Colorado University Athletics
Junior Frederik Eisenbeis dominated the team's qualifier for the season opener in Arizona.
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Men's Golfers Open Season This Week
September 05, 2023 | Men's Golf
Team travels to Arizona for the Mirabel Maui Jim; two individuals head north
BOULDER — The University of Colorado men's golf team will open the fall portion of its schedule this Friday, competing in the prestigious Mirabel Maui Jim Intercollegiate in Scottsdale, Ariz.; though two players will participate in CSU's meet in Fort Collins starting Wednesday.
A full five-man team and two non-scoring individuals will open the season this Friday in the Maui Jim, with temperature forecast each day to be in the 110-degree range, give or take, with no precipitation and minimal winds. Two individuals actually kick off CU's season in the Colorado State Ram Masters Invitational in Fort Collins on Wednesday and Thursday, where it will be much cooler, in the upper 80s.
The Mirabel Maui Jim will take place on the 7,147-yard, par-71 Mirabel Club course layout, with entrants playing 18 holes Friday through Sunday; the approximately three dozen individuals competing will play separately and just Friday (18 holes) and Saturday (36 holes) at the Legend Trail Golf Club, which will feature a 6,845-yard, par-72 configuration. In the Rams' meet, Fort Collins Country Club will play to a par-70 covering 7,218-yards.
Colorado is coming off its best season under head coach Roy Edwards, who begins his 18th season at the reins of the program. The Buffaloes finished third in both the Pac-12 Conference and NCAA Central (Norman) Regional and went on to finish 21st in the NCAA Championship Finals.
"The Maui Jim always has a really good field, with a lot of top level teams with some good mid-major programs, definitely a stern test and a good way to start the season," said CU head coach Roy Edwards. "We've got a really strong lineup this year, from one through 10, and that was shown in our qualifying that was very close. It a motivated, deep team with several guys who played a lot of good golf this summer.
"We're looking to build on what we did last season, and we will do that by competing and believing in ourselves. Really focusing on our short game.
This is just the second time the Buffs will play in the Mirabel Maui Jim Invitational, having played in the shortened 2019-20 season due to COVID. Colorado finished 14th that year, but had a much more inexperienced team that the squad that will travel to Scottsdale this year. The team departs Wednesday afternoon for Arizona.
The field will be solid test of where the Buffaloes stand from the get-go, one of those rare events where there is at least one team from each time zone. Though obviously there has been some roster turnover, there are still 10 top 75 teams from a year ago in the 15-team field, including four in the top 25 and eight in the top 50; just over 300 programs compete in men's college golf.
Auburn headlines the participants, as the Tigers were ninth in the final 2022-23 rankings. The remainder of the field includes Oregon (No. 20), San Diego State (No. 25), Ohio State (No. 28), Missouri (No. 42), New Mexico (No. 43), Arkansas-Little Rock (No. 47), Colorado (No. 48), SMU (No. 63), UNLV (No. 75), Fresno State (No. 84), Santa Clara (No. 100), Mercer (No. 113), Texas State (No. 117) and Georgia State (No. 164).
Edwards held qualifying last week into Sunday, with five juniors selected for the team make-up for the Maui Jim: Justin Biwer, Tucker Clark, Frederik Eisenbeis, Jack Holland and Dylan McDermott. The two individuals competing in the sidebar event are sophomore Hunter Swanson and true freshman Brandon Knight. McDermott led the team last year and Biwer the year before; between the two they set 29 school records over the last 24 months. CU's 1-2 punch are among the top ranked amateurs in the United States and the world, as in the WAGR rankings of August 30, McDermott is 120th (but the 58th American) and Biwer 318th (No. 136 in the U.S.).
Eisenbeis was on fire in the qualifying, turning in an 11-under par 71-61—132 between the two rounds at Boulder Country Club and Colorado National Golf Club.
In Fort Collins, sophomore Robby Keilch and true freshman Ty Holbrook will represent the Buffaloes competing as individuals in the 11-team event. Individuals in the meet will tee off on Nos. 7, 12 and 18 at 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday and on No. 10 between 8 and 8:36 a.m. on Thursday.
"The team has a nice range of experience, despite having no seniors," Edwards said. "The seven guys returning are all seasoned, and most played in every tournament they could have. The three freshmen all have solid amateur experience as well. The lineup we're starting with at the Maui Jim is sort of a rarity, with all being in the same class of eligibility (five juniors)."
