Golfers Finish Best Fall In History With Runner-Up Finish In Hawai'i

Monday, November 4

Maui, Hawai'i

All Day

Colorado

Third Round

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

Golfers Finish Best Fall In History With Runner-Up Finish In Hawai'i

November 04, 2024 | Men's Golf

McDermott Third; Several Records Fall

By: David Plati, SID-Emeritus/Athletic Historian

        LAHAINA, Maui — The University of Colorado men's golf team ended its fall season on a high note, finishing second in a record-setting performance in Hawai'i's Ka'anapali Classic Collegiate here Monday.

        No. 2 Oklahoma led from wire-to-wire and played more like the nation's top team, finishing with a gaudy 42-under par team score of 810. The Sooners had the top two individual players, both of whom participated as individuals or that score could have been even lower, but still defeated the Buffaloes by six strokes.

        Colorado emerged atop a logjam that separated the next six teams by just four strokes. A closing round of 12-under par 272 – the third best score Monday – propelled the 32nd-ranked Buffs to a final tally of 36-under 816. That edged No. 52 Kansas (817), No. 67 Indiana (818) and No. 5 Louisiana State (819) in the top five, with No. 26 Georgia and No. 48 TCU tying for sixth (820).

        CU had one win, three runner-up efforts and a third-place showing in its best fall season in history. And the 816 team score here was the lowest in school history in terms of gross total, while the 36-under par was the second in relation to par:

CU History: Best Individual Scores In Tournament History (54 holes)
825 (-39)    Denver-Ron Moore Invitational in Denver, Sept. 15-16, 2008 (1st)
816 (-36)    Hawai'i Ka'anapali Classic at Lahaina, Maui, Nov. 2-4, 2024 (2nd)
829 (-35)    CU-Mark Simpson Invitational in Erie, Oct. 7-8, 2019 (1st)
818 (-34)    Washington State Palouse Collegiate, Sept. 10-11, 2024 (2nd)
820 (-32)    Hawai'i Ka'anapali Classic at Lahaina, Maui, Oct. 29-31, 2021 (2nd)
835 (-29)    CU-Mark Simpson Invitational in Erie, Sept. 27-28, 2021 (t-5th)

        Overall, CU defeated three teams in the top 50 and seven in the top 100, which should bode well when the new rankings come out Wednesday. The Buffs also finished second in this tournament to finish the 2021 fall campaign; CU has wrapped the fall season with runner-up finishes four times, behind wins in 1987 in the Robertson Homes Invitational, the 1991 in the Stanford Invitational and in 2019 in its own Simpson Invitational.

        "Just a tremendous event from start to finish," head coach Roy Edwards said. "Really good golf from four of the guys, but all of them contributed to good play. It is a special thing to come to Hawai'i and play on Bermuda grass and beat teams like LSU Georgia, TCU and other southern teams that play on it all the time. We were right there in the mix to win and to be in the hunt with Oklahoma was awesome.'

        "The only reason we didn't win the tournament was our depth didn't show as well as it has all fall, but I expect that to not happen again this year as we have a great roster all the way through."

        One factor that was in CU's favor in edging KU and IU for second was the difference for the scorers on the seven-toughest holes Monday (in order, Nos. 18, 15, 8, 5, 2, 13 and 10): the Buffs were +3, Kansas +6 and Indiana +7 (OU was +4).

        Senior Dylan McDermott finished third in the medalist race after closing with a 7-under 64, which tied the fifth-best score ever at CU (he owns one of the 63's ahead of it); his 15-under 198 score set records for the lowest gross score as well as the best score for 54-holes in relation to par. He had quite the three days on the 6,700-yard, par-71 Ka'anapali Golf Resort's Royal Course design, racking up a tournament-best 20 birdies to go with two eagles and 24 pars opposite seven bogeys and double. He also played the par-4's the third-best in the 123-man field at 8-under par, and the par-5's tied for fourth-best at 9-under.

