Colorado University Athletics
Friday, March 29
San Francisco, Calif.
All Day
Colorado
vs
Second Round
Brandon Knight continued to lead CU in Stanford's "The Goodwin"
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Men's Golfers Slip Two Spots Into A Tie For 22nd In "The Goodwin"
March 29, 2024 | Men's Golf
Locals Knight, McDermott Pacing Buffaloes
SAN FRANCISCO — The University of Colorado men's golf team experienced another tough finish and overall rough day as the Buffaloes slipped two notches into a tie for 22nd place after here Friday with two rounds now complete in Stanford's "The Goodwin."
Utah, ranked 73rd, is the surprise leader with a 3-over 563 score, as the Utes turned in one of just two subpar team scores Friday (a 1-under 279). That wrestled the lead away from No.22 Georgia, now one back at 584; No. 7 Tennessee and No. 81 San Francisco are tied for third, two back at 565, with host and No. 44 Stanford three off the pace (566).
The No. 62 Buffaloes are tied with Arkansas-Little Rock with 24-over 584 scores; CU posted a second round effort of 11-over 291, two better than its opening round. The Buffs were hanging in there but closed on one of, if not the toughest holes on the course, the dogleg 468-yard, par-4 18th. Combined with it being the No. 2 handicap hole, the rain and gusting winds didn't help matters for all eight teams that started on No. 1 in the morning. CU lost four shots by its scorers on the hole to close out the day and fell to an 11-over 291 for the round and a 24-over 584 through 36 holes (the Buffs lost six down the stretch on Thursday on the front side).
The eight teams dropped 29 strokes combined on the 18th; the eight that started on No. 10 before conditions really worsened lost 15 strokes, but six of those were by California. Through 36 holes, No. 18 is playing to +0.57 over par, with just 20 birdies out of 336 attempts at the hole (and 162 bogeys or worse).
Freshman Brandon Knight continued to pace the Buffaloes, as he fashioned a 2-over 72 in round two and stands tied for 36th with a 3-over 143 total. He had a team-high four birdies with nine pars against four bogeys and a double on his second time around the 7,193-yard, par-70 TPC Harding Park course design. Sitting at 4-over par through 15, he nailed back-to-back birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 and was the only Buffalo Friday to par the troublesome 18th hole. He continued to play the par-4's the best, even over the two days which is tied for 11th-best in the 168-man field.
Dylan McDermott is tied for 53rd as he posted CU's best score in the second round, a 1-over 71 that has him at 5-over 145; he jumped up 39 spots in the individual standings. He had a spectacular round going, as he scored birdies on Nos. 4 and 7 and was 2-under through 16 until he ran into trouble late. After bogeying the 175-yard, par-3 17th, he ended his day with a double bogey on 18. He also has managed the par-4's well, tied for 15th-best at just 1-over for the 24 of those combined over two rounds.
Both Knight and McDermott hail from Northern California – Knight is roughly 35 miles west of his native Pleasanton and where he went to Foothill High School, while McDermott is from Granite Bay, about 100 miles to the northwest of the Bay Area.
Junior Tucker Clark turned in a 2-over 72, shaving four strokes off his first round effort and is tied for 92nd with an 8-over 148 score; he moved up 45 spots in the standings. He was the only Buff who avoided a hole worse than a bogey in the second round, as he had a birdie and 14 pars with three bogeys. He made the turn at 2-over and got it back down to plus-1 after he birdied the par-4 16th, but closed his day with a bogey on the treacherous 18th. The par-3s at TPC Harding can be brutal, but he's played the eight combined at even over both days, tied for 11th-best in the field, with his 26 pars tied for sixth overall.
Junior Justin Biwer is also tied for 92nd after a 6-over 76 has his total at 8-over 148. He had two birdies and nine pars with six bogeys and a double on Friday. He had it going early, scoring his birds back-to-back on Nos. 4 and 5 and was under par at that point, but he closed double bogey-par-bogey to drop three strokes late.
Sophomore Hunter Swanson continued to struggle, turning in a 7-over 77 for a 13-over 153 total, which has him tied for 146th. He's had a rough time of it the last four rounds starting earlier in the week in Oregon, as this was just his ninth career round out of 66 that he has posted 76 or higher; but three have come since Monday. He had a birdie and 12 pars Friday, with most of his overage coming on the day's two toughest holes – a double bogey on No. 12 and a triple on No. 18.
