The Buffaloes Monday took a break to pose for a photo during their practice round.
Photo by: Seth Pringle
Golfers Ready For Return To Big 12 Championships
April 21, 2025 | Men's Golf
Play Starts Tuesday With 36 Holes at Southern Hills In Tulsa
TULSA — The University of Colorado men's golf team, most recently ranked 34th in the nation, arrived here Sunday ahead of the 27th Annual Big 12 Men's Golf Championships, the Buffaloes first time competing in the Big 12's since 2011 when they were last time a member of the conference.
The Buffaloes have traveled six players here to compete, the most experienced team it is taking to compete in a league title affair since 2003. The '24-25 Buffaloes thus far have rewritten the school's record book, among the most impressive accomplishments including nine top five tournament finishes – one win, six runner-up efforts, one third place and one fifth.
"Obviously, a really good season to date," said head coach Roy Edwards. "We started playing eight-and-a-half months ago, we had high aspirations, and here we are. We thought going in that Justin (Biwer) and Dylan (McDermott) would be our two best players, and indeed that's who they are. Both have had tremendous seasons to date, but a lot of guys behind them have really stepped up, some at different times than others.
"This team has several strengths, depth obviously, but competitiveness is definitely our number one strength," he continued. "I don't like the term peaking, what we are always trying to do is to get better, better than the day before. And that's something this team have really embraced and thus has done. They have all had open minds and have been very coachable. And I believe that can continue for another six weeks, as this has been another strength of ours."
When asked if six runner-up finishes is viewed as always the bride's maid and seldom the bride, Edwards couldn't disagree more.
"We have a played a tough schedule – of course you'd like to win tournaments, especially in the postseason, but you don't have any control over how the people in front of you play," he said. "It's not like we can play some sort of defense like in football or basketball. You have control over your own games and you see how it works out in the end. I'm never going to leave a tournament where I don't think second place wasn't a good effort. In team golf, if you finish second – or third, sometimes lower – there are often a lot of quality wins. So, you may not have won, but who did you beat? We've beaten a lot of good teams. It's like being a 15-2 NFL team, and you still get home field advantage."
The Buffaloes have used seven different line-ups in 10 stroke play events this season, and will go with the same five players they designated for scoring the last time out in Tulsa: seniors Biwer, McDermott and Tucker Clark, junior Hunter Swanson and sophomore Ty Holbrook (who is one of the nation's most improved players).
Does using that many different lineups attest to the depth of the Buffaloes?
"It does. It shows that the guys are working hard at home, everyone is staying it mentally and physical until the end of the year," Edwards said. "That's enabled Derek (associated head coach) Tolan and I to play who has the hot hand at that the moment. And that's a real luxury."
While all 10 players on the roster have contributed in several ways over the course of the year, CU's two prominent seniors – both of whom have been nominated for CU's Male Athlete of the Year, a rarity for two from one sport – have been the heart and soul of the team. They have literally been mirrored images of each other for four years. The duo rank 1-2 in may season and career categories, and at present for the season are separated by just four strokes.
"The closest I've seen at CU would be Derek and Pat Grady (in 2008-09)," Edwards recalled. "They were tied on the last hole of the regional and Derek made birdie and Pat bogey – and Derek beat him two strokes for the year. Jeremy and Yannik Paul were a little similar. But what Justin and Dylan have done for four years here is a rarity. They are two elite players, and it's rare that there are two guys this good on the same team for the same period of time, for sure."
Biwer leads the team in stroke average with a 69.20 figure, with McDermott right behind at 69.33; they also rank 1-2 in the Big 12 Conference, with the only other player under 70 in the league is Utah's Gabriel Palacios with a 69.77 mark. Swanson isn't all that far behind with a 70.63 average (11th in the Big 12), with Holbrook owning a 71.33 norm (28th) and Tucker a 73.08 in limited action; he was sidelined most of the spring with a back injury until recently.
Biwer and McDermott will become the 26th and 27th players to play in four conference championships in the school's history; Clark will also be playing in his fourth, but for three different conferences: as a freshman at Notre Dame, he played in the Atlantic Coast title meet, then two for the Buffs in the Pac-12 event and in the Big 12's.
