Colorado golf takes sixth at Big 12 Championship

Colorado's Justin Biwer finished strong in Tulsa to place No. 14 individually at the Big 12 Championship. (Photo via CU Athletics)

TULSA – The Colorado Buffaloes placed sixth at the Big 12 Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Thursday. Despite capturing their second-lowest finish of the season, the Buffs will be heading to the NCAA Regional Championships. 

The black and gold finished 36-over at the four-round tournament, by far their worst finish to-par this season. In the Buffs’ defense, the No. 4-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys were the only team to finish under par (-2), and the No. 9-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils finished 9-over. 

Colorado struggled in the first and third rounds, shooting 15-over and 12-over, respectively. Yet in the second round, the Buffs were able to shoot 6-over, and in the final round, the team halved the score to 3-over. 

Improvement in the final round is a positive for the Buffs, but consistency is key when it comes to taking home hardware. 

Veterans Justin Biwer and Dylan McDermott led the Buffaloes in Tulsa. Biwer shot 7-over and had the best score of the quintet in three of the four rounds. Considering the difficulty of the conditions, the senior played great in the third (+1) and fourth (E) rounds. The San Diego native finished in a tie for No. 14 individually.

McDermott shot 8-over and accounted for the only round under-par (-2) for the Buffs in the tournament. The senior struggled in the first and third rounds, combining for a score of 10-over between the two. McDermott snapped out of it in the final round, managing to shoot even-par, good for a No. 17 finish. 

Hunter Swanson finished tied at No. 34 with a score of 12-over. The Denver native immediately dug himself into a hole, shooting 6-over in the first round. The junior went on to shoot 2-over, 3-over and 1-over in his final three rounds. 

Ty Holbrook shot 15-over, good for No. 43. The sophomore shot 3-over in the first and 2-over in the second, leaving him in the mix. The third and fourth rounds troubled Holbrook, leading to scores of 6-over and 4-over, respectively. 

Senior Tucker Clark and sophomore Brandon Knight alternated as substitutes at the tournament. Clark played the first two rounds, but his 10-over and 9-over did not contribute to the team score. When Knight got the call in the third and fourth rounds, he was ready. The California native shot 2-over in both rounds, helping the Buffs stay put at sixth on the leaderboard. 

The team is currently ranked No. 33 in the nation, a six-spot drop since the beginning of the month. 

The Buffs have plenty of time to keep fine-tuning their swings before the NCAA Regional Championships start on May 12.