Now the real fun starts, the “Madness” of the college golf season.
The regular season has ended for all nine NCAA Division I golf programs based in Colorado (five men’s, four women’s), with the last of the bunch wrapping up play on Sunday. Up next, starting as soon as Monday for some Colorado teams, are conference championships, then — potentially — NCAA regionals and finals.
And while there won’t be any Division I tournaments in Colorado in the coming month and a half, both the men’s and women’s NCAA D-II finals will be held in the Centennial State, with the men May 17-21 at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club and the women May 18-21 at CommonGround Golf Course. Tickets for those events will be $5 per day or $15 for the week, with the cost good for both sites. For those interested in volunteering for one of the tournaments, CLICK HERE.
As for the local Division I programs, conference championships are scheduled over the coming two weeks. First up are all of the local D-I women’s teams competing Monday through Wednesday at four different sites.
That includes the University of Denver, which will be going for its 13th consecutive conference title, this one at the Summit League tournament in Nebraska City. Also competing those same dates are the University of Colorado women, who are ranked 25th in the nation according to Golfweek and are at the Pac-12 Championships in Pleasantown, Calif.
Here’s a brief rundown on each of the D-I conference championships involving a Colorado team:
— CU women at Pac-12 tournament, April 18-20 in Pleasantown, Calif. Notable: CU hosted the 2015 event at Boulder Country Club, posting its best finish ever in the Pac-12 (fifth). … The 25th-ranked Buffs have recorded four top-four team finishes this season. … Junior Esther Lee leads the Buffs in scoring, at 72.54. She’s posted six top-10 individual finishes this season, including one win in the stroke-play portion of a match-play event. Lee is ranked No. 15 among the nation’s women’s D-I players by both Golfweek and Golfstat.
— DU women at Summit League tournament, April 18-20 in Nebraska City. Notable: In the last dozen years, the Pioneers have won two Summit League titles, plus nine in the Sun Belt Conference, and one in the WAC. DU prevailed by 18 strokes last year. … Denver has two top-four finishes to its credit, both coming in Colorado, including a win in DU’s Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate in October. … Freshman Kathi Baratta, a first-team All-Summit League pick, leads DU in stroke average at 76.1.
— Colorado State women at Mountain West Conference tournament, April 18-20 in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Notable: The Rams placed sixth at the 2015 conference tourney. … CSU notched two top-four finishes during the regular season. … Freshman Katrina Prendergast leads CSU in stroke average at 73.76. Her best finish is a fifth-place showing.
— Northern Colorado women at Big Sky tournament, April 18-20 in Boulder City, Nev. Notable: 2015: UNC finished sixth in last year’s Big Sky Championships. … The Bears placed in the top three in two of their last three tournaments. … Junior Kala Keltz from Montrose claimed an individual title on Tuesday at the Montana State Bobcat Invitational. Also recently posting a high individual showing was UNC’s Amanda Myers, who was runner-up in a tournament last month.
— CSU and Air Force Academy men at Mountain West Conference tournament, April 22-24 in Tucson, Ariz. Notable: CSU was fifth and Air Force 10th in last year’s MWC meet. … Colorado State has posted five top-four finishes this season, including two victories. … CSU senior Dominic Kieffer leads the Rams in stroke average, at 71.9, having notched four top-six individual finishes. … Air Force posted two top-three team showings this season. … Of golfers who have competed in more than 20 rounds, Sunwoo Choi leads the Falcons in stroke average at 73.9. He has two top-10s to his credit.
— UNC men at Big Sky tournament, April 29-May 1 in Boulder City, Nev. Notable: Last year, UNC placed sixth in the conference tournament. … The Bears’ top team showing this season has been a runner-up. … Coloradan Steven Kupcho, the 2012 CGA Player of the Year, will wrap up his college career this spring. He placed fourth in a tournament in February.
— CU men at the Pac-12 tournament, April 29-May 1 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Notable: The Buffs will host the 2017 Pac-12 Championships next April 28-30 at Boulder Country Club. … CU, ranked 60th in the nation by Golfstat, has posted five top-four team finishes this season, notching two victories. … Junior Jeremy Paul (70.45) and senior Philip Juel-Berg (71.87) both average under 72 for the Buffs. Each has an individual victory in a large-scale tournament this season. … CU placed 11th in the league tournament last year.
— DU men at Summit League tournament, May 1-3 in Newton, Kan. Notable: The Pioneers’ top team showing of the season was a fifth place at the Pacific Invitational in October. … 2015 CGA Stroke Play champion Chris Korte, a sophomore, leads the Pioneers’ regulars in stroke average at 74.9. … Last year, DU placed fifth in the league championship. … The Pioneers just signed Roy Kang of North Vancouver, B.C., to a national letter of intent. Kang, who tied for third in the 2015 Junior America’s Cup, will join DU in the fall.
