Colorado University Athletics
Thursday, March 27
Palo Alto, Calif.
All Day
Colorado
vs
First Round
Ty Holbrook led CU's day off with a birdie and finished with a 2-under 68.
Photo by: Jimmy McDermott
Golfers Share Lead After One Round of Stanford's "The Goodwin"
March 27, 2025 | Men's Golf
Three Buffaloes post rounds in the 60's
PALO ALTO, Calif. — The 32nd-ranked University of Colorado men's golf team continued one of its best seasons to date in its history here Thursday by opening in a tie for first after one round of Stanford's "The Goodwin."
Thanks to a late flourish, the Buffaloes caught No. 31 Brigham Young for the first round lead, both posting a 5-under par team scores of 275; the Buffaloes used a strong finish to jump from fourth into the tie with the Cougars; both schools were paired together in the first round and will be again Friday. Colorado's four scorers recorded six birdies and 10 pars to close out the round, zooming from 1-over to 5-under in the process.
The Big 12 Conference owns the podium spots after 18 holes, as No. 13 Utah is in third, one back at 4-under 276; the Utes had actually surged into the lead by one but had two players bogey the 18th hole. No. 22 Pepperdine and No. 53 Santa Clara round out the top five, both tied for fourth with 2-under 278 totals. There are 13 of the current top 50 teams in the nation competing here this week.
It was Colorado's 18th subpar round this season out of 22 total, but three of the others were even-round totals. The 5-under 275 tied the Buffaloes' 10th-best score for a single round on a par-70 course, matching their second round score here in 2022 and behind only a 7-under 273 in the second round in 2016 in this event.
Colorado, Utah, Oregon and Arkansas-Little Rock were the only four teams have three players record rounds in the 60's on Wednesday. CU's scorers played the seven toughest holes the best in field in the first round at just 1-over; BYU and Utah were both 4-over on those (in order, Nos. 6, 3, 10, 17, 2, 12 and 13).
Junior Hunter Swanson is tied for third after he closed his round with three straight birdies for a 3-under par 67 on the 6,742-yard, par-70 Stanford Golf Course desig. He opened strong, with birdies on Nos. 1, 5, 6 and 7, but had a tough ending on the front nine, bogeying No. 8 and then double-bogeying No. 9; he dropped back to even after bogeying the 188-yard, par-3 14th hole, but rallied down the stretch to get back deep into a red number. He had seven birdies overall, the third time this season he's had that many in a single round and tied for the most in the 164-player field – to go with eight pars and the two bogeys and the one double.
Sophomore Ty Holbrook fashioned a 2-under 68, matching his first round best he has recorded on two other occasions this year, to stand tied for ninth. The first to tee off for the Buffs on Thursday, he made birdie on the 520-yard, par-5 1st hole. He then scored back-to-back bogeys, his only two of the round, to pop back over to the unhappy side of par for a few holes, until birdying the 186-yard, par-3 8th to get back to even. He then finished up with two birdies and eight pars to have four and 12, respectively, for day one.
Senior Justin Biwer turned in a 1-under 69, the 45th round in the 60's in his career, to tie for 17th heading into the second round. both tied for sixth after finishing up with 2-under 70s's. He was his usual steady self, within one stroke of even throughout the round, his third and last birdie on the 505-yard, par-5 16th hole planting him under par for the 72nd time in his career (and also his 90th round of par or better. He had three birdies and 13 pars – the latter tied for the fifth-most in the field – and just two bogeys.
Senior Dylan McDermott is tied for 48th after opening with a 1-over 71, just his second round this season that was over par (out of 22 overall; both are by just a single stroke). He opened bogey-birdie and did move into the red after birdying the 536-yard, par-5 7th, but a span of three bogeys in a four-hole stretch on the back nine pushed him back on the plus side. He regrouped and finish with three pars and a birdie.
Senior Jack Holland had a rollercoaster first round, ending his day with a 7-over 77 that has him tied for 137th. He opened the day with a birdie on No. 1, then went bogey-double-birdie before scoring his first par; in the end, he had four birdies and six pars opposite six bogeys, one double and a triple bogey. The par-4's hurt him the most, as he was 2-over on the par-3's, 2-under on the par-5's but 7-over on the midrange par-4's.
