Monday, January 29
Westlake Village, Calif.
All Day
Colorado
vs
First Round
Tucker Clark fired a 2-under 69 Monday to pace the Buffaloes
Photo by: Jimmy McDermott
Golfers Open In 12th at Southwestern Invitational
January 29, 2024 | Men's Golf
First Event of the Spring 2024 Season
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — The University of Colorado men's golf team opened up the spring portion of its schedule here Monday, landing in 12th place after the first round of the 45th Annual Southwestern Invitational.
Only 14 strokes separate the 13-team field from top to bottom, with Texas Tech taking the early led with a 7-under 277 team score. The top five has just five strokes of separation, with USC second (278), Nevada-Las Vegas third (279) UCLA fourth (280) and California fifth (281).
The Buffaloes turned in a 6-over 290 score, though at one-point late were tied for sixth place at 1-under before a few struggles down the stretch.
"We had a bit of a tough start, but the guys battled back and played solid throughout the rest of the day," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "The guys played the par-5s well. All in all, the field is tightly bunched and a good round tomorrow will put us right back in it. I did see a lot of good things over the course of the day."
The Colorado quintet played the four par-5's at 11-under for the round, second-best in the field, but were 7-over on the par-3's and 13-over on the par-4's. The Buffaloes didn't have many big numbers (18 bogeys, five doubles), but need to score more birdies than the 15 they had Monday (though CU had two of the 12 eagles, tied with two other teams).
Junior Tucker Clark paved the way for the Buffaloes Monday, scoring his second round in the 60s this season with a 2-under 69 on the 6,775-yard, par-71 North Ranch Country Club course design. Tied for 10th in the standings, he had an eagle and five birdies opposite seven pars and five bogeys. CU started on the 10th tee, and playing in the fifth position, started the day for CU and opened with the low nine-hole score – 33 – on the back nine. He was actually 4-under at one point after he eagled the 489-yard, par-5 6th hole (his first eagle of the season), but lost two of those down the stretch when he bogeyed Nos. 8 and 9 to close his round. He played the par-5's the best in the 75-man field at 5-under.
Freshman Brandon Knight carded a 2-over 73, which has him tied for 44th; he played the front nine the best of the Buffs with a 1-under 35. He had three birdies and 11 pars with three bogeys and a double, and also played the par-5's well at 3-under on the round.
Three Buffaloes are tied for 53rd after recording 3-over par 74's.
Junior Justin Biwer spent most of the round in the red until two late double bogeys pushed him to the unhappy side of par. He opened with four pars, then after his lone bogey, scored back-to-back birdies on Nos. 15 and 16. He parred the next eight holes until running into trouble, making his first double bogey on No. 7 and the closing with the same on No. 9, both par-4 holes.
Junior Dylan McDermott opened with a par and closed with six of them, but rode a rollercoaster in-between. He started and ended that 11-hole stretch with a birdie, with four bogeys and a double. Scoring the latter on the par-4 2nd hole, he bounced right back with a birdie before closing with the six pars.
Sophomore Hunter Swanson bogeyed his first hole, the par-4 10th, to end a streak of 20 straight holes of par or better than he ended with for the fall season; he then doubled bogeyed No. 11, but came back to eagle the par-5 12th, his team-best sixth eagle this year. After being 3-over just two holes in, he played the rest of the round at even par, finishing with the eagle, two birdies and nine pars against five bogeys and the double.
UNLV's Caden Fioroni fired a 9-under 62 to grab the individual lead after the opening round; he had 10 birdies with a single bogey on his day, which included six straight birdies on Nos. 2 through 7 as he shot a 29 on the front nine. His effort was good for a four-shot lead over three players.
The second round is set for Tuesday, with the Buffaloes teeing off No. 1 beginning at 9 a.m. MDT; in a unique format, all five players will be paired with those either even with them in the standings or relatively close, but representing 10 of the other 12 teams in the field. The third and final round will be Wednesday.
NOTES: The weather was perfect, with the high reaching 78 degrees under sunny skies … The six eagles this season by Swanson are already tied for the fourth-most in a single-season in CU history; the record is eight by Jason Burstyn in 2012-13 season … His 20 straight holes or par or better remained tied for third for the longest streak by a Buffalo in 2023-24 … The average score for all 75 rounds was 71.97, with 24 players under par with nine others equaling it … The three Buffs who carded 74s to open the spring were the top three players in stroke average for the fall: Biwer (70.47), Swanson (71.07) and McDermott (71.27); of the 45 rounds between them in the fall, they only recorded 74s or higher on nine occasions (and 75 or higher just four times) … This the fifth time CU is participating in the Southwestern, but for the first time since 1995; its best finish was a third place showing in 1993; Scott Petersen's tie for third that same year is the best Buffalo effort in the event (68-68-86—211).
Only 14 strokes separate the 13-team field from top to bottom, with Texas Tech taking the early led with a 7-under 277 team score. The top five has just five strokes of separation, with USC second (278), Nevada-Las Vegas third (279) UCLA fourth (280) and California fifth (281).
The Buffaloes turned in a 6-over 290 score, though at one-point late were tied for sixth place at 1-under before a few struggles down the stretch.
