Colorado-based college golf teams begin postseason with conference tournaments; 3 local programs will defend league titles
By Gary Baines – 4/14/2025
Last year, the conference tournament season treated Colorado-based college golf teams pretty well, collectively speaking, though there were some results for certain schools that left plenty to be desired.
Three programs from the Centennial State claimed team titles in a total of 10 league meets, while three local players won individual competitions.
Now, with three teams having switched conferences — the University of Colorado men and women are in the Big 12 after coming from the Pac-12, while the University of Northern Colorado men are in the Summit League after being in the Sun Belt previously — the college golf postseason is upon us.
The first conference championship involving a Colorado-based team is today through Wednesday (April 14-16), when the University of Northern Colorado women tee it up at the Big Sky meet in Litchfield Park, Ariz. The last league meet for local teams will be the Summit League men’s tournament, where the University of Denver and the University of Northern Colorado will play April 27-29 in Phoenix.
From there, the top conference performers will advance to NCAA regional tournament, where trips to the NCAA national championships will be on the line.
Speaking of the national championships, among the Colorado teams defending conference titles are the Colorado Christian University men, who won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament en route to claiming the first national golf team title for a school based in the Centennial State — in this case on the NCAA Division II level.
The top three-ranked men’s DII players in the nation — and four of the top five — are from CCU. Adam Duncan is No. 1, Sungyeop Cho No. 2, Sangha Park No. 3 and Xavier Bighaus No. 5. And Cole Beyer from Colorado Mesa is No. 6. Suffice it to say Colorado has an extraordinary presence at the top of the DII ranks.
CCU players have claimed or shared nine individual championships this season — Duncan (four), Bighaus (two), Cho (two, including one tie) and Park (one tie).
As a team, CCU won eight tournaments in nine tries during the regular season, with the only exception being a runner-up in a Division I event.
Here’s a look at conference tournaments involving Colorado-based programs:
BIG SKY CONFERENCE WOMEN
Dates: April 14-16.
Site: Litchfield Park, Ariz.
Colorado-Based Team Competing: Northern Colorado.
UNC National Ranking: 152nd.
UNC Players Ranked in Top 200 Nationally: None.
UNC Team Victories This Season: None.
Notable: UNC finished fifth last year in this event.
BIG 12 CONFERENCE WOMEN
Dates: April 15-17.
Site: Hockley, Texas.
Colorado-Based Team Competing: University of Colorado.
CU National Ranking: 63rd.
CU Players Ranked in Top 200 Nationally: None.
CU Team Victories This Season: None.
Notable: CU finished 11th last year in the final Pac-12 Conference tournament.
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN
Dates: April 15-17.
Site: Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Colorado-Based Team Competing: Colorado State.
CSU National Ranking: 91st.
CSU Players Ranked in Top 200 Nationally: Kara Kaneshiro 192nd.
CSU Team Victories This Season: One.
Notable: CSU finished third as a team at last year’s MWC tournament. …Kaneshiro has four individual top-10s to her credit this season.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN
Dates: April 20-22.
Site: Boulder City, Nev.
Colorado-Based Team Competing: Colorado Christian, CSU Pueblo, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado Mesa, Fort Lewis.
Div. II National Ranking for Colorado-Based Teams: Colorado Christian 1st; Colorado Mesa 26th; CSU Pueblo 36th; Colorado School of Mines 49th; Fort Lewis 77th.
Players From Colorado Schools Ranked in Top 200 Nationally in Div. II: Adam Duncan, CCU, 1st; Sungyeop Cho, CCU, 2nd; Sangha Park, CCU, 3rd; Xavier Bighaus, CCU, 5th; 6; Cole Beyer, Colorado Mesa, 6th; Bradley Muller, CCU, 50th; Peyton Jones, CCU, 95th; Marius Dossier, CSU Pueblo, 116th; Timmy Cavarno, Colorado Mesa, 133rd; Archie Wyatt, CSU Pueblo, 176th; Colt Tenpenny, Colorado School of Mines, 194th.
Team Victories This Season for Colorado-Based Schools: CCU eight victories and one second place. Colorado Mesa one win. CSU Pueblo one.
Notable: Colorado Christian swept the team and individual (Duncan) titles in 2024 at the RMAC meet. CCU’s Bighaus prevailed in 2023. … CCU players have won or shared nine individual championships this season — Duncan (four), Bighaus (two), Cho (two) and Park (one). … Colorado’s Mesa’s Beyer owns three individual victories this season, plus one playoff loss.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN
Dates: April 20-22.
Site: Boulder City, Nev.
Colorado-Based Teams Competing: Colorado Mesa, Fort Lewis, MSU Denver, Adams State, Colorado Christian, CSU Pueblo.
Div. II National Ranking for Colorado-Based Teams: CSU Pueblo 35th; Colorado Christian 53rd; Colorado Mesa 85th; MSU Denver 111th; Fort Lewis 118th; Adams State not ranked.
Players From Colorado Schools Ranked in Top 200 Nationally in Div. II: Raya Schulz, CCU, 127th; Freya Constable, CSU Pueblo, 144th; Lisa Ekberg, CSU Pueblo, 150th.
Team Victories This Season for Colorado-Based Schools: CSU Pueblo 2, Colorado Christian 1.
Notable: CSU Pueblo has won the last two women’s RMAC team titles. … Schulz claimed an individual victory in September, while Constable won in October.
SUMMIT LEAGUE WOMEN
Dates: April 20-22.
Site: Phoenix.
Colorado-Based Team Competing: University of Denver.
DU National Ranking: 67th.
DU Players Ranked in Top 200 Nationally: Emma Bryant 161st.
DU Team Victories This Season: None.
Notable: The DU women have won 19 of the last 20 league championships in which they’ve competed. … Last year, individually, DU’s Clara Gestsdottir won the league title, with teammate Emma Bryant second.
BIG 12 CONFERENCE MEN
Dates: April 22-24.
Site: Tulsa, Okla.
Colorado-Based Team Competing: University of Colorado.
CU National Ranking: 33rd.
CU Players Ranked in Top 200 Nationally: Justin Biwer 67th, Dylan McDermott 73rd.
CU Team Victories This Season: One (with six second places).
Notable: CU finished eighth in the final men’s Pac-12 Conference tournament last year. … This season, CU has claimed one team title and finished second six times and third once. … Individually, Biwer tied for one tournament victory, though he lost in a playoff.
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MEN
Dates: April 25-27.
Site: Creswell, Ore.
Colorado-Based Teams Competing: Colorado State and Air Force.
CSU and Air Force National Ranking: CSU 44th; Air Force 241st.
CSU and Air Force Players Ranked in Top 200 Nationally: Christoph Bleier, CSU, 175th.
CSU and Air Force Team Victories This Season: CSU claimed team titles in its first three tournaments of the season — the Ram Masters Invitational, the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational and the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational. … Air Force hasn’t won this season.
Notable: CSU placed third and Air Force 11th in last year’s MWC meet. The Rams were three strokes out of a team playoff. … Bleier won an individual title in late March. … CSU has one regular-season tournament remaining before the conference meet — April 18-19 at the Robert Kepler Invitational.
SUMMIT LEAGUE MEN
Dates: April 27-29.
Site: Mesa, Ariz.
Colorado-Based Teams Competing: University of Denver and University of Northern Colorado.
DU and UNC National Ranking: DU 171st; UNC 209th.
DU or UNC Players Ranked in Top 200 Nationally: None.
DU or UNC Team Victories This Season: None for either team.
Notable: DU finished seventh in the 2024 Summit League tournament. … UNC placed fourth last year in the men’s Big Sky Conference Championship.
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