A couple days ago, men's golf heard, per the Golf Channel televised selection show, that they have earned a bid to the NCAA Championships, which for them will begin as the #9 regional seed at the Norman Oklahoma regional. (All regionals are scheduled to be competed from Monday- Wednesday, May 15th - 17th.)
Congrats and best wishes to this YOUNG*** team!
(***For those that don't follow the team, the 6 who competed at the recent Pac 12 Championships consisted of 1 freshman, 4 sophomores and (only) 1 senior.)
Article on their selection, and how teams (and individuals) advance to the Championships finals - https://cubuffs.com/news/2023/5/3/mens-golf-golfers-earn-invitation-to-ncaa-championships.aspx
"
BOULDER — The University of Colorado men's golf team on Wednesday is returning to the NCAA Championships, as the Buffaloes will participate in the Central/Norman Regional which begins Monday, May 15, in Norman, Okla.
Colorado, ranked No. 52 in the nation (GolfStat; No. 66 Golfweek) is the No. 9 seed in the regional, in which No. 5 Texas Tech is the top seed. Host and No. 9 Oklahoma, the Big 12 champion, is the second seed with No. 17 Alabama the third see. The regional will take place at OU's home course, the 7,452-yard, par-72 Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club, which also features a 77.9 rating with a slope of 142.
The Buffaloes are one of eight Pac-12 teams to earn regional bids, tied for the second-most with the ACC behind the SEC (10); individuals from three other Pac-12 schools also were invited. Colorado is coming off one of – if not its —bets performance of the season, tying for third in the Pac-12 Championship. The Buffs were tied for the lead heading into the final round and held a small lead for a few holes until host Stanford eventually pulled away from the field.
Edwards has finalized his squad for the regional, and the starting lineup will feature four sophomores, Justin Biwer, Tucker Clark, Jack Holland and Dylan McDermott and a true freshman, Hunter Swanson. Senior Jack Hughes will also be on trip at the substitute alternate, new to the NCAA's from six years ago. All competed in the Pac-12's at Stanford, where McDermott finished second with a 13-under 267 score, two strokes behind the Cardinal's Michael Thorbjornsen. Swanson tied for 20th, Biwer tied for 26th, Clark tied 34th and Holland tied for 47th.
"It feels great to be selected to the NCAA Tournament and Norman Regional," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "In 2019 and 2021 we were right there in the mix to get a bid and came up a bit short. The 2020 team had a great chance to get in until the season got canceled so it was nice to have our name called again. We actually have an experienced group headed to Norman, with Justin Biwer competing there last year and Tucker Clark being an NCAA participant in 2021. All of our guys have played at the highest levels of amateur golf so there won't be any surprises for anyone."
"Dylan and Justin have had outstanding years,' he added. "We knew Tucker would be a great addition and he has been great for us. Hunter has had one of the best freshman years in CU history. Jack Holland has really developed from his freshman year to now. Jack Hughes will start as our sub and he will ready to go if we need him, as he has all year."
This is the 23rd time that Colorado has been selected as a team to play in the regionals, which were created in 1989 with the help of CU's head coach at the time, the late Mark Simpson. CU individuals were invited to compete on six other occasions.
The remainder of the field, in seeded order, includes No. 20 Mississippi, No. 29 Wake Forest, No. 32 Duke, No. 41 LSU, No. 44 North Florida, CU, No. 56 Kansas, No. 77 North Carolina-Wilmington, No. 131 Louisiana, No. 182 Princeton and No. 269 Arkansas Pine Bluff (the latter four were their conference champions).
The Buffs have lined up this year nine times against teams in the West Regional, going 5-2-2 with a 10-14-2 mark in individual rounds. CU has been in tournaments with Oklahoma (0-2), Ole Miss (1-0), LSU (1-0), North Florida (1-0), Kansas (2-0-1) and Louisiana (0-0-1).
McDermott leads the team in stroke average with a 69.76 figure, which is also good for third in the Pac-12, while Biwer is next at 70.85, which is 10th. McDermott is having an All-America caliber season, and leads the conference in subpar rounds (25), rounds in the 60s (20), and in top five, 10 and 20 finishes (five, eight and nine, respectively).
Five individuals from schools that did not advance as a team will also compete in Norman, thus 75 total players will be in the field. Nationally, 81 teams and 45 individuals qualified for the postseason; schools must have a .500 record or better to qualify for the postseason. Colorado was a superb 127-52-5 in the regular season.
There are six regional sites and those competing will play 54 holes with the top five teams and top individual who is not a member of those squads earning the right to advance to the NCAA Championship Finals. Those are scheduled for May 26-31 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. (Arizona State is serving as the host institution).
Edwards, a Kansas golf letterman who coached the Buffaloes in their final five years in the Big 12, is very familiar with the golf course the Buffaloes will be playing.
"It's a really good course for us and sets up well, fair but tough," Edwards said. "Jimmie Austin is one of the most historic courses in college golf. We have a motivated group and look forward to getting to 'The Jimmie' to play and compete."
The teams will play a shotgun practice round at 9 a.m. MDT on Sunday, May 14, and the regional will begin at 7 a.m. mountain time on all three competition days. The Buffaloes will be paired with No. 7-seed LSU and No. 8-seed North Florida in their bid to return to the NCAA Finals for the first time since the 2001-02 season.
