Colorado University Athletics
Holbrook's 66 tied for the low score in the final round.
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Golfers Tie For Third In Arizona's Thunderbirds Intercollegiate
March 17, 2026 | Men's Golf
All Five Buffaloes Record Subpar Final Round Scores
TUCSON – The University of Colorado men's golf team recorded its best final round in a tournament this season, enabling the Buffaloes to finish in a tie for third here Tuesday in the Arizona Thunderbirds Intercollegiate.
For the 12th time in school history, all five designated scorers posted subpar scores, with the team total of 14-under 274 the best in the 14-team field for the third and final round, also tying for the best in the event overall. It propelled the No. 52 Buffaloes from fifth into the third place tie and beat two top 20 teams and tie a third in the process, along with finishing just four shots off the lead.
Host and No. 22 Arizona rallied late to win its own event, finishing with a 25-under par 839 team score. No. 32 Long Beach State, the leader after the first two rounds, finished one stroke back (840). Then came the Buffaloes with a 21-under 843 team total, matched by No. 5 Arizona State, which needed its last player to make par on an up-and-down from a sand trap to pull into the tie. No. 14 Oklahoma rounded out the top five (847), while No. 18 New Mexico was sixth (854).
There were only 15 scores recorded in the 60's in the final round, and Colorado had three of those; two other teams had two. The Buffs were the only team with all five players recording subpar scores, with Oklahoma the only one with four.
Junior Ty Holbrook led the Buffaloes here, tying for third with a 7-under 209 total on the 7,533-yard, par-72 Tucson Country Club course. A final round, 6-under 66 – tied with two others for the low score in the final round – was one off his career-best and his 16th round in the 60's for his career. He started his day with four pars, then scored birdies on Nos. 5, 8 and 9 to make the turn at 3-over. He opened the back nine with an eagle on the 532-yard, par-5 10th – his fourth eagle of the season. He then followed with a bogey on No. 11, the only blemish of his round, and closed with birds on Nos. 15 and 17. His birdies on the 9th and 17th holes were both just one of seven on each during the final round.
"I putted well and hit my irons pretty solid the whole week," Holbrook said. "I made a conscious effort to play the golf course the right way and let opportunities come naturally – and not force much which helped not making silly mistakes. I was able to cruise today since I was swinging it well and was able to give myself a lot of birdie looks."
It was Holbrook's best finish of the season and the fourth top five effort of his career. He finished here with the one eagle, 12 birdies and 34 pars opposite seven bogeys, playing par-5's at 4-under, the par-3's at 3-under (second-best in the 81-man field) and the par-4's even – the third round in his career he played all configurations at subpar and/or even.
Senior Hunter Swanson tied for eighth after firing a 1-under 71 for a 6-under 210; he had opened with a 6-under 66 and hung around in the top 10 in the standings both days. He opened the day with a bogey on the 553-yard, par-5 No. 1 hole, settled down and scored four birdies over the next 10 to climb as high as third in the standings; two late bogeys on Nos. 16 and 18, both par-4's, prevented him from holding that spot in the end. He led the Buffs with 13 birdies here (tied for 10th in the field), with 34 pars and seven bogeys, and his mastery on the par-3's – playing those at 5-under (five birdies, seven pars) – was the best of all participants. He was 3-under on the par-5's and 2-over on the par-4's.
Swanson reached an impressive milestone here this week, becoming the 17th player to join CU's prestigious "10,000 Stroke Club" as when adding in the 210, he now has 10,041 strokes in 140 rounds. That figures to an average of 71.72 per, the third-lowest average of the 17 members. He has played in 46 tournaments, finishing under par in 20 and even in two others.
"This accomplishment means a whole lot to me because I've worked so hard from my freshman year on to help out the team as much as possible," Swanson said about joining the exclusive club. "It's been such a privilege having the opportunity to gain as much experience in tournaments as I have, from missing only a couple of lineups (he played individually in two others), playing in two regionals and two national championships. You can't really ask for much more.
"Learning from my coaches, Roy and Derek (Tolan), learning from my teammates each and every year, it has truly been a blessing and I'm ready to make one final run here as a Buff !"
"The 10,000 stroke club is an interesting stat," head coach Roy Edwards said. "It shows a lot of consistency over a career. It is especially impressive with Hunter because we have had so many good teams, so it wasn't easy to even play in that many tournaments."
