The University of Colorado men’s golf team finished the opening round of Stanford’s “The Goodwin” tournament in eighth place on Mar. 26, completing their play after sunset at the Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto, California.
The team’s position is notable given the strength of the field, with nearly half of the 30 participating schools ranked among the nation’s top 50. Colorado, currently ranked No. 44, posted a combined score of two-under-par 278 for its 22nd subpar team round out of 27 this season.
Host and No. 23-ranked Stanford led after one round with an eleven-under-par score of 269, just ahead of No. 31 Long Beach State and No. 21 New Mexico. Colorado managed to finish under par thanks to birdies by Ty Holbrook and Hunter Swanson on their final hole—the par-4 ninth—after a slow start on the back nine.
Head coach Roy Edwards said, “A really good job by the guys to finish the day under par. We just labored through the round but we were impressed by their very good attitudes and mental approaches to the round.” Senior Hunter Swanson and graduate transfer Jackson Rivera each shot one-under-par rounds of 69 to tie for twenty-seventh individually.
Junior Brandon Knight recorded an even-par-70 performance while Holbrook matched Rivera and Swanson’s scores with his own one-under effort that included his fifth eagle this season. Sophomore Parker Paxton finished four-over-par but ended strong with consecutive birdies late in his round before closing with a bogey.
This marks Colorado’s twenty-eighth appearance at Stanford’s major spring tournament; last year they finished second overall. The event features an unusually large field this year with more than half competing from top-ranked programs nationwide.
The second round is scheduled for Friday morning, followed by Saturday’s final round.
