Colorado University Athletics
Monday, March 25
Eugene, Ore.
All Day
Colorado
vs
First Two Rounds
Justin Biwer chips it close during Monday's rainy 36 holes in Oregon.
Photo by: © Erik Dresser - 2024
Golfers Tied For Eighth In Rainy Oregon Duck Invite
March 25, 2024 | Men's Golf
Biwer Pacing Colorado Attack
EUGENE, Ore. — The University of Colorado men's golf team had a rather pedestrian day here Monday as the Buffaloes finished the first two rounds of the 34th annual Oregon Duck Invitational in a tie for eighth place.
The teams dealt with light rain falling on-and-off all day, and after 36 holes of play, host and No. 24 Oregon and No. 21 Illinois share the team lead with 4-over par 572 team scores. But things are tight, as just four strokes separate the top seven in the standings. Utah holds down third (573), Colorado State fourth (574), No. 30 Oklahoma State and No. 52 San Jose State are tied for fifth (575) with No. 41 Northwestern in at 576.
The Buffaloes, ranked 58th, and No. 46-ranked Fresno State are tied for eighth with 16-over 584 team totals. The Buffs were in a little better position with two holes left, but the four scorers recorded five bogeys down the stretch. Colorado was tied with Illinois for 10th after the morning round, both turning in 10-over 294 team scores; Oklahoma State and Oregon led with 1-under 283's. Eleven of the nation's top 64 teams are competing here (306 are ranked overall), thus it is fairly strong field competing in the Pacific Northwest early spring elements.
Junior Justin Biwer opened with a 4-over 75 but bounced back with CU's best rounds of the day – a 1-under 70 – for a 3-over 145 score that has him tied for 23rd. After a birdie, 12 pars and five bogeys in the morning, he scored three birdies and 13 pars with just two bogeys on his second go-round on the 6997-yard, par-71 Eugene Country Club course track. It was one of just 11 subpar scores posted in the afternoon (five in the 60s).
Dylan McDermott is tied for 32nd after a pair of 73's for a 4-over 146 total. He did so in identical fashion, with three birdies, 10 pars and five bogeys on each go-round. He was headed for a subpar score, if not one in the 60s, but bogeyed three of his last seven holes. He did play the par-5's at 4-under, tied for third-best in the 88-man field.
Freshman Brandon Knight is tied for 41st after a 75-72—147 day (5-over). He fluctuated his entire second round between being even and 1-over, but the round did feature a birdie on the 228-yard, par-3 2nd hole, one of just nine scored on what averaged out to be the third-toughest hole Monday. He had a team-high 28 pars, 15 in the morning when he was birdie-less, but he came back with two in the second rounds with 13 more pars. He played the par-3's at 1-under, tied for second-best overall, as we his 28 total pars.
Junior Tucker Clark is tied for 46th after a 6-over 73-75—148 performance. He had two birdies and 26 pars opposite eight bogeys for his day, with most of his overage on the par-3s, which he played at 5-over. He, too, was cruising late until making bogeys on three of his final four holes.
Sophomore Hunter Swanson had a most uncharacteristic day, as he is tied for 65th after a 73-79—152 effort (10-over). He had two birdies and 23 pars opposite 10 bogey sand a double. The team leader coming in on par-5 holes on the season and where he does the most damage (at 44-under), he played the six combined Monday at even. He did gather himself to par the last four holes of his day.
Junior Jack Holland is competing here as an individual, and is tied for 77th after a 77-78—155 netted him a 13-over score. He had the unfortunate draw of starting each round on the day's second-toughest hole, the 443-yard, par-4 18th which he double-bogeyed each time. That, along with playing the par-3s at 6-over accounted for 10 of those strokes on the unhappy side of par. He had three birdies and 20 pars and played the par-5s at 3-under, which did tie for ninth in the field.
"It was a really nice round from Justin in the afternoon," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "Eugene Country Club, which is challenging on a good day, started to really play hard. Our team does a really good job of playing 'okay' when we don't have our best. It is a sign of their competitiveness. We are always impressed with how well they compete and did that again today. We expect a good round tomorrow."
Fresno State's Matt Manganello was the only player to record two rounds in the 60s, with his 5-under par 68-69—137 scorecard good for a three-shot lead over two players heading into the final round.