Junior Brandon Knight tied for 27th after fashioning a final round 2-under 70, which pushed him under par for the event with a 2-under 215. After also starting the day with a bogey on the 1st hole, he finished with 17 holes of par or better (three birdies). He played the par-5's the best of all the Buffs here – 6-under (one eagle, six birdies, three pars and two bogeys), tying for second in the field. He played the par-3's even and the par-4's at 5-over. He had the eagle, nine birdies and 35 pars against eight bogeys and double overall for the tourney.
First-year graduate transfer Jackson Rivera matched his best final round effort as a Buffalo – a 3-under 69, which enabled him to pull even with par for the meet with a 216 total; that tied him for 32nd. After opening with birdies on Nos. 1 and 5, back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8 and then a par on No. 9 had him even at the turn. He finished things off here with three birdies on the back (on the 10th, 11th and 15th holes). He had eight birdies – tying Holbrook for a team-high five Tuesday – with 39 pars, the third-most in the field opposite six bogeys and one double. He played the par-4's at 3-under, tying for fifth-best in the field, the par-5's at 1-over and the par-3's at 2-over.
Sophomore Parker Paxton tied for 37th with a 2-over 218, as he bookended a second round – and uncharacteristic 80 – with a pair of 3-under 69's. He closed with four birdies and 13 pars and one bogey, playing all par configurations at 1-under. For the event overall, he had 12 birdies and 28 pars opposite 14 bogeys, playing the par-5's at 2-under and the par-3's and par-4's both at 2-over. The feather in his cap, so-to-speak, was ending the tournament with a birdie on the 503-yard, par-4 18th – one of just seven on the hole in the final round.
Freshman Tyler Long competed here as an individual, but could never get into a solid rhythm, tying for 68th with a 12-over 228. He closed with a 4-over 76, ending with six birdies and 30 pars opposite 14 bogeys and three costly doubles, two of which came in the final round that inflated his score. He did score his fourth eagle of the season on the 553-yard, par-5 1st hole.
"Tremendous round and tournament by Ty, he played great today," Edwards said. "Hunter as well. He is just so tough. All the rest of the guys really played well today and after we played the first hole, likely the easiest on the course, not very well. This is really a fun and enjoyable group to be around who work very hard. We are looking forward to the rest of the season."
To emphasize Edwards' point, the five Buff scorers played the 1st hole even with two birdies, a par and two bogeys. The seven toughest holes for the day followed, in order Nos. 3, 17, 18, 9, 11, 7 and 2 … Colorado was the only team to play those subpar collectively at 2-under; Arizona and Long Beach played those at 2-over, Arizona State at 4-over.
Long Beach State's Alejandro De Castro led from wire-to-wire in claiming medalist honors, riding a pair of 65's in the first two rounds after a 73 Tuesday to a 12-under 203. He bested Arizona's Filip Jakucik by three strokes and the rest of the field by six and more.
The Buffaloes will return to action late next week, participating in Stanford's "The Goodwin" March 26-28. Colorado finished second in the event last year (2-under par team score), nine strokes behind tournament champion UCLA.
NOTES: It's spring break this week for the CU campus … Tuesday's high temperature reached 89 degrees under sunny skies all day, but this time the winds remained negligible the entire round … The Buffs were paired with No. 14 Oklahoma and No. 18 New Mexico in the final round and beat both by four strokes … The average score for all 243 rounds was 73.23 (72.51 in the final round after 72.99 in Monday's first round but 74.19 in the second when the winds came into play); CU's sextet averaged 72.0 for its 18 rounds, 71.2 for the five scorers) … When play was suspended for darkness Monday, CU's five designated scorers had 15 holes to play; they recorded a birdie, 11 pars and three doubles to wrap the round (the four that scored for the round had one, eight and one) … There were 31 players under par and three others who finished even … New Mexico's Wyatt Provence and Pacific's Deitrek Gill were the players that matched Holbrook's 66 Tuesday … The five Buffs played the par-3's at 5-under (best int the field; Pacific was next at 2-over), the par-4s at 7-over (sixth, UA was best at 4-under) and the par-5's at 14-under (seventh; OU led at 22-under) … Colorado tied for the most eagles with three others (2 by the scorers), tied for fourth with 54 birdies (LBSU had 64), along with 170 pars (fifth; Oklahoma was tops with 178); CU's 42 bogeys were the fourth-fewest (ASU had 38 to lead), and its two double bogeys tied for the second-fewest (Long Beach State had only one) … Colorado had three eagles here, now with 20 this season (by seven different players), the first three of the spring season … CU now has 21 subpar rounds out of 26 played this season, tying the third-most in team history (the school best of 29 subpar rounds was set last year, with 25 in 2017-18 the second-most) … Colorado was 10-2-1 here against Division I competition, giving it a season record of 116-33-3 (.773) for nine events; it finished 31-7-1 in single rounds here, now 316-97-20 (.753) on the season … Swanson took over the team lead in stroke average with a 70.27 figure, with three others owning sub-71 numbers: Paxton (70.58), Knight (70.73) and Holbrook (70.96), with Rivera next (71.42) … Holbrook's par-5 scorecard through nine events (99 such holes); three eagles, 46 birdies, 44 pars and six bogeys, or 46-under par … Swanson recorded his 40th career round in the 60's as well as his 51st and 52nd subpar scores, now fourth and sixth, respectively in school history … The next closest active Buff to the 10,000 stroke club is Knight, who has 6,859 in 95 events (72.2 per).
