Making Headway

Against strong field, CU’s Ty Holbrook and Hunter Swanson notch top-10 finishes as Buffs come on strong in final round for another top-3 showing; meanwhile, Colorado Mesa women coming off sweep of titles

By Gary Baines – 3/17/2027

In a tournament that featured 10 players ranked in the nation’s top 100 individually among men’s NCAA Division I schools, a couple of University of Colorado golfers who live in the Centennial State pretty much full time posted top-10 finishes on Tuesday.

And despite facing five DI teams ranked in the country’s top 35, the Buffs tied for third in the Arizona Thunderbirds Intercollegiate in Tucson.

CU junior Ty Holbrook finished a season-best third on Tuesday. (file photo)

Ty Holbrook, a CU junior who was raised in Texas but now calls Colorado home, finished a season-best third in the 81-man field, marking the ninth top-10 showing of his college career. And Hunter Swanson — a Colorado native, in-state high school graduate (Northfield), longtime Green Valley Ranch Golf Club mainstay and now CU senior — tied for eighth place, good for the 10th top-10 of his collegiate career.

Holbrook, who finished third in the CGA Amateur last year, eagled the 10th hole on Tuesday en route to a 6-under-par 66 and a 7-under total. He ended up six strokes behind champion Alejandro De Castro of Long Beach State.

Senior Hunter Swanson notched his third top-10 showing of the season. (photo: CUBuffs.com)

Swanson, a CGA Four-Ball champion last year (with Wes Erling), went 66-73-71, but bogeyed two of his final three holes to keep him out of the top three individually. He finished at 6 under par for three rounds. It’s Swanson’s third top-10 of the season.

Team-wise, CU recorded the best final-round score on Tuesday (-14) to check in at 21 under par — behind host and winner Arizona (No. 22 in the country) and No. 32 Long Beach State, but tied with No. 5 Arizona State and ahead of No. 14 Oklahoma and No. 18 New Mexico.

It was the Buffs’ sixth top-3 finish of the season, to go along with a win, two seconds and two other thirds.

CU has just two regular-season tournaments remaining before the Big 12 Championships: the Wally Goodwin Intercollegiate (March 26-28) and the Thunderbird Intercollegiate (April 10-11).

For all the scores from Tucson, CLICK HERE.

Elsewhere Recently: The Colorado Mesa University women’s golf team swept the team and individual titles in the SMSU Challenge on March 13 in Litchfield Park, Ariz. It was the Mavericks’ first team championship of the season as they prevailed by 11 strokes. CMU senior Payton Panzeri (71-74) earned the individual victory. SCORES