Positive Trend

CU men earn NCAA regional team berth for third time in the last four years as they’ll tee it up in Bryan, Texas

By Gary Baines 

Hunter Swanson is the only player on the current University of Colorado men’s golf roster who has played four years for the Buffs. And, barring the unforeseen, the lifelong Coloradan will wrap up his college golf career having teed it up at three NCAA Regionals.

The two-time Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado boys player of the year and the rest of the Buffs learned on Wednesday that they’re headed to regionals for the third time in the last four seasons. Specifically, CU gained one of the at-large berths to the regional that will be held May 18-20 in Bryan, Texas, where the Buffs will be seeded ninth out of 14 schools.

But, based on what they’ve accomplished in recent years, the Buffs view this as a step along the way rather than the destination. After all, after CU didn’t advance a team to the NCAA national tournament from 2002-22, it earned berths in both 2023 and ’25, finishing 21st and 23rd nationally, respectively, in those years.

So the Buffs’ hope is that they’ll finish among the top five teams in Texas, which would earn them a team berth to the NCAA nationals, set for May 29-June 3 in Carlsbad, Calif.

In all, including the 29 automatic qualifiers, 81 teams and 45 individuals earned NCAA regional berths as the field for each of the six tournaments was revealed Wednesday on Golf Channel. In addition to the top five team finishers, the low individual not on those team will move on to nationals.

To make it to nationals, CU placed third at regionals in both 2023 and ’25.

This year, the Buffs are ranked 54th nationally among men’s DI golf teams. They’ve won one tournament as a team and posted six top-3 finishes, but they struggled in their most recent outing, placing last in the Big 12 meet. Overall, CU owns a 139-60-4 record in head-to-head matchups this season.

Swanson leads CU in stroke average this season at 70.47, followed by Brandon Knight (71.03), Ty Holbrook (71.17), Parker Paxton (71.69) and Jackson Rivera (71.78).

Joining the Buffs at the Bryan, Texas will be Coloradan Thayer Plewe — of Cortez — a freshman regular for the University of New Mexico, which is seeded fourth.

For the entire field for men’s DI golf regionals, CLICK HERE.

About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com