ALUMNI WATCH: Three former Buffs are competing in the Asher Tour's Sobobo Classic in San Jacinto, Calif.; after Tuesday's first round, Justin Biwer ('25) and Robby Keilch ('24) are tied for 14th with 3-under 69 scores, with Tucker Clark ('25) tied for 41st with a 1-under 71 (the leader is in a 9-under 63). Yannik Paul ('18) will play in the DP Tour's Hainan Classic presented by MAEXTRO in Hainan, China and Victor Bjorlow ('21) is entered in the DP World PGTI Open in Haryana, India; both events start Thursday.
For the 12th time in school history, all five designated scorers posted subpar scores, with the team total of 14-under 274 the best in the 14-team field for the third and final round, also tying for the best in the event overall. It propelled the No. 52 Buffaloes from fifth into the third place tie and beat two top 20 teams and tie a third in the process, along with finishing just four shots off the lead.
Host and No. 22 Arizona rallied late to win its own event, finishing with a 25-under par 839 team score. No. 32 Long Beach State, the leader after the first two rounds, finished one stroke back (840). Then came the Buffaloes with a 21-under 843 team total, matched by No. 5 Arizona State, which needed its last player to make par on an up-and-down from a sand trap to pull into the tie. No. 14 Oklahoma rounded out the top five (847), while No. 18 New Mexico was sixth (854).
There were only 15 scores recorded in the 60's in the final round, and Colorado had three of those; two other teams had two. The Buffs were the only team with all five players recording subpar scores, with Oklahoma the only one with four.
Junior Ty Holbrook led the Buffaloes here, tying for third with a 7-under 209 total on the 7,533-yard, par-72 Tucson Country Club course. A final round, 6-under 66 – tied with two others for the low score in the final round – was one off his career-best and his 16th round in the 60's for his career. He started his day with four pars, then scored birdies on Nos. 5, 8 and 9 to make the turn at 3-over. He opened the back nine with an eagle on the 532-yard, par-5 10th – his fourth eagle of the season. He then followed with a bogey on No. 11, the only blemish of his round, and closed with birds on Nos. 15 and 17. His birdies on the 9th and 17th holes were both just one of seven on each during the final round.
"I putted well and hit my irons pretty solid the whole week," Holbrook said. "I made a conscious effort to play the golf course the right way and let opportunities come naturally – and not force much which helped not making silly mistakes. I was able to cruise today since I was swinging it well and was able to give myself a lot of birdie looks."
It was Holbrook's best finish of the season and the fourth top five effort of his career. He finished here with the one eagle, 12 birdies and 34 pars opposite seven bogeys, playing par-5's at 4-under, the par-3's at 3-under (second-best in the 81-man field) and the par-4's even – the third round in his career he played all configurations at subpar and/or even.
Senior Hunter Swanson tied for eighth after firing a 1-under 71 for a 6-under 210; he had opened with a 6-under 66 and hung around in the top 10 in the standings both days. He opened the day with a bogey on the 553-yard, par-5 No. 1 hole, settled down and scored four birdies over the next 10 to climb as high as third in the standings; two late bogeys on Nos. 16 and 18, both par-4's, prevented him from holding that spot in the end. He led the Buffs with 13 birdies here (tied for 10th in the field), with 34 pars and seven bogeys, and his mastery on the par-3's – playing those at 5-under (five birdies, seven pars) – was the best of all participants. He was 3-under on the par-5's and 2-over on the par-4's.