"It was a really good round – very workmanlike and disciplined in tough conditions on a challenging course," head coach Roy Edwards said. "Ty did a really nice job, as 68 is a tremendous round. And Hunter made a lot of birdies and in the end did Ty one better. Justin and Dylan were their normal selves and played with toughness. It wasn't 'Dutchy's' (Holland) best day, but he has played a lot of good golf here and I feel confident that he'll play great the next couple of days."
UCLA's Omar Morales grabbed the first round lead as the sun went down, closing with two birdies on his final three holes for a 5-under 65. That's good for a one stroke lead over Oregon's Ramil Saelim. Hastings, but there are 28 players within four strokes of the top spot at present.
The second round will commence Friday with Colorado (and half the field) teeing off at 8:05 a.m. MDT; the Buffaloes will again be paired with BYU, Georgia and Long Beach State and will begin on the No. 10 tee. The third and final round is set for Saturday.
NOTES: This is the 27th time Colorado has played in the event dating back to the 1980-81 season; it was originally called the U.S. Intercollegiate and then 'The Nelson." Colorado won it in 1992 (out of 24 teams), with junior Scott Petersen claiming runner-up honors (71-69-71—211); the Buffs also finished third in 2003 and fourth in 2016 … Light rain fell on and off at different times during the day, with the temperature only reaching a high of 61 degrees; winds prevailed most of the day between 5-11 miles per hour … This is CU's eighth tournament of the season as a full team, and it's sixth differing scoring lineup; Biwer, McDermott and Swanson have been designated in all eight … It is also the largest field CU has seen all year, with 30 teams and 164 individuals competing; 18 teams in the top 61 in the latest rankings are here, the deepest field CU has competing as well (along with 30 of the nation's top 150 ranked players) … In addition to being paired with BYU on Thursday, CU also played with No. 27 Long Beach State and No. 30 Georgia … The 67 was Swanson's team-best sixth opening round in the 60's this season, as he lowered his first round average to 69.38, which is actually third on the team behind Biwer (68.00) and sophomore Brandon Knight (69.29) … The average score for 163 rounds (one player did not finish) was 73.01; there are 29 players under par and another 18 ending round one up even … The Buffaloes combined on Wednesday for 21 birdies (the tournament-best, one more than Pepperdine) and 50 pars (16th; UCLA leads with 62); CU has the sixth-fewest bogeys (16; five teams have 15) and three doubles or worse (tied for eighth-fewest) … In addition, Colorado played the par-3's at 3-over (tied for fourth-best in the field), the par-4's at 7-over (tied for fifth) and the par-5's at 8-under (tied for seventh) … With three birdies Wednesday, Biwer tied Jeremy Paul (2013-17) for the CU record with 486; McDermott is third on the list with 462 … Biwer's 90 rounds of par or better have come in 133 career rounds, or 67.7 percent of the time …Colorado entered the meet with the most wins in the nation – 109 – with its 88.7 win percentage (109-13-2) behind only No. 1 Texas (106-10-1, .910) … The event is named for the late Wally Goodwin, who coached the Cardinal from 1987 through 2000 and led them to the 1994 NCAA title; after taking three seasons off, he returned as the head coach at Northern Colorado to help elevate the Bears to Division I status before retiring for good in 2007.
Thanks to a late flourish, the Buffaloes caught No. 31 Brigham Young for the first round lead, both posting a 5-under par team scores of 275; the Buffaloes used a strong finish to jump from fourth into the tie with the Cougars; both schools were paired together in the first round and will be again Friday. Colorado's four scorers recorded six birdies and 10 pars to close out the round, zooming from 1-over to 5-under in the process.
The Big 12 Conference owns the podium spots after 18 holes, as No. 13 Utah is in third, one back at 4-under 276; the Utes had actually surged into the lead by one but had two players bogey the 18th hole. No. 22 Pepperdine and No. 53 Santa Clara round out the top five, both tied for fourth with 2-under 278 totals. There are 13 of the current top 50 teams in the nation competing here this week.
