Colorado University Athletics
Wednesday, March 20
Windsor, Colo.
All Day
Colorado
vs
Second Round
Jack Holland and Robby Keilch finished 1-2 for the Buffaloes.
Holland Grabs Medalist Honors In Battle at the Dance
March 20, 2024 | Men's Golf
All Four Participating Buffaloes Finish In The Top Five
WINDSOR — University of Colorado junior Jack Holland gradually pulled away from the rest of the field and finished nine strokes ahead of the field in claiming medalist honors in the inaugural "Battle at the Dance" here Wednesday.
Albeit not a major tournament, it marks the 14th straight year at least one Buffalo has been a tournament medalist, dating back to the 2010-11 season. His --- victory eclipsed the previous largest margin of victory by a CU player, seven strokes by John Lindberg in the 1989 BYU Cougar Classic.
Holland followed up a 67 on Tuesday with a 7-under 65, on the 7,135-yard, par-72 RainDance National Resort & Golf club course. His 12-under par 132 was his career best for 36 holes, and a strong start Wednesday expanded a two-stroke lead he took into the final round. Starting on No. 10, he birdied six of his first 14 holes before recording his only bogey, which he followed up with two birdies. Over the two days, he had 14 birdies, the most in the field, 20 pars and just two bogeys in winning his first collegiate event. He played the par-5 holes the best at 8-under, and was also 2-under on all the par-3s and par-4s.
"From the get-go, Jack was cool, comfortable and confident in what he was doing," said associate head coach Derek Tolan, who coached the team in the event. "You could tell by his body language that he was in full control of everything he was doing. What impressed me the most was how relaxed he was. He was always looking forward and didn't let any perturb him."
"I was locked in," Holland said. "My short game and iron play were really solid, and in the last round, I was hitting my drives more consistently into better spots, which really aided my shots into the greens. And I hit a few more putts. It feels good to get a win – I was using this tournament as a building block toward the rest of the season. It was good to see some progression from all the work I've been putting in while the other guys were away in tournaments. I think things are heading in the right direction, so we'll see where everything goes from here on out."
Sophomore Robby Keilch grabbed runner-up honors with a 71-70—141 scorecard (3-under par). He put up his collegiate best numbers and recorded 10 birdies over the two rounds (five each day), with 19 pars and seven bogeys. Had it not been for some struggles on holes 3 through 6, where he scored six of his bogeys, he was 9-under on the other 14 holes, including playing the par-5s at 6-under.
It was the sixth time in a multiple round tournament that CU had the top two finishers, the first time since 2019. Tolan himself was in one of those occasions, when he finished second when Patrick Grady was medalist in the 2008 Ron Moore Invitational in Denver.
Junior Freddy Eisenbeis and freshman Ty Holbrook tied for fifth with 1-under 143 totals; Holbrook closed with a 1-under 71 while Eisenbeis shot par Wednesday. Holbrook's round was highlighted by his first collegiate eagle, with three birdies and 12 pars (seven and a team-high 21 respectively). Eisenbeis had 10 birdies and 18 pars, five and nine of each both rounds.
"As a whole, the other three also played really, really well," Tolan continued. "They were just overshadowed by how well Jack played. This was not an easy course by any means, there's trouble on almost every shot and the greens were hard. In the end, it was just some serious, serious golf by Jack. Robby did play really well. Other than those same stretch of holes each day, he played better than what he posted. A lot of really good signs for him, he kept things simple. Freddy and Ty finishing under par and in the top five also showed they had plenty of good moments as well."
The Buffaloes as a full team return to action Monday, hitting the west coast for two events during CU's spring break, the Oregon Duck Invitational in Eugene (March 25-26) and Stanford's The Goodwin in San Francisco (March 28-30).
NOTES: Holland's win was the 75th time a CU golfer earned medalist honors in the school's 104-year history … CU, Colorado State and Northern Colorado, all NCAA Division I schools, had individuals entered in the event, hosted by NAIA-member Hastings (Neb.); they had eight players participating, seven of whom finished atop the leaderboard … Eastern Wyoming won the men's team title, and there was also a women's tournament, won by Bellevue … RainDance National opened in mid-summer 2022 and is billed as the "Longest course in North America." The back tees play at 8,463 yards … The 18-hole round featured five par-3s and par-5s and eight par-4s; the five par-5 holes alone added to 2,811 yards in the event.
Albeit not a major tournament, it marks the 14th straight year at least one Buffalo has been a tournament medalist, dating back to the 2010-11 season. His --- victory eclipsed the previous largest margin of victory by a CU player, seven strokes by John Lindberg in the 1989 BYU Cougar Classic.
