The Colorado Christian men’s golf team was as close to winning the national title as you can be. 

But the Cougars will not be taking home their second straight NCAA Division II championship.

On Friday in the match play finals at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Colorado Christian played to a 2.5-2.5 draw with West Florida. The Argonauts claimed the title by beating the Cougars in an aggerate score playoff on the par-5 10th hole. West Florida finished 5-under while Colorado Christian was 3-under. 

It was Colorado Christian’s first and only loss in Division II play.

It was an amazing season for the Cougars as they tried to defend their crown. They won every event they entered during the regular season and had 10 individual titles. Colorado Christian dominated the RMAC Championship as well as the NCAA regionals on its way back to the NCAA championships. 

Adam Duncan was named RMAC Golfer of the Year and Mark Hull received the coach of the year honor. Five golfers from the team were named first team All-RMAC.

Duncan went into the 18th hole with a chance to bring home the title for the Cougars. He birdied the par 5, but so did West Florida’s Ty Thompson resulting in a half and sending the matchup to the playoff.  

Sungyeop Cho and Peyton Jones were winners for the Cougars on Friday in match play. The team was the No. 1 seed after finishing with the top spot in stroke play. They went on to beat Oklahoma Christian and North Georgia to reach the final match.

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CU Buffs in good position after first day of NCAAs

The Colorado men’s golf team went out early on Friday and put up 1-over team score that was good enough for a tie for eighth place after the first round of the NCAA Championship at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

The Buffs, who are playing in the NCAAs for the second time in three years, were led by Justin Biwer’s 68 and Brandon Knight’s even-par 72. Dylan McDermott (1-over), Ty Holbrook (4-over) and Hunter Swanson (6-over) rounded out the day for Colorado.

“Overall, a very good start to the tournament,” head coach Roy Edwards said in a press release.  “Justin had a really strong round and was very consistent all day. Dylan hung in there and Brandon’s round of even was very good as well. Ty was off his game but really hung in there at the end and did a nice job.  Hunter didn’t play his best, but this is a good course for him and he will have a good rest of the week. 

After four days of stroke play, the top 8 teams advance to match play to determine the NCAA crown. Oklahoma leads at 8-under after the first day of play. 

Biwer, who was the Big 12’s stroke average leader, fired his sixth bogey-free round of the season and the eighth of his career, both school records. The 68 tied the third-best score by a Buff in the finals, behind only Hale Irwin’s 65 in the third round on his way to claiming medalist honors in 1967, and a 5-under 66 by Ben Portie in the first round in 2002.

The senior grew up in Southern California and attended Torrey Pines High School. 

“The course itself is very different – I had played it numerous times before the redesign. But it plays completely different, especially around and on the greens,” he said. “The layout I was still familiar with, but the greens are much more challenging than they were.”

The Buffs will tee off in the afternoon on Saturday with their first group going off at 1:45 p.m.