"We had a bit of a tough start, but the guys battled back and played solid throughout the rest of the day," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "The guys played the par-5s well. All in all, the field is tightly bunched and a good round tomorrow will put us right back in it. I did see a lot of good things over the course of the day."
The Colorado quintet played the four par-5's at 11-under for the round, second-best in the field, but were 7-over on the par-3's and 13-over on the par-4's. The Buffaloes didn't have many big numbers (18 bogeys, five doubles), but need to score more birdies than the 15 they had Monday (though CU had two of the 12 eagles, tied with two other teams).
Junior Tucker Clark paved the way for the Buffaloes Monday, scoring his second round in the 60s this season with a 2-under 69 on the 6,775-yard, par-71 North Ranch Country Club course design. Tied for 10th in the standings, he had an eagle and five birdies opposite seven pars and five bogeys. CU started on the 10th tee, and playing in the fifth position, started the day for CU and opened with the low nine-hole score – 33 – on the back nine. He was actually 4-under at one point after he eagled the 489-yard, par-5 6th hole (his first eagle of the season), but lost two of those down the stretch when he bogeyed Nos. 8 and 9 to close his round. He played the par-5's the best in the 75-man field at 5-under.
Freshman Brandon Knight carded a 2-over 73, which has him tied for 44th; he played the front nine the best of the Buffs with a 1-under 35. He had three birdies and 11 pars with three bogeys and a double, and also played the par-5's well at 3-under on the round.
Three Buffaloes are tied for 53rd after recording 3-over par 74's.
Junior Justin Biwer spent most of the round in the red until two late double bogeys pushed him to the unhappy side of par. He opened with four pars, then after his lone bogey, scored back-to-back birdies on Nos. 15 and 16. He parred the next eight holes until running into trouble, making his first double bogey on No. 7 and the closing with the same on No. 9, both par-4 holes.
Junior Dylan McDermott opened with a par and closed with six of them, but rode a rollercoaster in-between. He started and ended that 11-hole stretch with a birdie, with four bogeys and a double. Scoring the latter on the par-4 2nd hole, he bounced right back with a birdie before closing with the six pars.
Sophomore Hunter Swanson bogeyed his first hole, the par-4 10th, to end a streak of 20 straight holes of par or better than he ended with for the fall season; he then doubled bogeyed No. 11, but came back to eagle the par-5 12th, his team-best sixth eagle this year. After being 3-over just two holes in, he played the rest of the round at even par, finishing with the eagle, two birdies and nine pars against five bogeys and the double.
UNLV's Caden Fioroni fired a 9-under 62 to grab the individual lead after the opening round; he had 10 birdies with a single bogey on his day, which included six straight birdies on Nos. 2 through 7 as he shot a 29 on the front nine. His effort was good for a four-shot lead over three players.
The second round is set for Tuesday, with the Buffaloes teeing off No. 1 beginning at 9 a.m. MDT; in a unique format, all five players will be paired with those either even with them in the standings or relatively close, but representing 10 of the other 12 teams in the field. The third and final round will be Wednesday.
NOTES: The weather was perfect, with the high reaching 78 degrees under sunny skies … The six eagles this season by Swanson are already tied for the fourth-most in a single-season in CU history; the record is eight by Jason Burstyn in 2012-13 season … His 20 straight holes or par or better remained tied for third for the longest streak by a Buffalo in 2023-24 … The average score for all 75 rounds was 71.97, with 24 players under par with nine others equaling it … The three Buffs who carded 74s to open the spring were the top three players in stroke average for the fall: Biwer (70.47), Swanson (71.07) and McDermott (71.27); of the 45 rounds between them in the fall, they only recorded 74s or higher on nine occasions (and 75 or higher just four times) … This the fifth time CU is participating in the Southwestern, but for the first time since 1995; its best finish was a third place showing in 1993; Scott Petersen's tie for third that same year is the best Buffalo effort in the event (68-68-86—211).
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS | |||
| T10. | Tucker Clark | 36-33—69 | |
| T44. | Brandon Knight | 35-38—73 | |
| T53. | Justin Biwer | 40-34—74 | |
| T53. | Dylan McDermott | 37-37—74 | |
| T53. | Hunter Swanson | 37-37—74 | |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Caden Fioroni, UNLV | 29-33—62 |
| T2. | Tyran Snyders, Texas Tech | 35-31—66 |
| T2. | Aaron Du, California | 31-35—66 |
| T2. | Nicolas Dominiguez, UCLA | 32-34—66 |
| T5. | Three tied with | 67 |
| TEAM STANDINGS |
| 1. | Texas Tech | 277 |
| 2. | Southern California | 278 |
| 3. | Nevada-Las Vegas | 279 |
| 4. | UCLA | 280 |
| 5. | California | 281 |
| 6. | Pepperdine | 284 |
| 6. | Wake Forest | 284 |
| 8. | Ohio State | 285 |
| 8. | San Diego State | 285 |
| 10. | Washington | 286 |
| 11. | San Jose State | 288 |
| 12. | COLORADO | 290 |
| 13. | Houston | 291 |
Players Mentioned
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