It was Colorado's 18th subpar round this season out of 22 total, but three of the others were even-round totals. The 5-under 275 tied the Buffaloes' 10th-best score for a single round on a par-70 course, matching their second round score here in 2022 and behind only a 7-under 273 in the second round in 2016 in this event.
Colorado, Utah, Oregon and Arkansas-Little Rock were the only four teams have three players record rounds in the 60's on Wednesday. CU's scorers played the seven toughest holes the best in field in the first round at just 1-over; BYU and Utah were both 4-over on those (in order, Nos. 6, 3, 10, 17, 2, 12 and 13).
Junior Hunter Swanson is tied for third after he closed his round with three straight birdies for a 3-under par 67 on the 6,742-yard, par-70 Stanford Golf Course desig. He opened strong, with birdies on Nos. 1, 5, 6 and 7, but had a tough ending on the front nine, bogeying No. 8 and then double-bogeying No. 9; he dropped back to even after bogeying the 188-yard, par-3 14th hole, but rallied down the stretch to get back deep into a red number. He had seven birdies overall, the third time this season he's had that many in a single round and tied for the most in the 164-player field – to go with eight pars and the two bogeys and the one double.
Sophomore Ty Holbrook fashioned a 2-under 68, matching his first round best he has recorded on two other occasions this year, to stand tied for ninth. The first to tee off for the Buffs on Thursday, he made birdie on the 520-yard, par-5 1st hole. He then scored back-to-back bogeys, his only two of the round, to pop back over to the unhappy side of par for a few holes, until birdying the 186-yard, par-3 8th to get back to even. He then finished up with two birdies and eight pars to have four and 12, respectively, for day one.
Senior Justin Biwer turned in a 1-under 69, the 45th round in the 60's in his career, to tie for 17th heading into the second round. both tied for sixth after finishing up with 2-under 70s's. He was his usual steady self, within one stroke of even throughout the round, his third and last birdie on the 505-yard, par-5 16th hole planting him under par for the 72nd time in his career (and also his 90th round of par or better. He had three birdies and 13 pars – the latter tied for the fifth-most in the field – and just two bogeys.
Senior Dylan McDermott is tied for 48th after opening with a 1-over 71, just his second round this season that was over par (out of 22 overall; both are by just a single stroke). He opened bogey-birdie and did move into the red after birdying the 536-yard, par-5 7th, but a span of three bogeys in a four-hole stretch on the back nine pushed him back on the plus side. He regrouped and finish with three pars and a birdie.
Senior Jack Holland had a rollercoaster first round, ending his day with a 7-over 77 that has him tied for 137th. He opened the day with a birdie on No. 1, then went bogey-double-birdie before scoring his first par; in the end, he had four birdies and six pars opposite six bogeys, one double and a triple bogey. The par-4's hurt him the most, as he was 2-over on the par-3's, 2-under on the par-5's but 7-over on the midrange par-4's.
"It was a really good round – very workmanlike and disciplined in tough conditions on a challenging course," head coach Roy Edwards said. "Ty did a really nice job, as 68 is a tremendous round. And Hunter made a lot of birdies and in the end did Ty one better. Justin and Dylan were their normal selves and played with toughness. It wasn't 'Dutchy's' (Holland) best day, but he has played a lot of good golf here and I feel confident that he'll play great the next couple of days."
UCLA's Omar Morales grabbed the first round lead as the sun went down, closing with two birdies on his final three holes for a 5-under 65. That's good for a one stroke lead over Oregon's Ramil Saelim. Hastings, but there are 28 players within four strokes of the top spot at present.
The second round will commence Friday with Colorado (and half the field) teeing off at 8:05 a.m. MDT; the Buffaloes will again be paired with BYU, Georgia and Long Beach State and will begin on the No. 10 tee. The third and final round is set for Saturday.