Georgia's Ben Van Wyk took over the individual lead, carding a 3-under 67 to for a 4-under 136 overall score. He has one of just two eagles recorded here in two days, which is the difference as he owns a one stroke lead over Utah's Braxton Watts, who posted the best score of the event Friday (a 4-under 66), and a two-shot lead over three other players, the four in pursuit all of whom moved up at least 18 spots in the standings after day one.
—over—
Utah, ranked 73rd, is the surprise leader with a 3-over 563 score, as the Utes turned in one of just two subpar team scores Friday (a 1-under 279). That wrestled the lead away from No.22 Georgia, now one back at 584; No. 7 Tennessee and No. 81 San Francisco are tied for third, two back at 565, with host and No. 44 Stanford three off the pace (566).
The No. 62 Buffaloes are tied with Arkansas-Little Rock with 24-over 584 scores; CU posted a second round effort of 11-over 291, two better than its opening round. The Buffs were hanging in there but closed on one of, if not the toughest holes on the course, the dogleg 468-yard, par-4 18th. Combined with it being the No. 2 handicap hole, the rain and gusting winds didn't help matters for all eight teams that started on No. 1 in the morning. CU lost four shots by its scorers on the hole to close out the day and fell to an 11-over 291 for the round and a 24-over 584 through 36 holes (the Buffs lost six down the stretch on Thursday on the front side).
The eight teams dropped 29 strokes combined on the 18th; the eight that started on No. 10 before conditions really worsened lost 15 strokes, but six of those were by California. Through 36 holes, No. 18 is playing to +0.57 over par, with just 20 birdies out of 336 attempts at the hole (and 162 bogeys or worse).
Freshman Brandon Knight continued to pace the Buffaloes, as he fashioned a 2-over 72 in round two and stands tied for 36th with a 3-over 143 total. He had a team-high four birdies with nine pars against four bogeys and a double on his second time around the 7,193-yard, par-70 TPC Harding Park course design. Sitting at 4-over par through 15, he nailed back-to-back birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 and was the only Buffalo Friday to par the troublesome 18th hole. He continued to play the par-4's the best, even over the two days which is tied for 11th-best in the 168-man field.
Dylan McDermott is tied for 53rd as he posted CU's best score in the second round, a 1-over 71 that has him at 5-over 145; he jumped up 39 spots in the individual standings. He had a spectacular round going, as he scored birdies on Nos. 4 and 7 and was 2-under through 16 until he ran into trouble late. After bogeying the 175-yard, par-3 17th, he ended his day with a double bogey on 18. He also has managed the par-4's well, tied for 15th-best at just 1-over for the 24 of those combined over two rounds.
Both Knight and McDermott hail from Northern California – Knight is roughly 35 miles west of his native Pleasanton and where he went to Foothill High School, while McDermott is from Granite Bay, about 100 miles to the northwest of the Bay Area.
Junior Tucker Clark turned in a 2-over 72, shaving four strokes off his first round effort and is tied for 92nd with an 8-over 148 score; he moved up 45 spots in the standings. He was the only Buff who avoided a hole worse than a bogey in the second round, as he had a birdie and 14 pars with three bogeys. He made the turn at 2-over and got it back down to plus-1 after he birdied the par-4 16th, but closed his day with a bogey on the treacherous 18th. The par-3s at TPC Harding can be brutal, but he's played the eight combined at even over both days, tied for 11th-best in the field, with his 26 pars tied for sixth overall.
Junior Justin Biwer is also tied for 92nd after a 6-over 76 has his total at 8-over 148. He had two birdies and nine pars with six bogeys and a double on Friday. He had it going early, scoring his birds back-to-back on Nos. 4 and 5 and was under par at that point, but he closed double bogey-par-bogey to drop three strokes late.
Sophomore Hunter Swanson continued to struggle, turning in a 7-over 77 for a 13-over 153 total, which has him tied for 146th. He's had a rough time of it the last four rounds starting earlier in the week in Oregon, as this was just his ninth career round out of 66 that he has posted 76 or higher; but three have come since Monday. He had a birdie and 12 pars Friday, with most of his overage coming on the day's two toughest holes – a double bogey on No. 12 and a triple on No. 18.
Georgia's Ben Van Wyk took over the individual lead, carding a 3-under 67 to for a 4-under 136 overall score. He has one of just two eagles recorded here in two days, which is the difference as he owns a one stroke lead over Utah's Braxton Watts, who posted the best score of the event Friday (a 4-under 66), and a two-shot lead over three other players, the four in pursuit all of whom moved up at least 18 spots in the standings after day one.