The third and final round is set for a 9:30 a.m. MDT shotgun start; the Buffaloes will be paired with San Jose State, Oklahoma State and Northwestern in foursomes. Immediately following the completion of play, the Buffaloes will head south to San Francisco to take part in Stanford's The Goodwin, Thursday through Saturday.
NOTES: It was a cool day, temperatures making it into the low 50s in the afternoon with cloudy skies with constant light rain on and off; the forecast is the same for Tuesday … Other than Utah which had just one, CU had just two holes worse than bogey; all other teams had at least three … The average score for both rounds Monday was 74.03 (175 rounds overall; 73.97 for the first round, 74.16 for the second) … Only four players are under par with three others matching it through 36 holes … Biwer's 1-under 70 was his 54th career subpar round and 68th one of par or better; third in the latter, his next red number will tie him with Daniel O'Loughlin for the third most on that list … The Buffs led the field in pars with 122, besting Oklahoma State and Oregon State (119), but tied for last in birdies with the Beavers (16, half of Illinois' leading total of 32) … Colorado played the par-5's the fifth-best Monday at 8-under, and the par-3's and par-4's both at eighth best (12-over and 24-over, respectively) … Most of the previous 33 champions in the event have hailed from the Pacific Time Zone; only Oklahoma State (2011) and Liberty (2018 co-champs) have cracked the list … This is CU's seventh appearance in the ODI, with its best finish a pair of fourth-place efforts in 2009 and 2014; Jeremy Paul was the co-medalist as a freshman in 2014 (3-under 213) … The Buffs tied for fifth last year, with Biwer tying for nine (4-over 217).
The teams dealt with light rain falling on-and-off all day, and after 36 holes of play, host and No. 24 Oregon and No. 21 Illinois share the team lead with 4-over par 572 team scores. But things are tight, as just four strokes separate the top seven in the standings. Utah holds down third (573), Colorado State fourth (574), No. 30 Oklahoma State and No. 52 San Jose State are tied for fifth (575) with No. 41 Northwestern in at 576.
The Buffaloes, ranked 58th, and No. 46-ranked Fresno State are tied for eighth with 16-over 584 team totals. The Buffs were in a little better position with two holes left, but the four scorers recorded five bogeys down the stretch. Colorado was tied with Illinois for 10th after the morning round, both turning in 10-over 294 team scores; Oklahoma State and Oregon led with 1-under 283's. Eleven of the nation's top 64 teams are competing here (306 are ranked overall), thus it is fairly strong field competing in the Pacific Northwest early spring elements.
Junior Justin Biwer opened with a 4-over 75 but bounced back with CU's best rounds of the day – a 1-under 70 – for a 3-over 145 score that has him tied for 23rd. After a birdie, 12 pars and five bogeys in the morning, he scored three birdies and 13 pars with just two bogeys on his second go-round on the 6997-yard, par-71 Eugene Country Club course track. It was one of just 11 subpar scores posted in the afternoon (five in the 60s).
Dylan McDermott is tied for 32nd after a pair of 73's for a 4-over 146 total. He did so in identical fashion, with three birdies, 10 pars and five bogeys on each go-round. He was headed for a subpar score, if not one in the 60s, but bogeyed three of his last seven holes. He did play the par-5's at 4-under, tied for third-best in the 88-man field.
Freshman Brandon Knight is tied for 41st after a 75-72—147 day (5-over). He fluctuated his entire second round between being even and 1-over, but the round did feature a birdie on the 228-yard, par-3 2nd hole, one of just nine scored on what averaged out to be the third-toughest hole Monday. He had a team-high 28 pars, 15 in the morning when he was birdie-less, but he came back with two in the second rounds with 13 more pars. He played the par-3's at 1-under, tied for second-best overall, as we his 28 total pars.
Junior Tucker Clark is tied for 46th after a 6-over 73-75—148 performance. He had two birdies and 26 pars opposite eight bogeys for his day, with most of his overage on the par-3s, which he played at 5-over. He, too, was cruising late until making bogeys on three of his final four holes.