        He opened with a birdie on the 373-yard, par-4 4th hole, and went on a tear for the second straight round, birdying seven of his first nine holes. After bogeying No. 13, a 390-yard par-4, he reeled off five straight pars to finish the back nine, and then birdied the 519-yard, par-5 1st hole to get back to 7-under. But he bogeyed the 190-yard, par-3 2nd, as the rest of the team finished, leaving CU tied with Kansas; but he closed with a birdie on the 421-yard, par-4 3rd hole, which was enough to vault the Buffs into sole possession of second place.

        "Honestly, it was my wedges the whole time," McDermott said in summarizing his performance. "Every time I was within 105 yards, I felt good about making that shot. Everything inside of that (yardage) wasn't a full wedge, maybe 80 percent or less. I just felt really confident with it., along with the fact that I was putting really well, so it was those two things. This is the kind of course where if you get hot, you can really stay hot. I got off to great starts all three rounds, especially the last two (where he was 8- and 7-under par, respectively, both time after nine holes).

        On his 15th straight round of par or better, adding to his school record, he said it was simply about, "Just keeping the ball in play -- hitting fairways, hitting greens and minimizing mistakes. My only double bogey this week was when my ball got stuck in a pine tree, the ball never came down. Had nature been my friend, I might have won the tournament."

CU History: Best Individual Scores In Tournament History (54 holes)
198 (-15; 67-67-64) Dylan McDermott, Hawai'i Ka'anapali Classic Collegiate at Lahaina, Maui, Nov. 2-4, 2024 (par-71)
199 (-11; 66-66-67) Dylan McDermott, Pac-12 Championship at Palo Alto, Calif., April 28-29, 2023 (first three round (par-70)
200 (-10; 69-66-65) Dylan McDermott, Notre Dame Fighting Irish Classic at South Bend, Ind., Sept. 4-5, 2022 (par-70; medalist)
201 (- 9; 64-67-70) Beau Schoolcraft, Wyoming Cowboy Classic at Scottsdale, Ariz., April 9-10, 2011 (par-70)
201 (-12; 65-67-69) Hunter Swanson, Washington State Palouse Collegiate at Pullman, Wash., Sept. 10-11, 2024 (par-71)
202 (-11; 67-66-69) Yannik Paul, Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational at Tempe, Ariz., April 14-15, 2018 (par-71)
202 (-11; 67-67-69) Justin Biwer, Hawai'i Ka'anapali Classic Collegiate at Lahaina, Maui, Nov. 2-4, 2024 (par-71)

        Senior Justin Biwer tied for eighth after closing with a 4-under 67, which was good to contribute to an 11-under par 202, the best 54-hole score of his career. He had an eagle for the third straight round, five birdies and nine pars with three bogeys to wrap things here, and overall, he had 11 birdies and 34 pars with just six birdies to go with his three eagles. He played the par-5's at 8-under, the par-4's at 3-under and was even on the par-3's.

        In the second round, Biwer completed a run of 61 straight holes without a bogey, shattering the old team record of 42, which he had entered the event with.

        "I normally don't think about those things, but in the first round, I was actually thinking about it," he said. "I thin it was my 10th hole of the round and I was in a bad spot off the tee, about 130 yards out, so it was kind of a motivating factor in wanting to keep that streak going." He came back to make par. He did want to break the 130-barrier after 36 holes after he shot an opening round 64.

        "I was trying to get sub-130 after the first two rounds, but shot even the second day," he said.

        In setting the school record for fall stroke average (68.47), he noted that it was because, "Personally, my putting has been extremely well for the most part. I haven't always had the best ball striking, but my putting helps me a lot of ways, getting up and down for pars and making birdies. And of course, not making many bogeys – 61 holes without one definitely keeps the score lower."

        Biwer and McDermott have had a friendly rivalry since both arrived at CU as freshman the summer of 2021.

        "It's kind of funny -- Dylan broke his previous record (for the fall record), and I still beat him," he laughed. "We're always trying to beat each other, there's no animosity, it's good for the team overall. Kind of like in the past here, when Derek Tolan and Pat Grady dueled it out (last in 2008-09) and the Paul twins (Jeremy and Yannik) when they played here (2013-18)."

