Golf: UNLV Edges CU In Playoff At AFA Miranda

USAFA, Colo. - The University of Colorado men's golf team just missed in its bid to win back-to-back major tournaments for the first time in its history here Monday, as the Buffaloes lost in a team playoff to Nevada-Las Vegas in the Gene Miranda Air Force Falcon Invitational.

UNLV captured the playoff by recording a 2-under score among its five players on the par-4, No. 1 hole, while CU's five players collectively played the hole at even par. The Buffaloes and Rebels finished 54 holes with identical 844 team scores, or 20-under par, setting a new Falcon Invitational record in the process. Colorado State was third (857, 7-under), with North Carolina State (864, even) and Ball State (866, 2-over) rounding out the top five.

Technically, the Buffs are co-champions of the event as far as collegiate ratings are concerned, as some tournaments have team playoffs and others don't. There was a tie for medalist honors here that was not broken as well.

"The guys were really competitive again here and played solid," head coach Roy Edwards said. "Our two teams (CU, UNLV) ran away with it. They just got two more putts to fall in the playoff as we had four very good looks at it. CU teams have been playing in this tournament for decades, so we it was so good and we're all proud that our 20-under par score was a tournament record.

"We did some nice things down the stretch that allowed us to be tied with UNLV," Edwards continued. "Vegas played well. We have played six rounds this year, all six were under par and we have never officially trailed after any of those rounds. That's remarkable but not surprising. We have a strong group and expect to be in the position we are in. I know the guys are hungry for more success."

Senior Kevin Kring tied for third after a closing with a par round on the 7,363-yard, par-72 Eisenhower Blue Golf Course track, giving him a 6-under 210 for the tournament, one shot out of the lead. It was his best collegiate finish and fourth top 10 effort, his second top five finish in seven days as he tied for fifth last week in helping the Buffaloes win the title in their own Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational. He had 42 pars in 54 holes for the week, tied for the second most in the 100-man field.

As he did last week, Kring led four of the team's designated five scorers finish among the top 15. Senior Sebastian Heisele and junior Derek Fribbs tied for eighth with 4-under 212 scores, Heisele closing with a 71 and Fribbs a 70; the duo were 14th and 15th respectively, last week. Heisele was a model of consistency over the three rounds, playing the 12 par-3 holes at 1-under, the 30 par-4 holes even, and the 12 par-5's at 3-under; Fribbs was 2-over, 2-under and 4-under. Both tied for the third most birdies in the field with 13.

Freshman David Oraee tied for 12th, also closing with a par round for a 2-under 214 total. After opening with an 81 in his first collegiate round last week, he's shot five rounds between 70 and 72 since (71.2 average) and recorded 12 birdies while playing the par-4's 1-under for the tourney. His finish was the best in a major tournament by a Buff freshman since Kring finished ninth in the 2008 Denver Ron Moore Invitational.

Junior Beau Schoolcraft played his second straight meet as an individual, meaning his team score didn't count toward CU's total; he tied for 33rd after a final round 76 (4-over) for a 219 total. He was the medalist at last week's CU meet with an impressive 11-under score. Junior Jason Burstyn rounded out the Buff contingent here, finishing up with a 6-over 78 for a 220 total, tying him for 35th. He recorded CU's lone eagle in the meet.

T.J. Carpenter of Ball State and UNLV's Kevin Penner were co-medalists, each finishing with a 7-under 209 total. Penner put a final round 4-under par 68 into the books, while Carpenter recorded a 71.

There were no top 25 teams in the field, as the only rankings currently out is the preseason one by the Golf Coaches Association of America, but five participating teams here did receive votes, including North Carolina State, which came in 26th, three points out of the rankings.

"Coming up we have two events that are extremely important to us, the State of Colorado Cup and the Tucker (Invitational in New Mexico)," Edwards concluded. "The guys are going to rest tomorrow and then get back at it in preparation for a big week next week.

The Buffs return to action next Monday in the third annual state of Colorado Cup, an annual dual match battle against Colorado State at the prestigious Bally Neal Golf Club in Holyoke. CSU's captured the first two events by scores of 6-4 in 2009 and 5.5-4.5 last year.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
T3.	Kevin Kring	68-70-72—210
T8.	Sebastian Heisele	68-73-71—212
T8.	Derek Fribbs	73-69-70—212
T12.	David Oraee	71-71-72—214
T33.	Beau Schoolcraft	73-70-76—219
T35.	Jason Burstyn	69-73-78—220

TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS
1.	T. J. Carpenter, Ball State	71-67-71—209
1.	Kevin Penner, UNLV	74-67-68—209
3.	Kevin Kring, Colorado	68-70-72—210
3.	Zahkai Brown, Colorado State	66-71-73—210
5.	Grant Forrest, San Diego	73-69-69—211

TEAM SCORES
1.	*UNLV	284-277-283—844
2.	COLORADO	276-283-285—844
3.	Colorado State	282-286-289—857
4.	North Carolina State	294-290-280—864
5.	Ball State	289-286-291—866
6.	Denver	285-289-294—868
7.	Coastal Carolina	296-288-287—871
8.	Wyoming	292-285-295—872
9.	San Diego	292-289-291—872
10.	Air Force	294-285-295—874
11.	CU-Colorado Springs	286-300-291—877
12.	Weber State	290-292-295—880
13.	Utah	293-300-291—886
14.	Southern Utah	295-296-298—889
15.	Northern Iowa	299-301-296—896
16.	Texas-El Paso	304-291-302—897
17.	Utah State	296-296-310—902
18.	Northern Colorado	300-294-312—906
*—won playoff on first hole.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jason Burstyn

Derek Fribbs

Sebastian Heisele

Kevin Kring

David Oraee

Beau Schoolcraft

Colorado University Athletics