—over—
Buffaloes In Tie For 20th In Stanford's The Goodwin / 2-2-2
"A really tough time today. The guys battled through it, and I'm very proud of them for that," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "It was tough finishing on 18 when we did. Almost every player in most of the groups really struggled on that hole. Either way, we could have played it better even in the conditions we had. Dylan, Tucker and Brandon all played really strong rounds. Justin and Hunter did a good job of hanging in there.'
"There still is an opportunity for us to have a good round Saturday and move up the board," he added. The Buffs are just 11 strokes back from the top 10 heading into the final 18 holes, a margin a good-to-great round can easily reduce.
Things are bunched up pretty tight, as just six strokes separate the top eight teams, and after a four-stroke span, 11 shots separate the ninth through 23rd teams. Thus a lot of movement is expected in the final round.
The third and final round is set for Saturday; the Buffaloes will tee off first at 9 a.m. MDT, starting on the No. 1 tee and will be paired with Pac-12 colleagues California and Washington State along with Arkansas-Little Rock.
NOTES: CU played in the morning with the temperature in the low 50s, with rain constant and the winds gusting up to 15 miles per hour; conditions didn't improve much for the start of afternoon round but eventually got better toward the end … It should be warmer, into the low 60s, and the sun is expected to break through by mid-morning but there is still a chance of rain at times … This is one of the most competitive tournaments of golf's regular season; of the 31 schools here, 10 are ranked in Scoreboard's latest top 50, 18 in the top 75 and 22 in the top 100 (306 schools compete in Division I) … The average score for all 336 rounds so far is 73.47 (73.72 on Friday, though that dropped from 74.13 from the morning duffers, and 73.22 on Thursday) … There are only 11 players under par (but six of those at just minus-1), with six others matching it … There were 11 scores in the 80s Friday after five on day one … The Buffs are tied for 11th in pars (111; four teams are tied with the most, 118), while making the 18th-most birdies (20, Utah has made the most with 32) … Colorado played the par-4's tied for the 12th-best at 24-over, the par-3's (tied for 17th, 12-over) but the par-5s, one of CU's more dominant stats, well down the line at 1-over (tied for 26th).
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
| T36. | Brandon Knight | 71-72—143 |
| T53. | Dylan McDermott | 74-71—145 |
| T92. | Justin Biwer | 72-76—148 |
| T92. | Tucker Clark | 76-72—148 |
| T146. | Hunter Swanson | 76-77—153 |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Ben Van Wyk, Georgia | 69-67—136 |
| 2. | Braxton Watts, Utah | 71-66—137 |
| T3. | Kristoffer Kuvaas, Pepperdine | 71-67—138 |
| T3. | Pablo Ereno, UCLA | 70-68—138 |
| T3. | William Walsh, Pepperdine | 70-68—138 |
| TEAM STANDINGS |
| 1. | Utah | 284-279—563 |
| 2. | Georgia | 279-285—564 |
| 3. | San Francisco | 289-286—565 |
| 3. | Tennessee | 279-286—565 |
| 5. | Stanford | 279-287—566 |
| 6. | Georgia Tech | 283-284—567 |
| 7. | BYU | 280-288—568 |
| 8. | Pepperdine | 281-288—569 |
| 9. | Clemson | 285-288—573 |
| 9. | UCLA | 287-286—573 |
| 11. | UC Davis | 282-293—575 |
| 12. | Oregon | 290-287—577 |
| 12. | San Diego | 293-284—577 |
| 14. | San Jose State | 291-287—578 |
| 15. | Santa Clara | 289-291—580 |
| 16. | San Diego State | 293-288—581 |
| 16. | Nevada | 286-295—581 |
| 16. | Oregon State | 290-291—581 |
| 19. | Cal Poly | 292-290—582 |
| 20. | Long Beach State | 293-290—583 |
| 20. | California | 285-298—583 |
| 22. | COLORADO | 293-291—584 |
| 22. | Arkansas-Little Rock | 292-292—584 |
| 24. | Washington State | 294-291—585 |
| 25. | Lipscomb | 295-291—586 |
| 26. | Utah Tech | 296-295—591 |
| 27. | California Baptist | 296-298—594 |
| 27. | Southern California | 295-299—594 |
| 29. | Howard | 295-303—598 |
| 30. | TCU | 300-299—599 |
| 31. | Appalachian State | 297-303—600 |
Players Mentioned
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