        "Dylan and Justin were fantastic as per their usual," Edwards said. "Dylan played wonderful and then had to battle a few tough points in the round today, but really came back from that at a high level. And as I said yesterday, Justin's run of 61 straight holes of par or better over our last two tournaments was nothing short of remarkable."

        Sophomore Brandon Knight carded a 3-under 68 that he used to finish with a 9-under 204 total, tying him for 14th. In recording his first tournament with three scores in the 60s, he bested his previous 54-hole score by two shots. He started strong, 4-under after nine holes, before a double bogey on No. 14 set him back; he came right back and birdied 15 but then bogeyed 16 before closing his round with five pars and a birdie. He led the Buffs in pars with 35, to go with 15 birdies as his four holes worse than par were a team low (two bogeys, two doubles). The 15 birdies tied for the 18th-most in the field, and he played the 12 par-3's combined at 2-under, tied for the third-best.

        Junior Hunter Swanson tied for 92nd, closing with a 2-over 73 for a 4-over 217 overall. He started well with back-to-back birdies and closed with his third on the day, which the team needed to maintain second by itself. But in-between he had some struggles, playing those 15 holes at 5-over. After a double bogey on the par-3 15th, he was never able to get back below par. Overall, he recorded 10 birdies and 31 pars opposite 12 bogeys and a double.

        Sophomore Ty Holbrook tied for 98th as he finished with 5-over 76 that gave him a 5-over 218 score.   He got off to a rough start with two bogeys on his first three holes, and after getting back down to 1-over, had a five-hole stretch to end the back nine where he was plus-4. To his credit, he did birdie his final hole (No. 4), and he had 10 birdies and 31 pars against 11 bogeys and two doubles for the weekend.

        Freshman Parker Paxton participated here as an individual (his scores didn't count toward CU team total), but that didn't stop the rookie from setting an impressive school record and tying another. On Monday, he eagled all three par-5 holes (Nos. 1, 6 and 9), the first Buffalo to ever have three in the same round. He closed with a 4-under 67 that gave him a 9-under par 204 total, tying him for 14th, his first top 20 career finish. That tied the low gross 54-hole score by a freshman in school history, matching Biwer's effort here in 2021, and the 9-under tied him for the second-lowest in relation to par, which Knight holds at 10-under in last year's Maui Jim Individual in Scottsdale.

        Paxton finished with the three eagles, 11 birdies and 32 pars with just eight bogeys, and overall played the par-5's at 10-under par, tied for second-best in the event.

        "It's been a very fun fall, I've gotten some very good experience," Paxton said. "That's the biggest thing, the confidence I've gained, getting a lot more comfortable and getting my feet wet with how college golf is and with the college game in general. Three eagles in a round doesn't happen every day, so it's really good record, but records aren't why we play the game."

        "We were really impressed with both Brandon and Parker," Edwards noted. "Brandon had just four holes over par, and Parker had a breakout week – he's been knocking at the door all fall. This week was a glimpse of his capability."

        Oklahoma's Jaxon Dowell, like his team, also led from start-to-finish in claiming medalist honors with a 17-under 196 score, edging teammate Clark Van Gaalen, who was one shot back at 197. Both played as individuals, but OU still had four scorers in the top 14 overall. Dowell matched McDermott for the most birdies over the three rounds and had just four holes worse that par.

        "For the fall in general, we feel really good about it -- it was a great fall," Edwards summarized. "We for sure lead the country in wins by probably quite a few against every other team in the NCAA. The team is showing that they can play well anywhere in the country, and that will serve us well with a challenging schedule in the spring."

        The Buffaloes will return to action in their spring opener, The Prestige at PGA West in LaQuinta, Calif., February 17-19. CU last played in the event in 2021, and has participated in it 11 times, including the first nine events as former CU coach, the late Mark Simpson, helped create the tournament at first for some of the best academic schools in the nation.