The Pac-12 utilized a 6-for 5 scoring format for its title meet, but the Big 12 uses the standard 5-for-4 that is the format for nearly all regular season events, with one twist. It added a few years ago what the NCAA began for the postseason, the addition of a sixth golfer who can be inserted at any time for an injured or sick player, or simply for someone not playing well.
The sixth Buffalo on the trip is sophomore Brandon Knight, with his addition to the aforementioned five providing Edwards and Tolan the same six players who competed in the final Pac-12 title meet last April. He owns a 71.04 stroke average (tied for 20th in the league).
The coaches like the makeup of the six players representing CU in its return to the Big 12 -- three seniors, one junior, two sophomores.
"There's a lot of experience in our lineup, so that's obviously something that will help," Edwards noted. "You absolutely have to have experience when you go to places like Southern Hills. Course such as Southern take a lot of patience, and you really have to be disciplined as a golfer and be able to adjust and adapt. I feel very comfortable with the group that we are taking there, and I expect everyone to play."
The teams will begin play Tuesday with 36 holes, followed by 18 each on Wednesday and Thursday at Southern Hills Country Club, the site of many PGA, LPGA and U.S. Amateur events through the years. It will play to 7,556 yards but to only a par-70, despite Tulsa being just around 725 feet above sea level. Edwards is quite familiar with the course, though it was renovated with several changes in 2018.
"I've probably been around Southern Hills 30 times, first as a kid and have played it as an adult," he said. "But it's a totally different golf course, as they completed a total makeover a few years ago. They really opened it up, there are fewer trees, added fairway chipping runoffs and overall made it more difficult than it was in the past. No doubt that par will be good score on almost every hole."
The opening pairings were determined by the April 16 Scoreboard/Clippd rankings; Colorado is paired with BYU, Texas Tech and Houston for the first two rounds, and will tee off on No. 10 from 6:30-7:18 a.m. MDT (Round 1) and on No. 1 for the second round in the afternoon (sunset in Tulsa each day is just after 8 p.m. CDT). At present, the weather forecast calls temperatures peaking in the mid-to-high 70s all three days, for sunny skies on Tuesday with a 70 percent chance of thunderstorms on Wednesday and Thursday.
NOTES: The Buffs stopped in Wichita for two days to get in two practice rounds at Prairie Dunes Country Club, fleeing the weather in Colorado but also getting in some golf at a tough course, one which will also host the 2026 Big 12's … CU competed in 12 Pac-12 Conference title meets, with top finishes of second in 2018 (four strokes behind Southern California when the event was held 15 miles from USC's campus), third in 2023 and fourth in 2014 … Colorado is 14-6 versus Big 12 schools this year – 29-16-3 in individual rounds – the Buffs have lined up against 12 of the 16 league opponents at least once this year, with the exception of Arizona, Cincinnati, Oklahoma State and UCF ... CU is 152-21-2 against Division I competition, easily meeting the first criteria for selection into the NCAA postseason (a minimum .500 record against Division I opponents). Colorado has the most wins in the nation (Texas is next with 130), and is third in winning percentage (.874), behind UT (.923) and Oklahoma State (.886) ... Texas was the 2024 champion, winning in Trinity, Texas last April, but the Longhorns are now in the SEC; Oklahoma (ditto), won the two previous. Of the current members, OSU is the last to win, doing so in 2019 and 2021 (no meet in 2020), and have won the most Big 12 titles (11), followed by Texas (9), OU (4), and Baylor, Kansas and Texas A & M (1 each) ... Colorado, in 1968, is the only current member to win besides OSU, Baylor and KU since it became the Big Eight in 1960 ... Colorado's second-most famous twins, Jeremy and Yannik Paul, had a tremendous weekend half a world apart, Yannik in the Volvo China Open in Shanghai, and Jeremy in the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic; Yannik finished third at 12-under par, two behind Ashun Wu; Jeremy tied for second with four others at 13-under, one behind Garrick Higgo ... ESPN+ will provide coverage on the final day (April 24, 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. MDT) with Ryan Burr and Carl Paulson on site ... NCAA regional selections will be announced live on the Golf Channel on Wednesday, April 30 at 11 a.m. MDT … Live scoring will be available at https://scoreboard.clippd.com.
