Colorado
THAT TIME OF YEAR – Colorado Golf Association
Stretch run of college golf season set to begin for Colorado-based teams, with conference tournaments preceding NCAA regionals and nationals
By Gary Baines – 4/11/2024
The college golf season — at least the first portion of it — began more than seven months ago. But now it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty.
In other words, the postseason is nearly upon us. First up, there’s conference/league tournaments, followed by NCAA Regionals (for those teams and individuals that qualify), then by the national championship (again, for schools/individuals that advance).
Fields for the NCAA Regionals will be revealed on various dates in the coming weeks: April 24 for women’s Division I, April 26 for men’s Division II, April 29 for women’s DII and May 1 for men’s DI.
But today we’re focused on the conference/league tournaments for the college programs based in Colorado. Things start with the University of Northern Colorado women at the Big Sky tournament April 15-17 and ends with the University of Denver men at the Summit League shindig April 28-30.
Here are some of the essentials from those tournaments — for both NCAA Division I and II programs in the Centennial State.
BIG SKY CONFERENCE WOMEN
Dates: April 15-17
Site: The Wigwam in Litchfield Park, Ariz.
Colorado-Based Team Competing: University of Northern Colorado.
UNC National Ranking: 185th
UNC Players Ranked in Top 200 Nationally: None.
UNC Team Victories This Season: None
Notable: UNC finished fifth out of 10 teams at last year’s Big Sky meet.
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN
Dates: April 16-18
Site: Mission Hills CC in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Colorado-Based Team Competing: Colorado State University.
CSU National Ranking: 49th.
CSU Players Ranked in Top 200 Nationally: Andrea Bergsdottir 59th.
CSU Team Victories This Season: 3.
Notable: Even before the postseason, the Rams have set their single-season program record with three team victories, including two during the spring portion of the schedule. … CSU placed third out of nine teams in last year’s MWC meet. … Bergsdottir has posted top-10 finishes in her last seven college starts. … Lauren Lehigh of New Mexico, a two-time Colorado 5A state high school individual champion, will play in her final MWC tournament. She’s ranked 80th nationally in Division I.
SUMMIT LEAGUE WOMEN
Dates: April 21-23
Site: Firekeeper GC in Mayetta, Kan.
Colorado-Based Team Competing: University of Denver.
DU National Ranking: 44th
DU Players Ranked in Top 200 Nationally: Anna Zanusso 121st, Clara Gestsdottir 183rd.
DU Team Victories This Season: none.
Notable: DU won last year’s Summit League team title, marking the Pioneers’ 18th league championship in the last 19 times the tournaments have been contested. DU’s Anna Krekling captured the 2023 individual title. … The Pioneers haven’t won a tournament this season, but have finished second twice.
PAC-12 CONFERENCE WOMEN
Dates: April 21-23
Site: Palouse Ridge GC in Pullman, Wash.
Colorado-Based Team Competing: University of Colorado.
CU National Ranking: 68th
CU Players Ranked in Top 200 Nationally: Morgan Miller 140th; Sabrina Iqbal 176th.
CU Team Victories This Season: none.
Notable: This will mark the final Pac-12 Conference tournament. For its part, CU is headed to the Big 12 in 2024-25. … Anne Kelly, CU’s head coach since 1997, will conclude her college coaching career this spring as she announced her impending retirement last fall. Current CU associate head coach Madeleine Sheils will succeed Kelly at the Buffs’ helm. … The Buffs finished 11th out of 11 teams in last year’s conference meet.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN
Dates: April 21-23
Site: Boulder Creek GC in Boulder City, Nev.
Colorado-Based Teams Competing: CSU-Pueblo, Colorado Christian, Colorado Mesa, Colorado School of Mines, Fort Lewis, Regis.
Top-100 National Rankings (Div. II) for Colorado Teams: Colorado Christian 8th; CSU-Pueblo 14th; Colorado School of Mines 22nd; Colorado Mesa 27th; Fort Lewis 75th.
Colorado-Based Players Ranked in Top 100 Nationally in Division II: Adam Duncan, Colorado Christian 6th; Jamie Roberts, CSU-Pueblo 29th; Xavier Bighaus, Colorado Christian 32nd; Lucas Taggart, Colorado School of Mines 40th; Colt Tenpenny, CSU-Pueblo 56th.
Notable: CSU-Pueblo prevailed in a playoff over Colorado Christian for the league team title last year, giving the ThunderWolves their third straight RMAC championship. … Colorado Christian’s Bighaus claimed the individual title in 2023.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN
Dates: April 21-23
Site: Boulder Creek GC in Boulder City, Nev.
Colorado-Based Teams Competing: CSU-Pueblo, Colorado Christian, Colorado Mesa, Regis, MSU Denver, Fort Lewis, Adams State.
Top-100 National Rankings (Div. II) for Colorado Teams: CSU-Pueblo 42nd; Regis 79th; Colorado Christian 81st; Colorado Mesa 82nd; Metro State 91st.
Colorado-Based Player Ranked in Top 100 Nationally in Division II: Kylie Severin, CSU-Pueblo 32nd
Notable: CSU-Pueblo took home the title in the 2023 RMAC tournament, with CSUP’s Severin and Zoey Rodriguez sharing the individual crown.
BIG SKY CONFERENCE MEN
Dates: April 22-24
Site: Wigwam GC in Litchfield Park, Ariz.
Colorado-Based Team Competing: UNC
UNC National Ranking: 175th
UNC Players Ranked in Top 200 Nationally: none.
