Men's Golfers Open Fall Season Tuesday At Ballyneal

BOULDER — The University of Colorado men's golf team will open the 2015-16 on the eastern plains in the state, hosting the three-team Ballyneal Challenge this Tuesday, Sept. 8.

The one-day tournament at Ballyneal Golf Club in Holyoke will feature 24 players from three schools – CU, Nebraska and Wyoming – with 36 holes scheduled throughout the day; it will be the standard “five scoring four” format. All schools will have others play as individuals: the entire 9-man Colorado team is playing, with Nebraska bringing three additional golfers and Wyoming two more.

Colorado head coach Roy Edwards is beginning his 10th season as coach of the Buffaloes, and he has the challenge this season of blending four returning lettermen with five heralded newcomers, which include two All-America transfers and three Colorado high school recruits.

Jeremy Paul, CU's stroke average leader the last two seasons, returns for his junior season; his 72.36 average for 72 rounds, if he maintains it, would easily shatter the school's all-time mark of 72.9 (held by Kane Webber). Also back are seniors and three-time letterwinners Philip Juel-Berg and Drew Trujillo, along with junior Ethan Freeman, who like, Paul, has earned two letters.

Newcomers include three true freshmen who starred as preps in Colorado, Pierce Aichinger and Ross Macdonald of two-time state champion Valor Christian, and Wilson Belk from Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs. They are joined by a four-year college transfer, Kade Crossland, and a junior college transfer, John Souza, both of whom earned All-America honors at their respective levels of competition.

“We are excited to get started at Ballyneal, one of the premier courses in the United States,” Edwards said. “Our returning guys have been terrific leaders so far and I expect them to help prepare our new guys for competition on Tuesday and throughout the season.

"I have been pleased with the effort I have seen from our newcomers and glad to see two of them in the lineup this week. Our team's development throughout the season is going to depend heavily on those guys playing at high levels.”

For the inaugural tournament of the year, Edwards will have Juel-Berg, Paul, Freeman, Souza and Aichinger play the 1-through-5 positions to contribute to the team scoring, while the four remaining Buffaloes will play as individuals.

The Buffs lose two lettermen off last year's team, senior David Oraee, who qualified for the NCAA Championship Finals as an individual, and Yannik Paul, the younger identical twin of Jeremy, who decided to return to his native Germany and turn professional.

The teams arrived here Monday morning for a practice round in the afternoon on the 7,137-yard, par-71 Ballyneal layout. Following this meet, the Buffs will head to Colorado Springs to participate in the Air Force Falcon Invitational this weekend; 36 holes are scheduled for Saturday and 18 for Sunday.