CU men break through to score their first team victory in a large-field tournament since 2019
By Gary Baines – 2/20/2024
The last time the University of Colorado men’s golf squad had claimed a team title in a large-field college tournament, Covid-19 was not yet a thing.
Yes, it had been that long — even though the Buffs last spring finished 21st as a team in the NCAA national championships.
But on Tuesday, CU recorded its first team championship in a big-field event since winning its Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational in October 2019.
In the eight-team Wyoming Match Play in Indian Wells, Calif., the Buffs won three matches, including defeating top-seeded Cal State Fullerton 4-1-1 in Tuesday’s championship matchup. CSF came into the tournament ranked No. 69 in the nation by Scoreboard powered by Clippd.
Three CU players won all three of their matches this week in Indian Wells: Dylan McDermott, Tucker Clark and Brandon Knight. McDermott (5 and 4, 4 and 3, and 2 and 1) and Knight (4 and 3, 3 and 2, and 4 and 2) were particularly dominant.
Dylan McDermott was among those who won all three of his matches this week for CU. (file photo)
Also on the winning Buff team were Hunter Swanson (2-1 this week), Justin Biwer (2-1) and Frederik Eisenbeis (0-1-2).
To get to to the championship match, CU defeated Utah State 4-1-1 in the quarterfinals and Sacramento State 5-1 in the semifinals.
During its four-plus-year team team victory drought, CU had come close to wins on numerous occasions in large-field tournaments. Since the October 2019 victory at the Simpson Invite, the Buffs had finished runner-up five times and third on four occasions.
For all the results from the Wyoming Match Play, 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. He was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com