After 10-month drought, Colorado-based Division I college teams set to resume intercollegiate tournament action
By Gary Baines – 1/14/2021
It’s been more than 10 months since any of the nine Colorado-based NCAA Division I golf programs last competed in an official intercollegiate tournament.
But the end of the drought is in sight. In fact, it will happen in less than two weeks.
All of Colorado’s DI teams will resume official intercollegiate tournament action for the spring portion of the schedule. And considering the fall part of the season was canceled for those nine programs — due to Covid-19 safety concerns — that means their various season openers will take place in January or February instead of the normal September.
(It should be noted that a dozen Division II programs based in Colorado competed intercollegiately in the fall. READ MORE)
On the DI level, while none of the Colorado golf teams competed intercollegiately in the autumn, a minority of programs nationwide did tee it up for real. According to Golfweek, 65 Division I men’s teams and 54 DI women’s programs played at least one official tournament in the fall.
Of course, this isn’t to say that local DI college players haven’t been playing tournament golf — just not official college tournament golf as a team. There have been plenty of college replacement events spring up, and in Colorado the winners of those tournaments included AJ Ott of Colorado State and Mary Weinstein of the University of Denver (CGA Fall Amateur at CommonGround), CSU’s Davis Bryant (Fort Collins GCAA Amateur at Fort Collins Country Club), Hailey Schalk of the University of Colorado (Colorado National Women’s Amateur at Colorado National) and Cal McCoy of DU (Colorado Collegiate Amateur Series event at Bear Creek).
But competing as a college team is a different matter. That hasn’t happened for local DI programs since the early part of March. The NCAA subsequently canceled its remaining national championships, including the ones for men’s and women’s golf in the spring. Then the fall schedules were nixed for local Division I teams, which meant the usual plethora of Colorado-based DI tournaments were canceled, as all of them traditionally take place in the fall.
Besides this season being abbreviated, it will look different in that quite a few college seniors during the 2019-20 season are back for one more season as the NCAA granted the possibility of an extra year of eligibility. Among those returning are CSU’s Ott; DU’s Weinstein and Camille Enright; CU’s Ross Macdonald, Daniel O’Loughlin, Victor Bjorlow, Andrew Leveque and Kirsty Hodgkins; and Northern Colorado’s Marisa Hisaki.
Another perhaps less obvious change is that many teams will compete in a much tighter area geographically than normal — at least prior to possible berths in the NCAA Regionals and Nationals. For example, only two tournaments involving Colorado DI teams will take place outside of the western half of the continental U.S. The DU men are playing in an event in North Carolina and the CSU women have a tournament scheduled in Tennessee.
In Golf Channel’s recent national men’s and women’s power rankings, only the CSU men cracked the top 30. The Rams, who won three team titles last season, were slotted in at No. 30 nationally.
Here’s a brief look at the spring outlook for the nine Division I college golf programs in Colorado. (All schedules are subject to change — which almost should go without saying after what the world has been through in the last year.)
Air Force Academy Men
Season Opener: Southern Utah Invitational, Feb. 6-8 in St. George, Utah.
Number of Tournaments Planned in Spring (Through Conference Championships): 6. FULL SCHEDULE
Conference Tournament: Mountain West, April 30-May 1 in Tucson, Ariz.
Top Returning Player: Junior Luke Trujillo of Colorado Springs (73.89 stroke average last season).
Coloradans on Roster: Junior Luke Trujillo (Colorado Springs), freshman Maxwell Heupel (Littleton)
Notable: Air Force posted one top-5 team finish last season, placing fifth at its own Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational. … All of the Falcons’ spring tournament schedule — through the conference championships — will be contested in three states: Utah, Arizona and California.
University of Colorado Men
Season Opener: The Prestige, Feb. 15-17 in La Quinta, Calif. (Note: CU plans to play several head-to-head matches in addition to large-scale tournaments.)
Number of Large-Scale Tournaments Planned in Spring (Through Conference Championships): 7. FULL SCHEDULE
Conference Tournament: Pac-12, April 26-28 in Santa Rosa, Calif.
Top Returning Player: Senior Daniel O’Loughlin of England (71.65 stroke average last season).
Coloradans on Roster: Senior Ross Macdonald (Castle Rock), junior Cole Krantz (Windsor), redshirt freshman Jack Hughes (Aspen), freshman Jacob Mason (Westminster). Note: Freshman Canon Olkowski, now a Las Vegas resident, grew up in Grand Junction.
Notable: Team-wise, CU won two of the seven tournaments in which it competed last season. … All eight players who competed intercollegiately for CU last season are back. None of those eight had a stroke average higher than 73.8. … Each tournament the Buffs have scheduled through the Pac-12 meet is set for either Arizona or California. … O’Loughlin posted two top-2 individual finishes last season.
CU Women
Season Opener: Lamkin/San Diego State tournament, Feb. 8-9 in San Diego.
Number of Tournaments Planned in Spring (Through Conference Championships): 7. FULL SCHEDULE
Conference Tournament: Pac-12, April 23-25 in Stanford, Calif.
Top Returning Player: Senior Kirsty Hodgkins from Australia (73.1 stroke average last season).
Coloradans on Roster: Junior Kelsey Webster (Boulder), freshman Hailey Schalk (Erie).
Notable: CU’s roster this season includes players from England (three), Scotland, Australia, Canada and the U.S. … The Buffs recorded two top-5 finishes last season. … Individually, Hodgkins placed second in a tournament and Malak Bouraeda was third. … Hodgkins, winner of the CGA Women’s Match Play, was named the CGA Women’s Player of the Year for 2020. … Schalk and teammate Alisha Lau have qualified for the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship. Lau is a member of Golf Canada’s women’s amateur golf team.
