BOULDER —University of Colorado men’s head coach Roy Edwards has added two of the nation’s top recruits to the Buffalo program, as both signed financial aid agreements this week to attend CU beginning next fall.
 
            Tyler Long, the Colorado High School 3A state champion from Evergreen High School, and Casey Kosney from Dorman High School in Roebuck, S.C., are the newest Buffaloes.
 
            “For sure, we met our needs this recruiting cycle and believe Tyler and Casey are cornerstones for a lot of future success,” Edwards said in summarizing the duo.  “For all incoming college golfers, today is not a destination, it is part of the process.  Hard work, confidence, sacrifice, and competitiveness are still the necessary ingredients all players need to continue to improve and develop.  I expect these two will do that at high levels.”
 
CASEY KOSNEY
 
            An All-Region performer as both a sophomore and junior at Dorman High School in Roebuck, S.C., his stroke average was 71.1 last spring and an even 72 as a sophomore.  He recently won two tournaments, the Henry Transou Memorial in Gaffney, S.C., by three strokes (69-71—140; -4) and the Cheraw (S.C.) Fall Challenge by two shots (69-69—138, -6).  Last month, he was a member of the Watson Cup team (South Carolina vs. Scotland) that won the competition modeled after the Walker and Ryder cups; the juniors from South Carolina won, 32-16.

            (South Carolina’s high school season is during the spring.)

 

            Earlier this year, he won the Morgan Lucas Championship, rallying from 11 strokes down after the first round with a 7-under par 65 to claim medalist honors in the event at Greenville (S.C.) Country Club; he shaved 17 strokes off his first round score (82) to win with a 3-over 147.  He tied for fourth in the Palmetto High School Championship (with an 8-under 67-69-70—206 scorecard); he led Dorman to a 16th place team finish in a field 48 teams from around the country.

 

            He played in two AJGA events last summer, tying for 11th in the Greenwood Junior Championship (69-76-72—217, +1) and tying for 26th in the Colorado Junior (77-81-72—230).  

 

            As a freshman at Sheldon High School in Sacramento, Calif., he earned player of the year honors in the Delta League (as determined by scores throughout the season and placements in tournaments). He won the Bartley Cavanaugh GC Junior with a 1-under 70 (one of several top five First Tee finishes), and tied for fourth in the State Fair Junior (73, +1) at the Haggans Oaks Golf Complex.  His career best score – a 9-under 63 – he recorded in the 2020 Peggy Dodds Sacramento Junior, also at Haggans Oaks; he rallied to win the event with a 74-63—137 (-7) effort as a 13-year old.

 

            “Casey is an athlete who comes from a family of athletes — he is a highly-competitive and hard-working player,” Edwards said.  “He has been coached by Phil Dawson – the same coach as (current Buffaloes) Brandon Knight and Dylan McDermott and really has a high ceiling as a player.  He played some great golf all over the country and is another highly-talented player.”

 

            His father, Erik, is a professional water skier, while an older sister, Rylie, is a junior on the golf team at South Carolina-Upstate and was an honorable mention All-Big South Conference performer as a sophomore.  Casey was also on a club soccer team for six years before moving from Sacramento.

 

            His family moved from Northern California to South Carolina prior to his sophomore year in high school; though he grew up in his native Sacramento, he will become the first player from a state of South Carolina high school to play for the Buffaloes.  He said he selected CU as his college choice because, “I feel it is the best place to challenge myself and grow as a student-athlete.”  He committed to CU this past June.

 

TYLER LONG

 

               The Colorado Golf Hall of Fame’s selection as its boys’ “Future Famer” for 2004, Long recently completed the 3A trifecta: won the state’s 3A championship last month, posting a four-stroke win with a 9-under par 67-68—135 effort at Walking Stick GC in Pueblo; he had nine birdies and 27 pars over the two days (no bogeys).  He led Evergreen to its second straight state crown, this time in 3A competition (by 17 strokes at that); the Cougars won the 4A title his junior season at Bridges Golf Course in Montrose (when he finished as the runner-up with a 1-under 141). 

 

            As a senior, he also won the 3A Region 2 title (7-under 64 at Fox Hollow), after winning the Jeffco League title for a record fourth time.  It all added up to an outstanding senior season, as he either won or shared the title in all eight school events in which he competed.  In nine competitive rounds, he shot in the 60’s all times (66 or lower six times), with a low of 63 and a high of 69.   

 

               His stroke average as a senior was an incredible 65.8, which completed a succession if improvements since his freshman year (70.9), through his sophomore (70.6) and junior (69.8) seasons.  He is a three-time All-State performer (second-team as a freshman), a four-time, first-team All-Jeffco selection as academically, has been on Evergreen’s Gold or Silver Honor Roll all four years as a prep.  His career best round was early in his junior year, a 9-under 61 in the a Jeffco League tournament at Lake Arbor Golf Course in Arvada.

 

            The No. 52 player in the most recent Rolex AJGA rankings, he won the AJGA’s Colorado Springs Junior (69-64-71—204, -12), and placed second in the Justin Thomas Junior (68-65-67—200, -16).  He was the medalist in the 2024 CGA Junior Stroke Play (65-64—129, -11), but fell the round of 16 in match play; he took third in the Colorado Junior (74-74-61—219, +3).

 

            In 2019, as a 12-year old, Long was named the Colorado PGA’s Junior Player of the Year, when he finished in the top 10 in all 11 events he played in, including one win, three runner-up efforts and eight top five finishes.  The win came in the season finale, the Fall Series & Tour at Twin Peaks GC, when he shot 76-74—150.  That started a run of top 10 finishes in 30 of 31 events, which included six wins, nine runner-up and 22 top five efforts.

 

            Long will be the second Evergreen High graduate to play for the Buffaloes; Mick Brethower spent a year with the team as a senior in 1983-84 after transferring from the University of Arkansas.  He committed to the Buffaloes in November a year ago.

 

            “Tyler has established himself as the best junior golfer in the state of Colorado and also as one of the top players in the class of 2025 in the country,” Edwards said.  “We have been watching him for seven or eight years now and it has been incredible seeing him develop and grow over that time.  We couldn’t be happier to welcome him into the Colorado Golf family.”

 

            Long chose to remain in his home state and selected Colorado because of, “the location, current and past high-performing golf team, a respected business school, the culture of the golf team and CU’s national recognition as a school and athletic program.”