In the Maui Jim, CU will be paired with Missouri and New Mexico for the first two rounds, teeing off Friday on the No. 1 tee starting at 8:50 a.m. MDT., and then off the No. 10 tee Saturday, also at 8:50. An added bonus, which was also the case in CU's Mark Simpson Invitational last October, the individual winner will receive an exemption into a 2024-25 Korn Ferry Tour event; a representative from the tour will work with the winner to determine the event of choice.
A full five-man team and two non-scoring individuals will open the season this Friday in the Maui Jim, with temperature forecast each day to be in the 110-degree range, give or take, with no precipitation and minimal winds. Two individuals actually kick off CU's season in the Colorado State Ram Masters Invitational in Fort Collins on Wednesday and Thursday, where it will be much cooler, in the upper 80s.
The Mirabel Maui Jim will take place on the 7,147-yard, par-71 Mirabel Club course layout, with entrants playing 18 holes Friday through Sunday; the approximately three dozen individuals competing will play separately and just Friday (18 holes) and Saturday (36 holes) at the Legend Trail Golf Club, which will feature a 6,845-yard, par-72 configuration. In the Rams' meet, Fort Collins Country Club will play to a par-70 covering 7,218-yards.
Colorado is coming off its best season under head coach Roy Edwards, who begins his 18th season at the reins of the program. The Buffaloes finished third in both the Pac-12 Conference and NCAA Central (Norman) Regional and went on to finish 21st in the NCAA Championship Finals.
"The Maui Jim always has a really good field, with a lot of top level teams with some good mid-major programs, definitely a stern test and a good way to start the season," said CU head coach Roy Edwards. "We've got a really strong lineup this year, from one through 10, and that was shown in our qualifying that was very close. It a motivated, deep team with several guys who played a lot of good golf this summer.
"We're looking to build on what we did last season, and we will do that by competing and believing in ourselves. Really focusing on our short game.
This is just the second time the Buffs will play in the Mirabel Maui Jim Invitational, having played in the shortened 2019-20 season due to COVID. Colorado finished 14th that year, but had a much more inexperienced team that the squad that will travel to Scottsdale this year. The team departs Wednesday afternoon for Arizona.
The field will be solid test of where the Buffaloes stand from the get-go, one of those rare events where there is at least one team from each time zone. Though obviously there has been some roster turnover, there are still 10 top 75 teams from a year ago in the 15-team field, including four in the top 25 and eight in the top 50; just over 300 programs compete in men's college golf.
Auburn headlines the participants, as the Tigers were ninth in the final 2022-23 rankings. The remainder of the field includes Oregon (No. 20), San Diego State (No. 25), Ohio State (No. 28), Missouri (No. 42), New Mexico (No. 43), Arkansas-Little Rock (No. 47), Colorado (No. 48), SMU (No. 63), UNLV (No. 75), Fresno State (No. 84), Santa Clara (No. 100), Mercer (No. 113), Texas State (No. 117) and Georgia State (No. 164).
Edwards held qualifying last week into Sunday, with five juniors selected for the team make-up for the Maui Jim: Justin Biwer, Tucker Clark, Frederik Eisenbeis, Jack Holland and Dylan McDermott. The two individuals competing in the sidebar event are sophomore Hunter Swanson and true freshman Brandon Knight. McDermott led the team last year and Biwer the year before; between the two they set 29 school records over the last 24 months. CU's 1-2 punch are among the top ranked amateurs in the United States and the world, as in the WAGR rankings of August 30, McDermott is 120th (but the 58th American) and Biwer 318th (No. 136 in the U.S.).
Eisenbeis was on fire in the qualifying, turning in an 11-under par 71-61—132 between the two rounds at Boulder Country Club and Colorado National Golf Club.
In Fort Collins, sophomore Robby Keilch and true freshman Ty Holbrook will represent the Buffaloes competing as individuals in the 11-team event. Individuals in the meet will tee off on Nos. 7, 12 and 18 at 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday and on No. 10 between 8 and 8:36 a.m. on Thursday.
"The team has a nice range of experience, despite having no seniors," Edwards said. "The seven guys returning are all seasoned, and most played in every tournament they could have. The three freshmen all have solid amateur experience as well. The lineup we're starting with at the Maui Jim is sort of a rarity, with all being in the same class of eligibility (five juniors)."
In the Maui Jim, CU will be paired with Missouri and New Mexico for the first two rounds, teeing off Friday on the No. 1 tee starting at 8:50 a.m. MDT., and then off the No. 10 tee Saturday, also at 8:50. An added bonus, which was also the case in CU's Mark Simpson Invitational last October, the individual winner will receive an exemption into a 2024-25 Korn Ferry Tour event; a representative from the tour will work with the winner to determine the event of choice.
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