UNC Team Victories This Season: none.
Notable: UNC won the Big Sky team title last year, earning an NCAA Regionals berth. The Bears put three players in the top four individually — Jack Castiglia (2), Yuze Zhang (3) and TJ Shehee (4).
PAC-12 CONFERENCE MEN
Date: April 26-28
Site: Desert Forest GC in Carefree, Ariz.
Colorado-Based Team Competing: CU
CU National Ranking: 66th
CU Players Ranked in Top 200 Nationally: none.
CU Team Victories This Season: one.
Notable: CU, bound for the Big 12 next season, will play in its final Pac-12 tournament. … The Pac-12 meet is very unusual by college golf standards in that it’s a 72-hole affair — as opposed to 54 holes for most events. … In February, the Buffs won their first large-field tournament since 2019.
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MEN
Date: April 26-28
Site: Emerald Valley GC in Creswell, Ore.
Colorado-Based Teams Competing: CSU and Air Force.
CSU National Ranking: 64th.
Air Force National Ranking: 253rd.
CSU/Air Force Players Ranked in Top 200 Nationally: Connor Jones, CSU 81st.
CSU/Air Force Team Victories This Season: one (CSU).
Notable: CSU placed fourth out of 11 teams at last year’s MWC meet, while Air Force was 11th. CSU’s Christoph Bleier tied for the top spot individually in regulation, but lost in a playoff. … Jones, a resident of Westminster and the 2022 CGA Player of the Year, will wrap up his college career this spring.
SUMMIT LEAGUE MEN
Date: April 28-30
Site: Covered Bridge GC in Sellersburg, Ind.
Colorado-Based Team Competing: DU
DU National Ranking: 218th.
DU Players Ranked in Top 200 Nationally: none.
DU Team Victories This Season: none.
Notable: DU finished runner-up out of 10 teams at the Summit League meet last year.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com
UPDATE: SUNDAY 4/19/2026 7:12 p.m.
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Northbound Powers Boulevards is back open at Palmer Park Boulevard, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD). However, the center and right northbound lanes as well as the right turn lane remain closed south of Constitution Avenue. Law enforcement asked the community to avoid the area if possible, and drive carefully.
ORIGINAL STORY: CSPD: Major crash closes northbound Powers
The northbound lanes of Powers Boulevard are closed at Palmer Park Boulevard for a major crash at Powers and Constitution as of 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 19, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD). Drivers are asked to avoid the area.
According to FOX21 News crew who spoke to an officer at the scene, the crash involved at least two cars and two motorcycles, and multiple people have been taken to the hospital.
Multiple agencies are responding, according to the FOX21 News crew, and the Major Crash Unit may be called in. Reports indicate that no one has died as of 5:30 p.m.
Former Colorado Buffaloes stars Sebastian Rancik and Bangot Dak announced their transfer portal decisions on Sunday with Rancik committing to Florida State and Dak committing to Vanderbilt, per On3’s Joe Tipton. They join former Buffs guard Isaiah Johnson (now at Texas) as the third former Colorado player to leave the Big 12 conference as Rancik opts for the ACC and Dak heads to the SEC.
The trio of Johnson, Rancik, and Dak make up three of Colorado’s four most productive players with rising senior guard Barrington Hargress, and the Buffs are now tasked with replacing such production with Hargress as the only returner.
Rancik’s season ended prematurely with an injury, but he averaged 12.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game for the Buffs. Dak was Colorado’s leading rebounder with 6.5 boards per game, scoring 11.5 points per contest as well.
While each player has his respective reasons for transferring, the most expected ones are for seeking better NIL deals or more development on a better team in a better league. The Buffs finished 12th in the Big 12, and the allure of the SEC was too strong for the program to hold onto key talent like Johnson and Dak.
Still, Colorado coach Tad Boyle proved his ability to recruit and build up a solid core, one that saw its headliners of Johnson, Dak, and Rancik all depart in the portal. Can he do it again?
Colorado Buffaloes Roster Outlook
Boyle and the Buffaloes did retain Hargress as well as three freshmen guards: Jalin Holland, Ian Inman, and Josiah Sanders.
As a freshman, Holland averaged 4.9 points and 2.7 rebounds per game as one of Colorado’s key pieces coming off of the bench. Meanwhile, Sanders appeared in 33 games as a constant presence in the Buffs backcourt, averaging 4.4 points and 1.7 assists per game.
Inman played the fewest minutes of the returning trio, but he flashed with a couple of double-digit scoring performances as a true freshman.
“When I think of those three together, I think of toughness. I think of the improvement they made over the course of the season and the togetherness they have. They’re great friends and have formed a bond during their freshman year. Their toughness, energy and work ethic, when you have those attributes to go along with talent, which they all have, you get a chance to have three really good sophomores next year that will take the next step,” Boyle said in a release announcing the return of the three freshmen.
With eight outgoing transfers to replace, the Buffaloes will certainly have a new look to them for the 2026-27 season.
Colorado has landed one transfer portal prospect so far in former North Dakota State foward Noah Feddersen. On the recruiting trail, Boyle and company are bringing in four-star forward Rider Portela as well as two prospects from the NBL in Australia: forward Goc Malual and guard Alex Dickeson.
The transfer portal for men’s college basketball closes on Tuesday, April 21, meaning players have to enter their names by then. Transfer athletes do not have to commit before the portal closes, though, so Colorado is expected to continue hosting prospects on visits while building out the roster.
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