday with a 1-over 71; that has him tied for 31st. After a slow start with two bogeys in his first four holes (Nos. 11 and 13), he birdied No. 14 before reeling off eight straight pars. After scoring his last bogey of the round on No. 5, he parred the next two holes before birdying the 188-yard, par-3 8th hole to get back to just 1-over.
He was of just a few players designated in the No. 1 position to lead their teams in the opening round, as only 10 of the 30 did so. And including the six individuals who qualified here, the stroke average for the 36 was well above par at 72.9 (72.2 for the 30 team representatives).
Freshman Hunter Swanson carded a 2-over 72, which has him tied for 47th; he had a team-high four birdies opposite four bogeys and a double, mixed in with nine pars. He birdied Nos. 13 and 14 that got him to 1-under at that point, the latest a CU player would be under par in the round.
Sophomore Justin Biwer is tied for 70th after fashioning a 3-over 73, as he had three birdies and five bogeys with 10 pars. He scored CU's first birdie on the day, scoring a 4 on the 650-yard, par-5 11th. He closed the round with a birdie on the par-3 8th, that McDermott would follow with another birdie, just the second hole (with No. 14) that two Buffs birdied together on Friday. When he birdied No. 11, he joined Swanson as the only Buffalo to be on the proverbial "happy side of par" at any point in the first round.
Sophomore Jack Holland shot a 6-over 76 that has him tied for 115th, as he had a birdie and seven bogeys to start here. He shot 38 on each nine, with his birdie coming on No. 7, one of just 17 on the day on the hole, which played the second-toughest in the first round.
Sophomore Tucker Clark recorded a 10-over 80 and is tied for 153rd. He started strong, parring his first seven holes, but then would only par two others; he played his final 10 holes at the 10-over, with eight bogeys and a double.
"I thought we were a little nervy early but settled in," Edwards said. "We had a tough stretch on holes 15 through 17, and then 18 was just brutal. As we have done all year, the guys kept battling and hung in there really well. Justin made a great putt on 8, Dylan chipped one in and Hunter closed with a birdie. We have to just stay patient and play our games. Tomorrow afternoon will be tough conditions, but I expect us to play well."
The 18th hole, a 520-yard, par-4, played the toughest of all the holes Friday, though was a bit easier for the 15 afternoon teams. CU's quintet had a par, two bogeys and two doubles; in the end, the field had just 13 birdies, with 76 pars, 49 bogeys, 16 doubles and two triples. Texas Tech was the only team to not have a player score over par on the hole, while Duke was the only one with three birdies, but was even overall with a bogey and a double by its other duo.
Georgia Tech's Ross Steelman is the individual leader through 18 holes, as he carded a 6-under 64; he had six birdies and 12 pars, one of just two players not to have a bogey or worse all round. He leads three players by two strokes.
The second round is set for Saturday; Colorado will again be paired with Chattanooga and New Mexico and will tee off on No. 1 beginning at 1:20 p.m. local time. After Sunday's third round, the field will be cut to the low 15 teams and nine unaffiliated individuals. The top eight teams will then advance into match play, with quarterfinals and semifinals set for May 30 and the championship match on May 31.