Swanson reached an impressive milestone here this week, becoming the 17th player to join CU's prestigious "10,000 Stroke Club" as when adding in the 210, he now has 10,041 strokes in 140 rounds. That figures to an average of 71.72 per, the third-lowest average of the 17 members. He has played in 46 tournaments, finishing under par in 20 and even in two others.
"This accomplishment means a whole lot to me because I've worked so hard from my freshman year on to help out the team as much as possible," Swanson said about joining the exclusive club. "It's been such a privilege having the opportunity to gain as much experience in tournaments as I have, from missing only a couple of lineups (he played individually in two others), playing in two regionals and two national championships. You can't really ask for much more.
"Learning from my coaches, Roy and Derek (Tolan), learning from my teammates each and every year, it has truly been a blessing and I'm ready to make one final run here as a Buff !"
"The 10,000 stroke club is an interesting stat," head coach Roy Edwards said. "It shows a lot of consistency over a career. It is especially impressive with Hunter because we have had so many good teams, so it wasn't easy to even play in that many tournaments."
Junior Brandon Knight tied for 27th after fashioning a final round 2-under 70, which pushed him under par for the event with a 2-under 215. After also starting the day with a bogey on the 1st hole, he finished with 17 holes of par or better (three birdies). He played the par-5's the best of all the Buffs here – 6-under (one eagle, six birdies, three pars and two bogeys), tying for second in the field. He played the par-3's even and the par-4's at 5-over. He had the eagle, nine birdies and 35 pars against eight bogeys and double overall for the tourney.
First-year graduate transfer Jackson Rivera matched his best final round effort as a Buffalo – a 3-under 69, which enabled him to pull even with par for the meet with a 216 total; that tied him for 32nd. After opening with birdies on Nos. 1 and 5, back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8 and then a par on No. 9 had him even at the turn. He finished things off here with three birdies on the back (on the 10th, 11th and 15th holes). He had eight birdies – tying Holbrook for a team-high five Tuesday – with 39 pars, the third-most in the field opposite six bogeys and one double. He played the par-4's at 3-under, tying for fifth-best in the field, the par-5's at 1-over and the par-3's at 2-over.
Sophomore Parker Paxton tied for 37th with a 2-over 218, as he bookended a second round – and uncharacteristic 80 – with a pair of 3-under 69's. He closed with four birdies and 13 pars and one bogey, playing all par configurations at 1-under. For the event overall, he had 12 birdies and 28 pars opposite 14 bogeys, playing the par-5's at 2-under and the par-3's and par-4's both at 2-over. The feather in his cap, so-to-speak, was ending the tournament with a birdie on the 503-yard, par-4 18th – one of just seven on the hole in the final round.
Freshman Tyler Long competed here as an individual, but could never get into a solid rhythm, tying for 68th with a 12-over 228. He closed with a 4-over 76, ending with six birdies and 30 pars opposite 14 bogeys and three costly doubles, two of which came in the final round that inflated his score. He did score his fourth eagle of the season on the 553-yard, par-5 1st hole.
"Tremendous round and tournament by Ty, he played great today," Edwards said. "Hunter as well. He is just so tough. All the rest of the guys really played well today and after we played the first hole, likely the easiest on the course, not very well. This is really a fun and enjoyable group to be around who work very hard. We are looking forward to the rest of the season."
To emphasize Edwards' point, the five Buff scorers played the 1st hole even with two birdies, a par and two bogeys. The seven toughest holes for the day followed, in order Nos. 3, 17, 18, 9, 11, 7 and 2 … Colorado was the only team to play those subpar collectively at 2-under; Arizona and Long Beach played those at 2-over, Arizona State at 4-over.
Long Beach State's Alejandro De Castro led from wire-to-wire in claiming medalist honors, riding a pair of 65's in the first two rounds after a 73 Tuesday to a 12-under 203. He bested Arizona's Filip Jakucik by three strokes and the rest of the field by six and more.
The Buffaloes will return to action late next week, participating in Stanford's "The Goodwin" March 26-28. Colorado finished second in the event last year (2-under par team score), nine strokes behind tournament champion UCLA.