Colorado State University Men
Season Opener: The Prestige, Feb. 15-17 in La Quinta, Calif.
Number of Div. I Tournaments Planned in Spring (Through Conference Championships): 7. FULL SCHEDULE
Conference Tournament: Mountain West, April 30-May 1 in Tucson, Ariz.
Top Returning Player: Sophomore Davis Bryant of Aurora (70.67 stroke average last season).
Coloradans on Roster: Senior AJ Ott (Fort Collins), sophomore Davis Bryant (Aurora), freshman Gavin Hagstrom (Fort Collins)
Notable: The Rams, who won three team titles last season, sit at No. 30 in Golf Channel’s men’s power rankings. … CSU’s roster features players from Thailand, Sweden (two), England and the U.S. … Last season three players finished with stroke averages under 71 — Bryant (70.67), Parathakorn Suyasri (70.72) and Ott (70.76). Suyasri recorded an individual victory. … Bryant and Ott landed honorable-mention NCAA Division I All-American status last season. … As far as tournaments where the Rams will compete as a team — through the conference championships — all will be in California and Arizona.
CSU Women
Season Opener: The Valley Invitational, Feb. 8-9 in Bakersfield, Calif.
Number of Tournaments Planned in Spring (Through Conference Championships): 7. FULL SCHEDULE
Conference Tournament: Mountain West, April 20-21 in Mission Hills, Calif.
Top Returning Player: Sophomore Andrea Bergsdottir of Sweden (75.38 last season)
Coloradans on Roster: None.
Notable: CSU’s seven-player roster includes six international golfers — two from Norway and one each from Thailand, Sweden, Iceland and Colombia. The Rams have no seniors. … Last season, the Rams recorded one top-5 finish — a runner-up showing in their own Ptarmigan Ram Classic. … Bergsdottir carded CSU’s best individual last season, placing fourth.
University of Denver Men
Season Opener: Arizona Intercollegiate, Jan. 25-27 in Tucson, Ariz.
Number of Tournaments Planned in Spring (Through Conference Championships): 7. FULL SCHEDULE
Conference Tournament: Summit League, May 1-3 in Newton, Kan.
Top Returning Player: Junior Cal McCoy (71.57 stroke average last season).
Coloradans on Roster: Senior Jackson Solem (Longmont), junior Cal McCoy (Highlands Ranch), sophomore Connor Jones (Westminster), freshman Ryder Heuston (Louisville).
Notable: Trake Carpenter, who replaced Erik Billinger after Billinger resigned in June, will coach DU in an intercollegiate event for the first time Jan. 25-27 at the Arizona Intercollegiate in Tucson. Carpenter will face his former team (where he was an assistant coach), Stanford, in late March at The Goodwin in Stanford. … Coloradans McCoy, Jones and Solem each won individual titles last season. … As a team, the Pioneers claimed the champions at their own Ron Moore Intercollegiate, in the fall of 2019.
DU Women
Season Opener: Match in the Desert, Jan. 24-25 in Gold Canyon, Ariz.
Number of Tournaments Planned in Spring (Through Conference Championships): 6. FULL SCHEDULE
Conference Tournament: Summit League, April 24-26 in Newton, Kan.
Top Returning Player: Sophomore Anna Zanusso of Italy (71.63 stroke average last season).
Coloradans on Roster: Senior Mary Weinstein (Highlands Ranch), sophomore Caroline Jordaan (Lakewood).
Notable: DU notched six top-4 finishes in eight team tournaments last season. … Zanusso claimed two individual titles as a freshman last season, when she tied the women’s NCAA single-round scoring record by shooting a 61. Zanusso was invited to compete in the second annual Augusta National Women’s Amateur. … Erika Danielson also earned an individual tournament victory for DU last season. … Weinstein, a three-time CGA Women’s Player of the Year, is set for her final semester as a college golfer. … Included on DU’s roster are players from Finland, Slovakia, Norway, Italy and the U.S. … Former DU golfer Jess Carty is serving as a volunteer assistant coach for head coach Lindsay Kuhle this season. Carty played for the Pioneers from 2013-17.
University of Northern Colorado Men
Season Opener: Pizza Hut Southern Utah Classic, Feb. 6-8 in St. George, Utah.
Number of Tournaments Planned in Spring (Through Conference Championships): 7. FULL SCHEDULE
Conference Tournament: Big Sky, April 25-27 in Boulder City, Nev.
Top Returning Player: Junior Jack Castiglia of Lakewood (71.2 last season).
Coloradans on Roster: Senior Marcus Tait (Littleton), senior Owen Pasvogel (Colorado Springs), junior Jack Castiglia (Lakewood), sophomore TJ Shehee (Mead), freshman Westin Pals (Castle Rock), freshman Finn Sapp (Edwards).
Notable: Coby Welch of Highlands Ranch, who led UNC in stroke average last season at least two 70,55, concluded his college career last year. … Castiglia finished first — or tied for first — in two tournaments last season. … UNC placed in the top 5 in three tournaments last season, including a runner-up at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational at the Air Force Academy.
UNC Women
Season Opener: Battle at the Rock, Feb. 8-9 in Riverside, Calif.
Number of Tournaments Planned in Spring (Through Conference Championships): 5. FULL SCHEDULE
Conference Tournament: Big Sky, April 19-21 in Molalla, Ore.
Top Returning Player: Graduate student Marisa Hisaki of Japan (76.67 stroke average last season).
Coloradans on Roster: Senior Aili Bundy (Fort Collins), junior Jenna Chun (Highlands Ranch), sophomore Amy Chitkoksoong (Aurora).
Notable: UNC notched one top-5 team finish last season, a fourth place at the Rose City Intercollegiate. … Abbi Fleiner of Reno, Nev., had UNC’s best individual showing last season, placing second in the Ptarmigan Ram Classic.