Holland followed up a 67 on Tuesday with a 7-under 65, on the 7,135-yard, par-72 RainDance National Resort & Golf club course. His 12-under par 132 was his career best for 36 holes, and a strong start Wednesday expanded a two-stroke lead he took into the final round. Starting on No. 10, he birdied six of his first 14 holes before recording his only bogey, which he followed up with two birdies. Over the two days, he had 14 birdies, the most in the field, 20 pars and just two bogeys in winning his first collegiate event. He played the par-5 holes the best at 8-under, and was also 2-under on all the par-3s and par-4s.
"From the get-go, Jack was cool, comfortable and confident in what he was doing," said associate head coach Derek Tolan, who coached the team in the event. "You could tell by his body language that he was in full control of everything he was doing. What impressed me the most was how relaxed he was. He was always looking forward and didn't let any perturb him."
"I was locked in," Holland said. "My short game and iron play were really solid, and in the last round, I was hitting my drives more consistently into better spots, which really aided my shots into the greens. And I hit a few more putts. It feels good to get a win – I was using this tournament as a building block toward the rest of the season. It was good to see some progression from all the work I've been putting in while the other guys were away in tournaments. I think things are heading in the right direction, so we'll see where everything goes from here on out."
Sophomore Robby Keilch grabbed runner-up honors with a 71-70—141 scorecard (3-under par). He put up his collegiate best numbers and recorded 10 birdies over the two rounds (five each day), with 19 pars and seven bogeys. Had it not been for some struggles on holes 3 through 6, where he scored six of his bogeys, he was 9-under on the other 14 holes, including playing the par-5s at 6-under.
It was the sixth time in a multiple round tournament that CU had the top two finishers, the first time since 2019. Tolan himself was in one of those occasions, when he finished second when Patrick Grady was medalist in the 2008 Ron Moore Invitational in Denver.
Junior Freddy Eisenbeis and freshman Ty Holbrook tied for fifth with 1-under 143 totals; Holbrook closed with a 1-under 71 while Eisenbeis shot par Wednesday. Holbrook's round was highlighted by his first collegiate eagle, with three birdies and 12 pars (seven and a team-high 21 respectively). Eisenbeis had 10 birdies and 18 pars, five and nine of each both rounds.
"As a whole, the other three also played really, really well," Tolan continued. "They were just overshadowed by how well Jack played. This was not an easy course by any means, there's trouble on almost every shot and the greens were hard. In the end, it was just some serious, serious golf by Jack. Robby did play really well. Other than those same stretch of holes each day, he played better than what he posted. A lot of really good signs for him, he kept things simple. Freddy and Ty finishing under par and in the top five also showed they had plenty of good moments as well."
The Buffaloes as a full team return to action Monday, hitting the west coast for two events during CU's spring break, the Oregon Duck Invitational in Eugene (March 25-26) and Stanford's The Goodwin in San Francisco (March 28-30).
NOTES: Holland's win was the 75th time a CU golfer earned medalist honors in the school's 104-year history … CU, Colorado State and Northern Colorado, all NCAA Division I schools, had individuals entered in the event, hosted by NAIA-member Hastings (Neb.); they had eight players participating, seven of whom finished atop the leaderboard … Eastern Wyoming won the men's team title, and there was also a women's tournament, won by Bellevue … RainDance National opened in mid-summer 2022 and is billed as the "Longest course in North America." The back tees play at 8,463 yards … The 18-hole round featured five par-3s and par-5s and eight par-4s; the five par-5 holes alone added to 2,811 yards in the event.
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
| 1. | Jack Holland | 67-65—132 |
| 2. | Robby Keilch | 71-70—141 |
| T5. | Freddy Eisenbeis | 71-72—143 |
| T5. | Ty Holbrook | 72-71—143 |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Jack Holland, Colorado | 67-65—132 |
| 2. | Robby Keilch, Colorado | 71-70—141 |
| T3. | Jake Rodgers, Colorado State | 72-70—142 |
| T3. | Blake Danni, Northern Colorado | 69-73—142 |
Players Mentioned
Join us for the 15th Annual Colorado Golf Day on August 25 at Boulder Country Club! ⛳
Tuesday, August 12
Buffalo Stampede WEEK 24
Tuesday, February 06
Buffalo Stampede Week 24 TUCKER CLARK
Tuesday, February 06
Afternoon Tee with Matt Thurmond
Monday, June 08