"
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Live leaderboard - https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=27707
Congrats and best wishes to this YOUNG*** team!
(***For those that don't follow the team, the 6 who competed at the recent Pac 12 Championships consisted of 1 freshman, 4 sophomores and (only) 1 senior.)
Article on their selection, and how teams (and individuals) advance to the Championships finals - https://cubuffs.com/news/2023/5/3/mens-golf-golfers-earn-invitation-to-ncaa-championships.aspx
"
BOULDER — The University of Colorado men's golf team on Wednesday is returning to the NCAA Championships, as the Buffaloes will participate in the Central/Norman Regional which begins Monday, May 15, in Norman, Okla.
Colorado, ranked No. 52 in the nation (GolfStat; No. 66 Golfweek) is the No. 9 seed in the regional, in which No. 5 Texas Tech is the top seed. Host and No. 9 Oklahoma, the Big 12 champion, is the second seed with No. 17 Alabama the third see. The regional will take place at OU's home course, the 7,452-yard, par-72 Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club, which also features a 77.9 rating with a slope of 142.
The Buffaloes are one of eight Pac-12 teams to earn regional bids, tied for the second-most with the ACC behind the SEC (10); individuals from three other Pac-12 schools also were invited. Colorado is coming off one of – if not its —bets performance of the season, tying for third in the Pac-12 Championship. The Buffs were tied for the lead heading into the final round and held a small lead for a few holes until host Stanford eventually pulled away from the field.
Edwards has finalized his squad for the regional, and the starting lineup will feature four sophomores, Justin Biwer, Tucker Clark, Jack Holland and Dylan McDermott and a true freshman, Hunter Swanson. Senior Jack Hughes will also be on trip at the substitute alternate, new to the NCAA's from six years ago. All competed in the Pac-12's at Stanford, where McDermott finished second with a 13-under 267 score, two strokes behind the Cardinal's Michael Thorbjornsen. Swanson tied for 20th, Biwer tied for 26th, Clark tied 34th and Holland tied for 47th.
"It feels great to be selected to the NCAA Tournament and Norman Regional," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "In 2019 and 2021 we were right there in the mix to get a bid and came up a bit short. The 2020 team had a great chance to get in until the season got canceled so it was nice to have our name called again. We actually have an experienced group headed to Norman, with Justin Biwer competing there last year and Tucker Clark being an NCAA participant in 2021. All of our guys have played at the highest levels of amateur golf so there won't be any surprises for anyone."
"Dylan and Justin have had outstanding years,' he added. "We knew Tucker would be a great addition and he has been great for us. Hunter has had one of the best freshman years in CU history. Jack Holland has really developed from his freshman year to now. Jack Hughes will start as our sub and he will ready to go if we need him, as he has all year."
This is the 23rd time that Colorado has been selected as a team to play in the regionals, which were created in 1989 with the help of CU's head coach at the time, the late Mark Simpson. CU individuals were invited to compete on six other occasions.
The remainder of the field, in seeded order, includes No. 20 Mississippi, No. 29 Wake Forest, No. 32 Duke, No. 41 LSU, No. 44 North Florida, CU, No. 56 Kansas, No. 77 North Carolina-Wilmington, No. 131 Louisiana, No. 182 Princeton and No. 269 Arkansas Pine Bluff (the latter four were their conference champions).
The Buffs have lined up this year nine times against teams in the West Regional, going 5-2-2 with a 10-14-2 mark in individual rounds. CU has been in tournaments with Oklahoma (0-2), Ole Miss (1-0), LSU (1-0), North Florida (1-0), Kansas (2-0-1) and Louisiana (0-0-1).
McDermott leads the team in stroke average with a 69.76 figure, which is also good for third in the Pac-12, while Biwer is next at 70.85, which is 10th. McDermott is having an All-America caliber season, and leads the conference in subpar rounds (25), rounds in the 60s (20), and in top five, 10 and 20 finishes (five, eight and nine, respectively).
Five individuals from schools that did not advance as a team will also compete in Norman, thus 75 total players will be in the field. Nationally, 81 teams and 45 individuals qualified for the postseason; schools must have a .500 record or better to qualify for the postseason. Colorado was a superb 127-52-5 in the regular season.
There are six regional sites and those competing will play 54 holes with the top five teams and top individual who is not a member of those squads earning the right to advance to the NCAA Championship Finals. Those are scheduled for May 26-31 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. (Arizona State is serving as the host institution).
Edwards, a Kansas golf letterman who coached the Buffaloes in their final five years in the Big 12, is very familiar with the golf course the Buffaloes will be playing.
"It's a really good course for us and sets up well, fair but tough," Edwards said. "Jimmie Austin is one of the most historic courses in college golf. We have a motivated group and look forward to getting to 'The Jimmie' to play and compete."
The teams will play a shotgun practice round at 9 a.m. MDT on Sunday, May 14, and the regional will begin at 7 a.m. mountain time on all three competition days. The Buffaloes will be paired with No. 7-seed LSU and No. 8-seed North Florida in their bid to return to the NCAA Finals for the first time since the 2001-02 season.
"
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Live leaderboard - https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=27707