Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
First Round
Men's Golf Advances To Wyoming Match Play FInal
February 19, 2024 | Men's Golf
Buffs Roll Over Utah State, Sacramento State; To Face Cal State Fullerton
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — The University of Colorado men's golf team recorded two victories here Monday in the Wyoming Desert Match Play Championship, winning nine matches and halving a 10th out of a dozen overall.
Colorado won its quarterfinal match over Utah State, 4½-1½ on the 7,376-yard, par-72 Players Course at the Indian Wells Golf Resort. Then in an afternoon semifinal, CU rolled over Sacramento State, 5-1.
"The guys played and competed really well today," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "We had a very tough match against Utah state and we were able to close that one out and then played really well this afternoon against Sacramento state. The guys really battled and made it hard for the other teams by constantly being in contention on almost every hole and predominantly making them make birdies to win holes."
Four Buffaloes swept their Monday matches.
Junior Dylan McDermott won his morning match, 5 & 4 over Utah State's Ashton McArthur. He never trailed in the matching, taking the lead with a birdie on the par-5 1st hole. Up by one through four holes, he won five of the next six holes, the last four in a row which include an eagle and a birdie, to go 6-up before sealing the win after 14 holes. In the afternoon, he was declared the winner as he was 3-up with four holes remaining when the match was suspended once CU was declared the winner with four wins. He was one down through four, pulled even when he birdied No. 5, and after standing tied through 10, he won holes 11, 13 and 14 (birdie-par-birdie) to take control of the match. On the day, he won 13 holes, lost five and tied 10.
Junior Tucker Clark won his opening match by a 3 & 2 margin over USU's Enrique Karg, who led just once after he started the round with an eagle. Clark won the next two holes, Karg rallied to tie through seven; but Clark would win the next three holes (par-par-birdie) to take control of the match as Karg never got any closer than within two. Against Sacramento State's Luke Dugger proved to be a bit more of a battle, though he never trailed, the two were tied on eight occasions, the last time through 14 holes. But a run of par-birdie-birdie on holes Nos. 15 through 17 earned him a 3 & 1 victory. He won 14 holes Monday, tying 11 and losing eight.
Sophomore Hunter Swanson won both his matches Monday in convincing style, as he won 14 of 30 holes, tying on 14 and losing just two. He bested Utah State's Luis Cantu 2-up in the morning in one of the mostly contested matches of the day. Tied 10 times, Swanson fell behind by a hole after Cantu birdied the par-3 12th. But he pulled even on the next holes with a par while Cantu bogeyed. He took the lead with a par on No. 16, and sealed the win with a birdie on No. 18. Swanson cruised to an 8 & 6 win in his second match against Sacramento State's Jake Aberle. He had three birdies and nine pars and walked away with the win when he parred the par-3 12th hole and Aberle bogeyed.
Freshman Brandon Knight was tied after three holes and again after seven to start his day against the Aggies John Cook, but back-to-back pars to end the front nine put him 2-up. He then parred all six holes to start the back nine and won the match when Cook bogeyed No. 15. He then won his afternoon affair over SSU's Zach Matzke, 3 & 2, taking the lead on the first hole when Matzke bogeyed and moving to 2-up after birdying the par-3 2nd hole and never looking back. He built his lead to three holes after a birdie on the par-5 7th and Matzke would get no closer the rest of the round. He won 11 holes Monday, tying 16 and dropping only three.
Junior Justin Biwer split his two matches. He lost in the Morning to Julio Arronte, 1 & 3; after both parred to open the day, Arronte built a four-hole lead through seven holes. Biwer started to chip away at the lead and pulled to within one through 15, but the match was then called when CU was declared the winner. But against Sac State's Zach Mate, after the pair both opened birdie-par-birdie, Biwer won the next two holes and never looked back, and clinched the win when he won the 12th and 13th holes back-to-back (par-birdie) and then matching Mate with a birdie on the par-5 14th to win, 5 & 4.
Junior Freddy Eisenbeis tied USU's Esteban Jaramillo, though never trailing in the match, he often held a 2-up edge. Jaramillo closed to within one after Eisenbeis bogeyed No. 12 and then pulled even through 15; Eisenbeis recaptured the lead with a birdie on 16, but a bogey on the final hole allowed Jaramillo to halve the match. He dropped the afternoon match to SSU's Gabriel Knight, as he was down one hole when the match was called after 17 holes once CU was determined the overall winner. He led by one after seven holes and after their sixth tie through eight, Smith took the lead for good after he parred No. 9 and Eisenbeis bogeyed.
The Buffaloes, seeded No. 2 here, will face off against top-seeded Cal State Fullerton in the championship match Tuesday beginning at 9:10 a.m. MDT.
NOTES: The six Buffaloes combined on Monday won 70 holes, tied 82 and lost only 33 out of 185 played … McDermott and Biwer have competed in this event three times; McDermott owns a 6-1-1 record, Biwer is 2-2-4; Swanson is 4-1 and Clark is 2-1-2 in their second match play events … Eisenbeis and Knight are competing in match play for the first time.
Colorado def. Utah State, 4½-1½
#1—*Julio Arronte (USU) def. Justin Biwer (CU), 1 & 3 (15)
#2—Dylan McDermott (CU) def. Ashton McArthur, 5 & 4
#3—Tucker Clark (CU) def. Enrique Karg, 3 & 2
#4—Hunter Swanson (CU) def. Luis Cantu, 2 up
#5—Freddy Eisenbeis (CU) tied Esteban Jaramillo, AS
#6—Brandon Knight (CU) def. John Cook, 4 & 3
Colorado def. Sacramento State, 5-1
#1—Justin Biwer (CU) def. Zach Mate, 5 & 4
#2—*Dylan McDermott (CU) def. Jeffrey Perry, 3 up (14)
#3—Tucker Clark (CU) def. Luke Dugger, 3 & 1
#4—Hunter Swanson (CU) def. Jake Aberle, 8 & 6
#5—*Gabriel Smith (SSU) def. Freddy Eisenbeis, 1 up (17)
#6—Brandon Knight (CU) def. Zach Matzke, 3 & 2
*—matches called once CU was determined the winner.
Quarterfinals
No. 1 Cal State Fullerton def. No. 8 UC Santa Barbara, 3½-2½
No. 2 Colorado def. No. 7 Utah State, 4½-1½
No. 5 UC Irvine def. No. 4 Wyoming, 3½-2½
No. 6 Sacramento State def. No. 3 Pacific, 3-3 (won on tiebreakers)
Semifinals
No. 1 Cal State Fullerton def. No. 5 UC Irvine, 3½-2½
No. 2 Colorado def. No. 6 Sacramento State, 5-1
Semifinals (consolation bracket)
No. 4 Wyoming def. No. 8 UC Santa Barbara, 3½-2½
No. 3 Pacific def. No. 7 Utah State, 4½-1½
Finals
No. 1 Cal State Fullerton vs. No. 2 Colorado
Third Place
No. 5 UC Irvine vs. No. 6 Sacramento State
Fifth Place
No. 3 Pacific vs. No. 4 Wyoming
Seventh Place
No. 7 Utah State vs. No. 8 UC Santa Barbara
Players Mentioned