NOTES: This is the 27th time Colorado has played in the event dating back to the 1980-81 season; it was originally called the U.S. Intercollegiate and then 'The Nelson." Colorado won it in 1992 (out of 24 teams), with junior Scott Petersen claiming runner-up honors (71-69-71—211); the Buffs also finished third in 2003 and fourth in 2016 … Light rain fell on and off at different times during the day, with the temperature only reaching a high of 61 degrees; winds prevailed most of the day between 5-11 miles per hour … This is CU's eighth tournament of the season as a full team, and it's sixth differing scoring lineup; Biwer, McDermott and Swanson have been designated in all eight … It is also the largest field CU has seen all year, with 30 teams and 164 individuals competing; 18 teams in the top 61 in the latest rankings are here, the deepest field CU has competing as well (along with 30 of the nation's top 150 ranked players) … In addition to being paired with BYU on Thursday, CU also played with No. 27 Long Beach State and No. 30 Georgia … The 67 was Swanson's team-best sixth opening round in the 60's this season, as he lowered his first round average to 69.38, which is actually third on the team behind Biwer (68.00) and sophomore Brandon Knight (69.29) … The average score for 163 rounds (one player did not finish) was 73.01; there are 29 players under par and another 18 ending round one up even … The Buffaloes combined on Wednesday for 21 birdies (the tournament-best, one more than Pepperdine) and 50 pars (16th; UCLA leads with 62); CU has the sixth-fewest bogeys (16; five teams have 15) and three doubles or worse (tied for eighth-fewest) … In addition, Colorado played the par-3's at 3-over (tied for fourth-best in the field), the par-4's at 7-over (tied for fifth) and the par-5's at 8-under (tied for seventh) … With three birdies Wednesday, Biwer tied Jeremy Paul (2013-17) for the CU record with 486; McDermott is third on the list with 462 … Biwer's 90 rounds of par or better have come in 133 career rounds, or 67.7 percent of the time …Colorado entered the meet with the most wins in the nation – 109 – with its 88.7 win percentage (109-13-2) behind only No. 1 Texas (106-10-1, .910) … The event is named for the late Wally Goodwin, who coached the Cardinal from 1987 through 2000 and led them to the 1994 NCAA title; after taking three seasons off, he returned as the head coach at Northern Colorado to help elevate the Bears to Division I status before retiring for good in 2007.
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
| T3. | Hunter Swanson | 34-33—67 |
| T9. | Ty Holbrook | 35-33—68 |
| T17. | Justin Biwer | 35-34—69 |
| T48. | Dylan McDermott | 34-37—71 |
| 137. | Jack Holland | 38-39—77 |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Omar Morales, UCLA | 33-32—65 |
| 2. | Ramil Saelim, Oregon | 35-31—66 |
| T3. | Hunter Swanson, Colorado | 34-33—67 |
| T3. | Peter Kim, BYU | 34-33—67 |
| T3. | Willy Walsh, Pepperdine | 33-34—67 |
| T3. | J.P. Odland | 33-34—67 |
| T3. | Daniel Svard, Northwestern | 31-36—67 |
| TEAM STANDINGS |
| T1. | COLORADO | 275 |
| T1. | Brigham Young | 275 |
| 3. | Utah | 276 |
| T4. | Santa Clara | 278 |
| T4. | Pepperdine | 278 |
| 6. | Oregon | 279 |
| 6. | SMU | 279 |
| T8. | Clemson | 280 |
| T8. | Long Beach State | 280 |
| T10. | Arkansas-Little Rock | 282 |
| T10. | Northwestern | 282 |
| T12. | San Francisco | 283 |
| T12. | TCU | 283 |
| T12. | UCLA | 283 |
| 15. | Colorado State | 287 |
| T16. | Georgia | 288 |
| T16. | California | 288 |
| TT6. | Cal Poly | 288 |
| 19. | Stanford | 290 |
| T20. | Washington | 292 |
| T20. | Fresno State | 292 |
| T22. | San Jose State | 294 |
| T22. | UC Davis | 294 |
| T24. | Washington State | 297 |
| T24. | Loyola (Md.) | 297 |
| 26. | Lipscomb | 298 |
| 27. | Wofford | 299 |
| 28. | Loyola Marymount | 300 |
| 29. | Nevada | 302 |
| 30. | Howard | 311 |
Players Mentioned
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