The Buffaloes have traveled six players here to compete, the most experienced team it is taking to compete in a league title affair since 2003. The '24-25 Buffaloes thus far have rewritten the school's record book, among the most impressive accomplishments including nine top five tournament finishes – one win, six runner-up efforts, one third place and one fifth.
"Obviously, a really good season to date," said head coach Roy Edwards. "We started playing eight-and-a-half months ago, we had high aspirations, and here we are. We thought going in that Justin (Biwer) and Dylan (McDermott) would be our two best players, and indeed that's who they are. Both have had tremendous seasons to date, but a lot of guys behind them have really stepped up, some at different times than others.
"This team has several strengths, depth obviously, but competitiveness is definitely our number one strength," he continued. "I don't like the term peaking, what we are always trying to do is to get better, better than the day before. And that's something this team have really embraced and thus has done. They have all had open minds and have been very coachable. And I believe that can continue for another six weeks, as this has been another strength of ours."
When asked if six runner-up finishes is viewed as always the bride's maid and seldom the bride, Edwards couldn't disagree more.
"We have a played a tough schedule – of course you'd like to win tournaments, especially in the postseason, but you don't have any control over how the people in front of you play," he said. "It's not like we can play some sort of defense like in football or basketball. You have control over your own games and you see how it works out in the end. I'm never going to leave a tournament where I don't think second place wasn't a good effort. In team golf, if you finish second – or third, sometimes lower – there are often a lot of quality wins. So, you may not have won, but who did you beat? We've beaten a lot of good teams. It's like being a 15-2 NFL team, and you still get home field advantage."
The Buffaloes have used seven different line-ups in 10 stroke play events this season, and will go with the same five players they designated for scoring the last time out in Tulsa: seniors Biwer, McDermott and Tucker Clark, junior Hunter Swanson and sophomore Ty Holbrook (who is one of the nation's most improved players).
Does using that many different lineups attest to the depth of the Buffaloes?
"It does. It shows that the guys are working hard at home, everyone is staying it mentally and physical until the end of the year," Edwards said. "That's enabled Derek (associated head coach) Tolan and I to play who has the hot hand at that the moment. And that's a real luxury."
While all 10 players on the roster have contributed in several ways over the course of the year, CU's two prominent seniors – both of whom have been nominated for CU's Male Athlete of the Year, a rarity for two from one sport – have been the heart and soul of the team. They have literally been mirrored images of each other for four years. The duo rank 1-2 in may season and career categories, and at present for the season are separated by just four strokes.
"The closest I've seen at CU would be Derek and Pat Grady (in 2008-09)," Edwards recalled. "They were tied on the last hole of the regional and Derek made birdie and Pat bogey – and Derek beat him two strokes for the year. Jeremy and Yannik Paul were a little similar. But what Justin and Dylan have done for four years here is a rarity. They are two elite players, and it's rare that there are two guys this good on the same team for the same period of time, for sure."
Biwer leads the team in stroke average with a 69.20 figure, with McDermott right behind at 69.33; they also rank 1-2 in the Big 12 Conference, with the only other player under 70 in the league is Utah's Gabriel Palacios with a 69.77 mark. Swanson isn't all that far behind with a 70.63 average (11th in the Big 12), with Holbrook owning a 71.33 norm (28th) and Tucker a 73.08 in limited action; he was sidelined most of the spring with a back injury until recently.
Biwer and McDermott will become the 26th and 27th players to play in four conference championships in the school's history; Clark will also be playing in his fourth, but for three different conferences: as a freshman at Notre Dame, he played in the Atlantic Coast title meet, then two for the Buffs in the Pac-12 event and in the Big 12's.
The Pac-12 utilized a 6-for 5 scoring format for its title meet, but the Big 12 uses the standard 5-for-4 that is the format for nearly all regular season events, with one twist. It added a few years ago what the NCAA began for the postseason, the addition of a sixth golfer who can be inserted at any time for an injured or sick player, or simply for someone not playing well.
