Nike Junior Golf Camps, University of Colorado Boulder at Flatirons Golf Course

Edwards, 43, is just the third full-time men’s golf coach in Buffalo history. He came to CU with an impressive pedigree, joining the Buffaloes from his alma mater, the University of Kansas, where he had served as the assistant for both the men’s and women’s programs for the previous four years (2002-06). He held the same position at Vanderbilt University for a year prior to returning to KU.

Edwards replaced the late Mark Simpson, who passed away from complications due to lung cancer in December 2005. Simpson had held the post since 1977, when he followed in the footsteps of his college head coach, Les Fowler. Fowler took over as player-coach in 1948 and remained on board until Simpson, his assistant, replaced him. Thus, Edwards is only the program’s third full-time head coach since 1948.

Each of his predecessors had to lead the Buffaloes into stronger conferences, Fowler into the Big Seven in 1949 and Simpson into the Big 12 in 1996; but Edwards was faced with the most daunting task in CU golf history. He led the charge when the Buffaloes joined the Pacific-10 Conference on July 1, 2011 (making it the Pac-12), with Colorado becoming a member of the most prestigious men’s golf conference in the nation. A long-time force in collegiate golf, as many as seven or eight schools regularly occupied the top 30 every season and Pac-12 schools have won 15 national championships.

In a 2015 summer poll by Golfweek of golf coaches nationwide, asking them to rate their peers, Edwards came up as No. 18 on the list. The publication commented about Edwards, “If you have ever spoken with Edwards at length, you know he is a student of the profession.”

It took less than three years for Edwards to put his stamp on the CU golf program, perhaps in no bigger way than completing the dream of both Fowler and Simpson. One of the few major golf programs in the nation without its own true home golf course and facilities, Edwards played an integral part in working with Colorado alum Steve Kerr in the latter’s acquisition of Vista Ridge Golf Club in Erie in 2009. The club was renamed Colorado National Golf Club and has since served as the official home for the university’s men’s and women’s golf teams. In 2012, the George Boedecker Jr. CU Golf Practice Facility, a 5,600-square foot state-of-the-art indoor complex was constructed at CNGC, one that matches any in the nation.

He also initiated the Colorado Partners program, a group that quickly grew to well over 100 members who contribute financially to augment the school’s golf budget, and established the Colorado Golf Day which is an annual celebration and fundraiser for CU golf.

On the course, under Edwards the Buffaloes have appeared in 12 out of a possible 13 NCAA Championships, nine times as a team and three times with individuals earning selections. Through the fall of 2019, his CU teams have won 17 major tournaments, the most under one coach in school history as he surpassed Simpson’s 16 when the Buffs won two fall ’19 events. In addition, the Buffaloes have 19 runner-up finishes in his tenure and his golfers have won 15 individual medalist honors. Against Division I competition, CU owns a 1,379-1,011-34 record head-to-head (57.6 winning percentage), but since joining the Pac-12, the Buffs are 912-568-25 (a 61.4 winning clip).

Tolan, 34, has been playing professionally the last 10 years since he last teed it up for the Buffs in the spring of 2009; he is filling a midseason vacancy created in December 2019 when CU’s assistant coach of the last five seasons, Pat Grady (a teammate of Tolan’s) decided to return to his private CPA business.

“It means everything in the world to me to be part of CU again, not just the golf program but the university and athletic department as a whole,” Tolan said. ‘I was recruited by Mark Simpson as a player and played for Roy Edwards for three years, so this is a unique opportunity to be able to continue the values of both of them, but also to be able to apply my knowledge as well. I’ve been in the ring for decades now and have successes and failures at all levels. It’s important for me to apply that knowledge to the players at CU, and feel so fortunate to have this opportunity.”

For his CU career (four-year letterman from 2006-09), Tolan finished third in the most rounds played (151), and was 13th in career stroke average (74.19). He tied for second in both the most top 10 finishes (18) and top 20 efforts (26) in school history (he was 11th with five top-five performances). He had 89.8 percent of his career rounds count toward team scoring and at the time became just the fifth CU player to have qualified to play in four NCAA Championships. As a senior, he posted a 71.9 stroke average, leading the team in recording the second-best in school history at the time. He was selected as the school’s Male Career Athletic Achievement Award winner for all sports, and the co-Male Athlete of the Year (with Grady). An honorable mention All-American by Golfweek and the GCAA, he also earned PING All-Central Region honors, All-Big 12 honors, and All-Big 12 Tournament Team accolades.