NORMAN, Okla. — The University of Colorado men’s golf team finished what it started here Wednesday but it wasn’t without a few tense moments late as the Buffaloes finished third in the NCAA Central/Norman Regional and will advance to the NCAA Championship Finals in nine days.
The top five teams moved on to the Finals, with No. 17 Alabama emerging on top with a 28-under 836 team score, edging host and No. 9 Oklahoma (25-under 839). They were in the same threesome and the first to finish, along with No. 5 Texas Tech closing with an 842 total and were third at that time.
The next threesome had a classic regional battle, three teams vying for the last two spots – the Buffaloes, Duke and North Florida – and all were within a stroke of each other over the course of the final three holes of the round. The four scorers for CU played the last five holes at 6-under (seven birdies, one bogey), holding off a charging Duke while keeping UNF at bay.
Colorado sophomore Justin Biwer made a key birdie from two feet out on the 600-yard, par-5 8th hole that put the Buffs ahead by one on the scoreboard. Freshman Hunter Swanson then nailed a birdie on the 435-yard, par-4 9th to clinch a finals berth, help CU to a 12-under 276 third round score, its best round ever in a regional, and a 23-under 841 finally tally that enabled the Buffs to jump Texas Tech into third place.
And scoring well on No. 9 was no easy task, as it played the fifth-toughest here this week; the players that scored for CU made three pars along with Swanson’s birdie, and CU’s fifth-man, sophomore Tucker Clark, also birdied the hole.
It was enough to hold off Duke, as the Blue Devils claimed the fifth (843 score) and the final qualifying spot thanks to three birdies on No. 9, while North Florida could only muster a single birdie that was wiped out by a bogey and finished with an 844 count. All three had their players answer the final round challenge – CU’s fifth score that didn’t count was a 72, while Duke and UNF tossed out 73s.
“I’m incredibly proud of the team, especially since this was probably the closest regional from first to sixth place that I’ve ever seen,” head coach Roy Edwards said. “I have so many positive and proud things I have to say about the team. We went to a southern golf course hosted by a southern school, with mostly southern teams. It says a lot about the team’s overall competitiveness and their fight.
Less than a month ago, the Buffs…
The top five teams moved on to the Finals, with No. 17 Alabama emerging on top with a 28-under 836 team score, edging host and No. 9 Oklahoma (25-under 839). They were in the same threesome and the first to finish, along with No. 5 Texas Tech closing with an 842 total and were third at that time.
The next threesome had a classic regional battle, three teams vying for the last two spots – the Buffaloes, Duke and North Florida – and all were within a stroke of each other over the course of the final three holes of the round. The four scorers for CU played the last five holes at 6-under (seven birdies, one bogey), holding off a charging Duke while keeping UNF at bay.
Colorado sophomore Justin Biwer made a key birdie from two feet out on the 600-yard, par-5 8th hole that put the Buffs ahead by one on the scoreboard. Freshman Hunter Swanson then nailed a birdie on the 435-yard, par-4 9th to clinch a finals berth, help CU to a 12-under 276 third round score, its best round ever in a regional, and a 23-under 841 finally tally that enabled the Buffs to jump Texas Tech into third place.
And scoring well on No. 9 was no easy task, as it played the fifth-toughest here this week; the players that scored for CU made three pars along with Swanson’s birdie, and CU’s fifth-man, sophomore Tucker Clark, also birdied the hole.
It was enough to hold off Duke, as the Blue Devils claimed the fifth (843 score) and the final qualifying spot thanks to three birdies on No. 9, while North Florida could only muster a single birdie that was wiped out by a bogey and finished with an 844 count. All three had their players answer the final round challenge – CU’s fifth score that didn’t count was a 72, while Duke and UNF tossed out 73s.
“I’m incredibly proud of the team, especially since this was probably the closest regional from first to sixth place that I’ve ever seen,” head coach Roy Edwards said. “I have so many positive and proud things I have to say about the team. We went to a southern golf course hosted by a southern school, with mostly southern teams. It says a lot about the team’s overall competitiveness and their fight.
Less than a month ago, the Buffs…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at University of Colorado Athletics…