A fast start quickly unraveled for the Colorado men’s golf team at the NCAA championships.

The Buffaloes landed a spot in the final for the second time in three years and got off to a superb start during the opening round Friday, posting a team score of 1-over par to finish the first day in a three-way tie for eighth. But CU couldn’t maintain the momentum.

The Buffs posted a mark of 10-over during Saturday’s second round, falling into a tie for 12th. Needing a solid effort during the third round Sunday to make the cut — the top 15 teams advance to the final round of stroke play Monday — CU fell short.

CU struggled to a plus-21 team score Sunday at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. At press time the Buffs’ final placing remained unresolved, but they were well behind the cut line for advancing.

After posting the third-best score in an NCAA championship round in program history with a 5-under-par 68 in the first round, CU senior Justin Biwer posted a 76 on Saturday — his highest score of the season — before carding a 10-over 82 on Sunday.

Senior Dylan McDermott and junior Hunter Swanson finished with CU’s top marks, finishing their three rounds at 8-over. Both players endured a sort of reversals of fortune, as McDermott posted scores of 1-over 73 and even-par 72 during the first two rounds before carding a 7-over 79 on Sunday. Swanson, meanwhile, posted a 6-over 78 in the first round but followed with consecutive scores of 73 in the final two rounds.

“Well, it was an interesting day to say the least,” CU head coach Roy Edwards said after Saturday’s round. “A very challenging golf course, but I am really proud of the fact we battled back after a tough stretch. You could say we got our doubles out of the way for the entire week, so we don’t need any more of those. The team should take a lot of confidence out of how they were able to persevere and rally late in the round.”

All-Region

On Saturday, Biwer and McDermott were named to the 26-player All-West Region team by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

It marked the third time since the inception of the award in 2002 that multiple CU players landed spots, following Michael Baird, Luke Symons and Derek Tolan in 2007-08, and Tolan and Patrick Grady the following year.