There’s no lack of storylines as Colorado-based college golf programs begin spring portion of schedule, including Colorado Christian men still undefeated as a team almost halfway through season
By Gary Baines – 1/23/2025
We may be less than halfway through winter in the U.S., but spring is upon us.
The “spring” portion of the college golf season, that is.
In fact, within two weeks, five of the nine NCAA Division I golf programs in Colorado will have completed their spring season openers. The University of Colorado and Colorado State women’s teams first tee it up for real starting next Friday (Jan. 31) in Mexico.
And an interesting spring it is shaping up to be — at least based on how Colorado-based teams performed in the fall before the winter offseason, which runs from November through January in many cases for college golf.
The fall schedule resulted in 15 team victories for golf programs from the Centennial State — five for defending NCAA Division II men’s national champion Colorado Christian; three for the CSU men; two for the CSU-Pueblo women; and one each for the CU men, the CSU women, the Colorado Mesa men, the CSU-Pueblo men, and the Colorado Christian women.
In addition, players from Colorado-based schools posted 17 individual wins in the fall — when including players who tied for first, then lost in playoffs — as per college ranking rules.
Among the interesting storylines heading into the spring schedule are two items regarding the Colorado Christian men: after becoming the first college golf program from Colorado — regardless or gender or NCAA division level — to claim a national team title, will CCU repeat in 2025?; and, shorter term, will CCU extend its team unbeaten streak after winning the team titles at all five of its college tournaments so far this season? As to that latter question, the Cougars will face a test right out of the blocks in the spring as they compete Feb. 24-26 in the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate against a field which includes many NCAA Division I teams.
Also, of the nation’s five top DII players — according to National College Golf Rankings — three are from Colorado Christian: 1. Sungyeop Cho; 2. Adam Duncan; 5. Sangha Park.
In Division I, players from Colorado-based teams ranked in the nation’s top 100 are CSU’s Jay Pabin (42nd) and CU’s Justin Biwer (79th)
Among top-100-ranked players who grew up in Colorado but compete for out-of-state teams: Jacob Mason of Trinity is ranked 26th in men’s DIII; Lily Nelson of Henderson State is 46th in women’s DII; and Jessica Mason of Trinity (Jacob’s sister) is 23rd and Bead Boonta of Pacific in Oregon is 41st in women’s DIII.
Here are some nuts and bolts regarding Colorado-based golf programs as they head into the spring schedule:
NCAA DIVISION I
CU MEN
Spring Season Opener: Feb. 17-19, The Prestige at PGA West, La Quinta, Calif.
Conference Tournament: Big 12 Championship, April 22-24, Tulsa, Okla.
National DI Team Ranking: 34th.
Team Victories in Fall: 1. (CU also finished second three times and third once.)
National DI Individual Players Ranked in Top 250: 79. Justin Biwer; 103. Dylan McDermott; 243. Frederik Eisenbeis.
Individual Titles — or Playoff Losses — in Fall: Justin Biwer 1.
CU WOMEN
Spring Season Opener: Jan. 31-Feb.1, Collegiate Invitational at Guadalajara (Mexico).
Conference Tournament: Big 12 Championship, April 15-17, Hockley, Texas.
National DI Team Ranking: 54th.
National DI Individual Players Ranked in Top 250: 164. Sydney Givens; 232. Maria Eidhagen Harrouch. (Note: Earlier this month, CU junior Morgan Miller won the prestigious Jones/Doherty Women’s Amateur for the second time.)
CSU MEN
Spring Season Opener: Feb. 17-19, The Prestige, La Quinta, Calif.
Conference Tournament: Mountain West, April 25-27, Creswell, Ore.
National DI Team Ranking: 40th.
Team Victories in Fall: 3.
National DI Individual Players Ranked in Top 250: 42. Jay Pabin. 204. Matthew Wilkinson.
Individual Titles in Fall: Matthew Wilkinson, Jay Pabin.
CSU WOMEN
Spring Season Opener: Jan. 31-Feb. 1, Collegiate Invitational at Guadalajara (Mexico).