NOTES: It's spring break this week for the CU campus … Tuesday's high temperature reached 89 degrees under sunny skies all day, but this time the winds remained negligible the entire round … The Buffs were paired with No. 14 Oklahoma and No. 18 New Mexico in the final round and beat both by four strokes … The average score for all 243 rounds was 73.23 (72.51 in the final round after 72.99 in Monday's first round but 74.19 in the second when the winds came into play); CU's sextet averaged 72.0 for its 18 rounds, 71.2 for the five scorers) … When play was suspended for darkness Monday, CU's five designated scorers had 15 holes to play; they recorded a birdie, 11 pars and three doubles to wrap the round (the four that scored for the round had one, eight and one) … There were 31 players under par and three others who finished even … New Mexico's Wyatt Provence and Pacific's Deitrek Gill were the players that matched Holbrook's 66 Tuesday … The five Buffs played the par-3's at 5-under (best int the field; Pacific was next at 2-over), the par-4s at 7-over (sixth, UA was best at 4-under) and the par-5's at 14-under (seventh; OU led at 22-under) … Colorado tied for the most eagles with three others (2 by the scorers), tied for fourth with 54 birdies (LBSU had 64), along with 170 pars (fifth; Oklahoma was tops with 178); CU's 42 bogeys were the fourth-fewest (ASU had 38 to lead), and its two double bogeys tied for the second-fewest (Long Beach State had only one) … Colorado had three eagles here, now with 20 this season (by seven different players), the first three of the spring season … CU now has 21 subpar rounds out of 26 played this season, tying the third-most in team history (the school best of 29 subpar rounds was set last year, with 25 in 2017-18 the second-most) … Colorado was 10-2-1 here against Division I competition, giving it a season record of 116-33-3 (.773) for nine events; it finished 31-7-1 in single rounds here, now 316-97-20 (.753) on the season … Swanson took over the team lead in stroke average with a 70.27 figure, with three others owning sub-71 numbers: Paxton (70.58), Knight (70.73) and Holbrook (70.96), with Rivera next (71.42) … Holbrook's par-5 scorecard through nine events (99 such holes); three eagles, 46 birdies, 44 pars and six bogeys, or 46-under par … Swanson recorded his 40th career round in the 60's as well as his 51st and 52nd subpar scores, now fourth and sixth, respectively in school history … The next closest active Buff to the 10,000 stroke club is Knight, who has 6,859 in 95 events (72.2 per).
ALUMNI WATCH: Three former Buffs are competing in the Asher Tour's Sobobo Classic in San Jacinto, Calif.; after Tuesday's first round, Justin Biwer ('25) and Robby Keilch ('24) are tied for 14th with 3-under 69 scores, with Tucker Clark ('25) tied for 41st with a 1-under 71 (the leader is in a 9-under 63). Yannik Paul ('18) will play in the DP Tour's Hainan Classic presented by MAEXTRO in Hainan, China and Victor Bjorlow ('21) is entered in the DP World PGTI Open in Haryana, India; both events start Thursday.
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
| T3. | Ty Holbrook | 71-72-66—209 |
| T8. | Hunter Swanson | 66-73-71—210 |
| T27. | Brandon Knight | 72-73-70—215 |
| T32. | Jackson Rivera | 74-73-69—216 |
| T37. | Parker Paxton | 69-80-69—218 |
| T68. | *Tyler Long | 74-78-76—228 |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| 1. | Alejandro De Castro, Long Beach State | 65-65-73—203 |
| 2. | Filip Jakucik, Arizona | 67-69-70—206 |
| T3. | Ty Holbrook, Colorado | 71-72-66—209 |
| T3. | Taishi Moto, Arizona | 70-69-70—209 |
| T3. | William Wistrand, Arizona | 68-71-70—209 |
| T3. | Jase Summy, Oklahoma | 68-72-69—209 |
| TEAM STANDINGS |
| 1. | Arizona | 277-280-282—839 |
| 2. | Long Beach State | 282-274-284—840 |
| T3. | COLORADO | 278-291-274—843 |
| T3. | Arizona State | 275-284-284—843 |
| 5. | Oklahoma | 280-289-278—847 |
| 6. | New Mexico | 285-291-278—854 |
| 7. | Oral Roberts | 290-288-285—863 |
| T8. | Texas-El Paso | 281-299-286—866 |
| T8. | New Mexico State | 290-292-284—866 |
| T8. | Grand Canyon | 286-294-286—866 |
| 11. | Texas-San Antonio | 291-295-283—869 |
| 12. | Pacific | 297-293-282—872 |
| 13. | Wyoming | 285-303-300—888 |
| 14. | Hawai'i | 307-311-308—926 |
Players Mentioned
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