The sixth Buffalo on the trip is sophomore Brandon Knight, with his addition to the aforementioned five providing Edwards and Tolan the same six players who competed in the final Pac-12 title meet last April. He owns a 71.04 stroke average (tied for 20th in the league).
The coaches like the makeup of the six players representing CU in its return to the Big 12 -- three seniors, one junior, two sophomores.
"There's a lot of experience in our lineup, so that's obviously something that will help," Edwards noted. "You absolutely have to have experience when you go to places like Southern Hills. Course such as Southern take a lot of patience, and you really have to be disciplined as a golfer and be able to adjust and adapt. I feel very comfortable with the group that we are taking there, and I expect everyone to play."
The teams will begin play Tuesday with 36 holes, followed by 18 each on Wednesday and Thursday at Southern Hills Country Club, the site of many PGA, LPGA and U.S. Amateur events through the years. It will play to 7,556 yards but to only a par-70, despite Tulsa being just around 725 feet above sea level. Edwards is quite familiar with the course, though it was renovated with several changes in 2018.
"I've probably been around Southern Hills 30 times, first as a kid and have played it as an adult," he said. "But it's a totally different golf course, as they completed a total makeover a few years ago. They really opened it up, there are fewer trees, added fairway chipping runoffs and overall made it more difficult than it was in the past. No doubt that par will be good score on almost every hole."
The opening pairings were determined by the April 16 Scoreboard/Clippd rankings; Colorado is paired with BYU, Texas Tech and Houston for the first two rounds, and will tee off on No. 10 from 6:30-7:18 a.m. MDT (Round 1) and on No. 1 for the second round in the afternoon (sunset in Tulsa each day is just after 8 p.m. CDT). At present, the weather forecast calls temperatures peaking in the mid-to-high 70s all three days, for sunny skies on Tuesday with a 70 percent chance of thunderstorms on Wednesday and Thursday.
NOTES: The Buffs stopped in Wichita for two days to get in two practice rounds at Prairie Dunes Country Club, fleeing the weather in Colorado but also getting in some golf at a tough course, one which will also host the 2026 Big 12's … CU competed in 12 Pac-12 Conference title meets, with top finishes of second in 2018 (four strokes behind Southern California when the event was held 15 miles from USC's campus), third in 2023 and fourth in 2014 … Colorado is 14-6 versus Big 12 schools this year – 29-16-3 in individual rounds – the Buffs have lined up against 12 of the 16 league opponents at least once this year, with the exception of Arizona, Cincinnati, Oklahoma State and UCF ... CU is 152-21-2 against Division I competition, easily meeting the first criteria for selection into the NCAA postseason (a minimum .500 record against Division I opponents). Colorado has the most wins in the nation (Texas is next with 130), and is third in winning percentage (.874), behind UT (.923) and Oklahoma State (.886) ... Texas was the 2024 champion, winning in Trinity, Texas last April, but the Longhorns are now in the SEC; Oklahoma (ditto), won the two previous. Of the current members, OSU is the last to win, doing so in 2019 and 2021 (no meet in 2020), and have won the most Big 12 titles (11), followed by Texas (9), OU (4), and Baylor, Kansas and Texas A & M (1 each) ... Colorado, in 1968, is the only current member to win besides OSU, Baylor and KU since it became the Big Eight in 1960 ... Colorado's second-most famous twins, Jeremy and Yannik Paul, had a tremendous weekend half a world apart, Yannik in the Volvo China Open in Shanghai, and Jeremy in the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic; Yannik finished third at 12-under par, two behind Ashun Wu; Jeremy tied for second with four others at 13-under, one behind Garrick Higgo ... ESPN+ will provide coverage on the final day (April 24, 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. MDT) with Ryan Burr and Carl Paulson on site ... NCAA regional selections will be announced live on the Golf Channel on Wednesday, April 30 at 11 a.m. MDT … Live scoring will be available at https://scoreboard.clippd.com.
Players Mentioned
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