Conference Tournament: Mountain West, April 15-17, Rancho Mirage, Calif.
National DI Team Ranking: 75th.
Team Victories in Fall: 1.
National DI Individual Rankings in Top 250: 239. Kara Kaneshiro.
Individual Titles in Fall: Lacey Uchida.
DU MEN
Spring Season Opener: Feb. 2-4, UTRGV, Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Conference Tournament: Summit League, April 27-29, Phoenix.
National DI Team Ranking: 195th.
Notable: DU sophomore Zander Grant won the Thunderbolt Invitational during the winter offseason.
DU WOMEN
Spring Season Opener: Feb. 3-4, FAU Paradise Invitational, Boca Raton, Fla.
Conference Tournament: Summit League, April 20-22, Phoenix.
National DI Team Ranking: 78th.
National DI Individual Players Ranked in Top 250: 190. Emma Bryant.
UNC MEN
Spring Season Opener: Feb. 2-4, UTRGV, Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Conference Tournament: The Summit League, April 27-29, Mesa, Ariz.
National DI Team Ranking: 210th.
UNC WOMEN
Spring Season Opener: Feb. 11-13, BGSU Women’s Intercollegiate, Litchfield Park, Ariz.
Conference Tournament: Big Sky, April 14-16, Litchfield Park, Ariz.
National DI Team Ranking: 155th.
National DI Individual Players Ranked in Top 250: 237. Timbre Shehee.
AIR FORCE ACADEMY MEN
Spring Season Opener: Feb. 24-25, Nick Witney Invitational, Fresno, Calif.
Conference Tournament: Mountain West, April 25-27, Creswell, Ore.
National DI Team Ranking: 238th.
NCAA DIVISION II
MEN
National DII Team Rankings for Colorado-Based Programs: 1. Colorado Christian; 16. Colorado Mesa; 33. CSU-Pueblo; 37. Colorado School of Mines; 64. Fort Lewis.
National DII Individual Players Ranked in Top 250 — from Colorado-Based Schools: 1. Sungyeop Cho, Colorado Christian; 2. Adam Duncan, Colorado Christian; 5. Sangha Park, Colorado Christian; 12. Cole Beyer, Colorado Mesa; 21. Xavier Bighaus, Colorado Christian; 69. Bradley Mulder, Colorado Christian; 128. Marius Dosiere, CSU-Pueblo; 209. Peyton Jones, Colorado Christian; 232. Colt Tenpenny, Colorado School of Mines; 245. Lukas Taggart, Colorado School of Mines.
Conference Tournament: Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, April 20-22, Boulder City, Nev. Note: The NCAA DII national championships are set for May 20-23 in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Number of Team Wins in Fall: Colorado Christian 5, Colorado Mesa 1; CSU-Pueblo 1.
Individual Wins — or Ties for First — in Fall: Adam Duncan, CCU 2; Syungyeop Cho, CCU 2; Cole Beyer, Colorado Mesa 2; Sangha Park, CCU 1; Xavier Bighaus, CCU 1; Traejan Andrews, Fort Lewis 1; Tyler Tyson, Fort Lewis 1.
WOMEN
National DII Team Rankings for Colorado-Based Programs: 39. CSU-Pueblo; 55. Colorado Christian; 97. Colorado Mesa; 106. Metropolitan State of Denver; 120. Fort Lewis; Not Ranked. Adams State
National DII Individual Players Ranked in Top 250 — from Colorado-Based Schools: 78. Freya Constable, CSU-Pueblo; 137. Raya Schulz, Colorado Christian; 160. Alyssa McMillen, CSU-Pueblo; 228. Lisa Ekberg, CSU-Pueblo; 249. Dimery Plewe, Fort Lewis.
Conference Tournament: Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, April 21-23, Boulder City, Nev.
Number of Team Wins in Fall: CSU-Pueblo 2; Colorado Christian 1.
Individual Wins — or Ties for First — in Fall: Raya Schulz, CCU 1, Freya Constable, CSU-Pueblo 1; Dimery Plewe, Fort Lewis 1.
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