Sophomore Hunter Swanson had a most uncharacteristic day, as he is tied for 65th after a 73-79—152 effort (10-over). He had two birdies and 23 pars opposite 10 bogey sand a double. The team leader coming in on par-5 holes on the season and where he does the most damage (at 44-under), he played the six combined Monday at even. He did gather himself to par the last four holes of his day.
Junior Jack Holland is competing here as an individual, and is tied for 77th after a 77-78—155 netted him a 13-over score. He had the unfortunate draw of starting each round on the day's second-toughest hole, the 443-yard, par-4 18th which he double-bogeyed each time. That, along with playing the par-3s at 6-over accounted for 10 of those strokes on the unhappy side of par. He had three birdies and 20 pars and played the par-5s at 3-under, which did tie for ninth in the field.
"It was a really nice round from Justin in the afternoon," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "Eugene Country Club, which is challenging on a good day, started to really play hard. Our team does a really good job of playing 'okay' when we don't have our best. It is a sign of their competitiveness. We are always impressed with how well they compete and did that again today. We expect a good round tomorrow."
Fresno State's Matt Manganello was the only player to record two rounds in the 60s, with his 5-under par 68-69—137 scorecard good for a three-shot lead over two players heading into the final round.
The third and final round is set for a 9:30 a.m. MDT shotgun start; the Buffaloes will be paired with San Jose State, Oklahoma State and Northwestern in foursomes. Immediately following the completion of play, the Buffaloes will head south to San Francisco to take part in Stanford's The Goodwin, Thursday through Saturday.
NOTES: It was a cool day, temperatures making it into the low 50s in the afternoon with cloudy skies with constant light rain on and off; the forecast is the same for Tuesday … Other than Utah which had just one, CU had just two holes worse than bogey; all other teams had at least three … The average score for both rounds Monday was 74.03 (175 rounds overall; 73.97 for the first round, 74.16 for the second) … Only four players are under par with three others matching it through 36 holes … Biwer's 1-under 70 was his 54th career subpar round and 68th one of par or better; third in the latter, his next red number will tie him with Daniel O'Loughlin for the third most on that list … The Buffs led the field in pars with 122, besting Oklahoma State and Oregon State (119), but tied for last in birdies with the Beavers (16, half of Illinois' leading total of 32) … Colorado played the par-5's the fifth-best Monday at 8-under, and the par-3's and par-4's both at eighth best (12-over and 24-over, respectively) … Most of the previous 33 champions in the event have hailed from the Pacific Time Zone; only Oklahoma State (2011) and Liberty (2018 co-champs) have cracked the list … This is CU's seventh appearance in the ODI, with its best finish a pair of fourth-place efforts in 2009 and 2014; Jeremy Paul was the co-medalist as a freshman in 2014 (3-under 213) … The Buffs tied for fifth last year, with Biwer tying for nine (4-over 217).
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
| T23. | Justin Biwer | 75-70—145 |
| T32. | Dylan McDermott | 73-73—146 |
| T41. | Brandon Knight | 75-72—147 |
| T46. | Tucker Clark | 73-75—148 |
| T65. | Hunter Swanson | 73-79—152 |
| T77. | *Jack Holland | 77-78—155 |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Matt Manganello, Fresno State | 68-69—137 |
| T2. | Mason Snyder, LMU | 74-66—140 |
| T2. | Jackson Buchanan, Illinois | 73-67—140 |
| T2. | Rayhan Thomas, Oklahoma State | 67-73—140 |
| 5. | Javier Barcos, Utah | 69-72—141 |
| TEAM STANDINGS |
| 1. | Illinois | 294-278—572 |
| 1. | Oregon | 283-289—572 |
| 3. | Utah | 285-288—573 |
| 4. | Colorado State | 293-281—574 |
| 5. | San Jose State | 288-287—575 |
| 5. | Oklahoma State | 283-292—575 |
| 7. | Northwestern | 289-287—576 |
| 8. | COLORADO | 294-290—584 |
| 8. | Fresno State | 285-299—584 |
| 10. | Loyola-Marymount | 293-293—586 |
| 11. | Oregon State | 296-298—594 |
| 12. | Boise State | 293-301—594 |
| 13. | Texas-El Paso | 298-298—596 |
| 14. | Cal Poly | 295-302—597 |
| 15. | Grand Canyon | 296-303—599 |
Players Mentioned
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