NOTES: The weather was a little cooler – the low 80's – and the winds were a bit less as well than the midday gusts the previous two days … CU tied the school best with five subpar stroke play tournaments (out of five) in the fall season; the 2022 team also had five, but those were in six events. And will all three subpar rounds of the subpar 13 variety, that easily is a fall best and already tied for the eighth-most in a season. One other was an even-par round, and the only one worse than par was just 3-over … This is the fourth time CU has had as many as five top five finishes in the fall, previously done in 1980, 1992 and 2016; but the first time Colorado has had five top three fall efforts; it had four one other time, in 1980 … Biwer (68.47) and McDermott (68.80) recorded the two lowest stroke averages for the fall season in school history; both played 15 rounds … The team shattered the school best for stroke average in the fall – for 111 rounds, it was 70.50; the old best was 71.98 in 2022 … The Buffs are also on pace to obliterate the marks for fourth- and fifth-man scoring averages, which were for the fall were 71.7 and 73.6, respectively, a testament to the team's depth … Biwer played all four Ka'anapali events under par – the third tournament in his career he has accomplished the feat, including the New Mexico Tucker and CU-Simpson invites earlier this fall; previously, it had been done only one time, Ethan Freeman in the Air Force Miranda Invitational last decade … Biwer has a "three putt avoidance" of 1.5 percent -- just four all fall for 270 holes, as he is averaging less than 28 putts per round. His last three-putt was when he had two in New Mexico's Tucker Invitational in late September … The old mark for most consecutive holes of par or better was 42, set by Hunter Swanson in 2022, when he broke the mark of 34 set by Dylan McDermott the previous year … The average score for all 369 rounds was 70.66 norm; 70.43 in the final round … The course, as usual, was scoring-friendly, as 68 players finished under par with another three in at even … The five Buff designated scorers had five eagles (tied for the most with TCU), 66 birdies (sixth, Oklahoma led with 77) and 155 pars (tied for 12th, Louisiana Tech had the most, 178); CU had he fourth-fewest holes worse than par with 44 (38 bogeys, six doubles); Kansas had the fewest with 34 (30, 4) … Colorado played the par-3's the 12th-best at 8-over (ETSU was the only team in the red on them at 4-under), the par-4's at 9-under (fifth, Kansas was 15-under to lead) and the par-5's at 25-under (tied for seventh; OU led at minus-31) … After going 19-1 here, Colorado finished the fall with its best-ever record against Division I competition at 77-8-1 (a 90.1 winning percentage), with a 191-47-2 record (80.0) in individual rounds.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS

3.	Dylan McDermott	67-67-64—198
T8.	Justin Biwer	64-71-67—202
T14.	Brandon Knight	67-69-68—204
T14.	*Parker Paxton	66-71-67—204
T92.	Hunter Swanson	76-68-73—217
T98.	Ty Holbrook	72-70-76—218

(*—competed as an individual.)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

1.	Jaxon Dowell, Oklahoma	63-66-67—196
2.	Clark Van Gaalen, Oklahoma	67-66-64—197
3.	Dylan McDermott, Colorado	67-67-64—198
T4.	Clay Merchent, Indiana	67-65-67—199
T4.	Ike Joy, Liberty	68-65-66—199

TEAM STANDINGS

1.	Oklahoma	264-273-273—810
2.	COLORADO	270-274-272—816
3.	Kansas	269-273-275—817
4.	Indiana	268-274-275—818
5.	Louisiana State	268-277-274—819
T6.	Georgia	275-271-274—820
T6.	TCU	277-272-271—820
8.	San Jose State	274-278-273—825
T9.	North Florida	266-277-283—826
T9.	Liberty	275-277-274—826
11.	Louisiana Tech	282-277-269—828
12.	East Tennessee State	271-282-281—834
13.	Wyoming	287-275-274—836
14.	Sacramento State	276-279-282—837
15.	Connecticut	284-273-286—843
16.	UC Irvine	286-284-275—845
17.	Gonzaga	283-286-278—847
18.	Hawai'i	287-291-275—853
19.	CSU Northridge	286-281-287—854
20.	Southern Illinois	288-285-282—855
21.	Boise State	286-287-291—864