In a fall season full of big-time performances in the Colorado college scene, the CU Buffs men’s team joined the party on Tuesday.

The Buffs finished their best fall season in program history with a runner-up finish at the Hawaii Ka’anapali Classic in Lahaina, Maui. CU had one win, three runner-up efforts and a third-place showing in its best fall season.

Several other local programs had strong fall seasons. Defending champion Colorado Christian won every tournament it entered. Colorado State’s men and women won several tournaments and took home individual crowns as well.

The showing by the Buffs was record-breaking in other ways as well. In a field that included several top 50 teams in Division I golf, CU’s team score of 816 was the lowest in school history in terms of gross total and the 36-under par was the second in relation to par.

“Just a tremendous event from start to finish,” coach Roy Edwards said. “Really good golf from four of the guys, but all of them contributed to good play. It is a special thing to come to Hawai’i and play on Bermuda grass and beat teams like LSU, Georgia, TCU and other southern teams that play on it all the time. We were right there in the mix to win and to be in the hunt with Oklahoma (No. 2 team in the country) was awesome.”

Senior Dylan McDermott joined in on the record-setting tournament. He finished in third at the 54-hole event while leading the field with 20 birdies. He set the school record for the lowest gross score as well as the best score for 54-holes in relation to par at 15-under. Tuesday was also his 15th-straight round under par, adding to his school record. 

“Just keeping the ball in play — hitting fairways, hitting greens and minimizing mistakes,” McDermott said. “My only double bogey this week was when my ball got stuck in a pine tree, the ball never came down. Had nature been my friend, I might have won the tournament.”

Justin Biwer, who joined the Colorado team with McDermott is 2021, continued his strong fall and now holds the school record for fall scoring average at 68.47. McDermott is now second in fall scoring. Biwer finished in a tie for eighth in Hawaii. He also completed a streak of 61 straight holes without a bogey. 

“Dylan and Justin were fantastic as per their usual,” Edwards said. “Dylan played wonderful and then had to battle a few tough points in the round today, but really came back from that at a high level. And as I said (Monday), Justin’s run of 61 straight holes of par or better over our last two tournaments was nothing short of remarkable.”

The college season takes a break until February when the spring season gets going. 

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Colin Prater sweeps CGA awards

Colorado Springs’ Colin Prater continues to dominate the Colorado amateur golf scene.

For the third time, Prater took home the Les Fowler Player of the Year and Mid-Amateur Player of the Year honors from the Colorado Golf Association. He also swept the awards in 2020 and 2023.

The Cheyenne Mountain High science teacher qualified for the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, U.S. Mid-Amateur and the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball with partner Jimmy Makloski. Prater advanced to match play at the U.S. Mid-Am and Four-Ball.

He not only played in practice rounds on one of biggest stages in golf with Jordan Spieth, Wyndham Clark but also made birdie on the first hole of the U.S. Open.

In Colorado, Prater was a dominant force on the course. He became a three-time winner of the CGA Amateur at Eisenhower Golf Club. U.S. Open winner Hale Irwin (1963, 1964-65) and Bob Byman (1971-73) are the other three-time winners.

Prater has won six CGA championships during his career. Adding to his win at the CGA Amateur, he was the runner-up at the CGA Mid-Am and finished fourth place in the CGA Four-Ball.

The Cheyenne Mountain boys golf team also swept the team and individual titles (Brayden Desterfano) at the Class 4A state tournament. Prater is the assistant coach for the team.

Steve Ivan won CGA Senior Player of the Year, David Nelson took home the CGA Super-Senior Player of the Year and Miles Kuhl was named CGA Boys Player of the Year.

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Colorado set to host 2025 World Long Drive Championship

Some of the biggest hitters in the game of golf will be visiting Colorado in 2025.

The 2025 World Long Drive Championship will take place on Sept. 24-28 at Bigfoot Turf Farm in LaSalle, which is southeast of Greeley.

“We are excited to announce the location of the 2025 WLD World Championships,” WLD said in a press release. “LaSalle will be home to some of the biggest drives in long-drive history. We know this will make for one of the most exciting World Championships yet.”

Lakewood’s Monica Lieving won the World Long Drive Championship in 2023. She won a WLD event his year in Canada.

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What they’re saying

“I’m a European player. I would like to go down as the most successful European of all time. Obviously Race to Dubai wins would count to that but also major championships and hopefully I’ve got a few more Ryder Cups ahead of me as well.”

—Rory McIlroy on playing in Dubai this week

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Skins game

Odds to win World Wide Technology Championship

Max Greyserman +1600

Matti Schmid +2200

Doug Ghim +2200

Harris English +2500

Beau Hossler +2500

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This week in golf

European Tour

ABU DHABI HSBC CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Course: Yas Links GC. Yardage: 7,425. Par: 72.

Prize money: $9 million. Winner’s share: $1.5 million.

Television: Thursday-Saturday, Midnight-6 a.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 11:30 p.m. (Saturday)-5:30 a.m. (Golf).

Defending champion: Victor Perez.

PGA Tour

WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Los Cabos, Mexico.

Course: El Cardonal at Diamante. Yardage: 7,452. Par: 72.

Prize money: $7.2 million. Winner’s share: $1.296 million.

Television: Thursday-Sunday, Noon-3 p.m. (Golf).

Defending champion: Erik van Rooyen.

LPGA Tour

LOTTE CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Honolulu.

Course: Hoakalei CC. Yardage: 6,536. Par: 72.

Prize money: $3 million. Winner’s share: $450,000.

Television: Wednesday-Saturday, 5-8 p.m. (Golf).

Defending champion: Grace Kim.

PGA Tour Champions

CHARLES SCHWAB CUP CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Phoenix.

Course: Phoenix Country Club. Yardage: 6,860. Par: 71,

Prize money: $3 million. Winner’s share: $450,000.

Television: Thursday-Sunday, 3-5 p.m. (Golf).

Defending champion: Steven Alker.