When he woke up earlier this week, ready for a practice round ahead of his final collegiate tournament, there was a little extra spring in Justin Biwer’s step.

Biwer couldn’t help feeling a little energized being back on his home turf, and it will be a full-circle moment for the Colorado senior as he finishes his career back where it all started.

For the second time in three years, the CU men’s golf team will compete in the NCAA championships, a tournament that begins Friday at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. Biwer grew up just a couple dozen miles south in San Diego, and after finishing the regional round of the postseason with a stellar showing, Biwer will look to do the same on a course he played several times during his youth before recent renovations.

“To finish up college golf basically in my hometown is a really cool thing for me,” Biwer said. “It feels like I’m right at home. Funny enough, I woke up (Wednesday) way earlier than I was anticipating, and I just kind of felt full of energy being back out here. I’m just really excited to get out there for the week.”

Biwer and the Buffs believe they have not yet played their best golf, at least collectively, but CU came close to doing just that in the final round of the Northwest Regional last week, where the Buffs finished third.

Biwer is CU’s stroke average leader this season (69.65) and goes into the NCAA finals as the program’s all-time leader in stroke average with a mark of 70.86. By no means was Biwer awful during the first two rounds of the regional, but his marks of 1-over-par 73 in the first round, followed by a 74, were out of synch for a player who had carded scores of 72 or lower in 14 of his previous 19 rounds during the spring season. (Two of the five higher scores were 73s Biwer recorded in the first two rounds of the spring).

Biwer, though, returned to form in a big way in the final round of the regional, firing a 5-under 67. Coupled with Hunter Swanson’s 2-under 70 — one day after Swanson carded a 68 — the Buffs surged comfortably into third place to secure a berth in the final.

“That last round (at regionals) was an extreme confidence-booster, especially considering that’s about as uncomfortable as I’ve felt during a tournament on the golf course,” Biwer said. “It kind of proved to myself that I could shoot a score like that, and to play golf like that when I wasn’t feeling even close to 100% was a really big confidence-booster, knowing that if I get things in a better position, what that could look like over a three-, four-day span rather than just one round.”

Biwer, fellow senior Dylan McDermott and Swanson played key roles for CU’s finals team from two years ago, as was senior Jack Holland, who is expected to reprise his role this weekend as the rotation alternate that he filled at the regional. The Buffs finished 21st at the 2023 final, but given they are coming off as complete a performance at the regional as they have put together all season, CU’s veteran and battle-tested rotation is confident of making a run.

“The team’s reaction to regional certainly was happiness and joy but quickly moved on to getting ready for the finals. It was a very quick mindset-shift, and they did it on their own,” CU head coach Roy Edwards said. “We’ve played really well all year, but we’ve definitely not played our best. And they know that. They’re the ones that told me that. I look forward to a good week if we handle our business and focus on ourselves.”