CU men’s golf team drops several spots but remains on pace to make first team cut at NCAA Div. I nationals
By Gary Baines – 5/24/2025
The University of Colorado men’s golf team will need to stay roughly where it is in the NCAA Division I national championship standings — or improve — on Sunday in order to extend its season by at least a day.
The Buffs dropped from eighth on Friday night to a three-way tie for 12th on Saturday during the second round of nationals at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. But they remained very much in contention to at least advance to the final day of stroke play at nationals.
Only the top 15 teams — plus the top nine indivuduals not on a those teams — will advance after Sunday’s third round to round 4 of stroke play. And after Saturday’s action, the Buffs have little room to spare if they want to extend their season, team-wise.
In order to post its best finish at nationals in the 21st century, CU needs to make the cut from 30 to 15 teams as the Buffs placed 14th in the NCAA nationals in 2002.
CU, ranked 29th in the nation, backed up its 1-over-par total from Friday’s first round with a 10-over-par tally in the afternoon on Saturday. They trail stroke-play leader Arizona State by 24 shots.
This marks CU’s second full-team berth in nationals in the last three years. Before that, the Buffs had last advanced a team to nationals in 2002.
Senior Dylan McDermott led CU on day 2 with an even-par 72, which left him at 1 over for two days. Junior Hunter Swanson from Superior was next best on Saturday, carding a 73.
“I would say it was definitely one of the better even-par rounds I’ve ever had,” McDermott told CUBuffs.com. “The first nine holes weren’t hard, but the back nine were very tough with the wind. Everyone seemed to be battling out there. I just made sure to really focus on every shot and my putting inside of 10 feet was good.”
Senior Justin Biwer, who was in the top 5 individuals after an opening-round 68, remained CU’s top individual overall despite a second-round 76. He stands at even par overall, in 25th place individually.
By being in the top half of the field after two days, the Buffs earned a morning tee time for Sunday.
At nationals, 30 teams and six individuals play stroke-play rounds Friday, Saturday and Sunday, after which — as noted — the field will be cut to the top 15 schools, along with the top nine individuals not on an advancing team. The individual champion will be determined after Monday’s fourth round, and the top eight teams after 72 holes will advance to the medal-match play quarterfinals.
For all the results from the men’s DI nationals, 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