NOTES: Senior Jack Hughes is also on the trip as an alternate in case of illness, injury or simply to substitute in … Temperatures approached the mid-90's by the height of the round, but was only 77 when the Buffs teed off at 8 a.m. local time … The CU travel party arrived here Tuesday after minus one player – Swanson joined the team in time for dinner Wednesday after he advanced into the round of eight (quarterfinals) of the USGA Four Ball Championship in South Carolina; he had five competitive rounds from last Saturday through Tuesday (his partner was Colorado Mines freshman Maxwell Lange) … The average score for all 156 rounds was 73.24 (it was 73.34 after the 78 rounds in the morning, when 10 players shot in the 60s and seven others matched par) … Ohio State's Maxwell Moldovan was the only other bogey-free player; he had one birdie and 17 pars for a 1-under 69 … McDermott and Swanson had CU's best nines, both matching par-35 on the front side … Colorado played the par-3's at 5-over (tied for 17th, three schools were even), the par-4s at 15-over (tied for 20th; Texas Tech was 1-under to lead) and the par-5s at uncharacteristically at 2-over (tied for 25th; Pepperdine led at 7-under) … The Buffs had just nine birdies (tied for 27th, Arkansas and Pepperdine had 20 to top the list) and their 52 pars tied for 16th (Florida State had the high of 61) … There were just two eagles Friday, neither on a par-5: one on a hole-in-one by Oregon's Grayson Leach on the 173-yard par-3 16th and the other on the par-4 12th by Illinois' Jackson Buchanan … The Buffs still avoided big numbers for the most part with "just" two double bogeys (and now have just 15 worse than bogey in its last 792 holes going back to the first round of the Pac-12 Championship).
NOTES II: Four Pac-12 schools advanced into the NCAA Finals, all are bunched together: Stanford leads the way tied for 17th with a 10-over 290, then comes host Arizona State (tied for 21st, 291), and Colorado and Oregon (both tied for 23rd, 292).
| Colorado | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | TOT | ||
| Par | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 35 | 70 |
| Yards | 430 | 395 | 475 | 562 | 205 | 348 | 502 | 188 | 468 | 390 | 650 | 468 | 230 | 430 | 450 | 173 | 405 | 520 | |||
| McDermott | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 35 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 7 |
| Biwer | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 37 | 7 |
| Clark | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 42 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 38 | 7 |
| Swanson | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 35 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 37 | 72 |
| Holland | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 38 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 38 | 76 |
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS | ||
| T31. | Dylan McDermott | 35-36—71 |
| T47. | Hunter Swanson | 35-37—72 |
| T70. | Justin Biwer | 36-37—73 |
| T115. | Jack Holland | 38-38—76 |
| T153. | Tucker Clark | 42-38—80 |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Ross Steelman, Georgia Tech | 32-32—64 |
| T2. | Maleo De Oliveira, Arkansas | 33-33—66 |
| T2. | Matthew Watkins, New Mexico | 33-33—66 |
| T2. | Cole Sherwood, Vanderbilt | 31-35—66 |
| 5. | Wil Gibson, Arkansas | 33-34—67 |
| TEAM STANDINGS |
| 1. | Georgia Tech | 141-139—280 |
| 2. | Pepperdine | 144-137—281 |
| 2. | Arkansas | 142-139—281 |
| 4. | Texas Tech | 143-139—282 |
| 4. | North Carolina | 138-144—282 |
| 4. | Vanderbilt | 139-143—282 |
| 7. | Florida | 142-141—283 |
| 8. | Florida State | 142-142—284 |
| 9. | Georgia | 143-142—285 |
| 9. | Illinois | 144-141—285 |
| 9. | San Francisco | 140-145—285 |
| 12. | Oklahoma | 145-142—287 |
| 12. | Ohio State | 143-144—287 |
| 14. | Auburn | 145-143—288 |
| 15. | Texas A&M | 143-146—289 |
| 15. | Brigham Young | 141-148—289 |
| 17. | Duke | 143-147—290 |
| 17. | Virginia | 143-147—290 |
| 17. | Alabama | 148-142—290 |
| 17. | Stanford | 142-148—290 |
| 21. | Arizona State | 145-146—291 |
| 21. | Mississippi State | 140-151—291 |
| 23. | COLORADO | 144-148—292 |
| 23. | Oregon | 147-145—292 |
| 25. | New Mexico | 149-144—293 |
| 26. | Chattanooga | 145-149—294 |
| 27. | Texas | 147-148—295 |
| 28. | Colorado State | 146-150—296 |
| 29. | East Tennessee State | 151-151—302 |
| 30. | Baylor | 146-158—304 |
Players Mentioned
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