Colorado University Athletics
Spencer Painton opens in the No. 1 spot after a solid qualifying effort ahead of the AFA-Miranda Invitational.
Men's Golfers Set To Open 98th Season of Competition At Air Force
September 07, 2017 | Men's Golf
Buffaloes Have Won Six Times Here
BOULDER — The University of Colorado men's golf team will open its 98th season of intercollegiate competition Friday just down Interstate 25 in the 49th Annual Gene Miranda Air Force Falcon Invitational.
The 54-hole tournament will be played over three days on the USAFA's Eisenhower Blue course, a par-72 layout that spans some 7,461 yards. Play features 18 holes each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, all with 7:30 a.m. start times; the first two rounds will feature shotgun starts with the leaders teeing off last on Sunday.
Eighteen schools will be competing in the event; in addition to CU and host Air Force, Abilene Christian, Colorado State, Drake, George Washington, New Mexico State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, SIU-Edwardsville, Southern Utah, Texas-El Paso, Texas State, UNLV, Utah State, Utah Valley State, Weber State and Wyoming are entered in the field.
This will be the 35th time the Buffaloes are competing in this tournament, which was known as the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate prior to 1977. Colorado has won the meet six times, last doing so in 2012, along with five runner-up finishes and four third-place efforts.
Colorado head coach Roy Edwards is beginning his 12th season as coach of the Buffaloes. The team is arguably coming off one of, if not the best years they have experienced under his guidance. Colorado reached as high as No. 18 in the national rankings last spring, the second-highest rank on record for the program to only a No. 14 standing in the 1980-81 school year.
Colorado returns seven lettermen from the '16-17 team, while two graduated and one returned home to his native Denmark at midseason. Four seniors dot the roster, three of whom were instrumental in last year's success, Spencer Painton, Yannik Paul and John Souza.
Paul tied for second in stroke average last seasons, owning a 72.43 mark for 37 rounds; he trailed his twin brother, Jeremy (71.75) and tied Ethan Freeman (72.43). Souza (73.71) and Painton (74.21) rounded out the top five.
Rounding out the veterans are senior Kade Crossland, junior Wilson Belk and sophomores Victor Bjorlow and Ross Macdonald, the latter of whom redshirted last year to work on his game and get ahead with his academics.
Newcomers include a sophomore transfer from the McNeese State, Daniel O'Loughlin, who earned first-team All-Southland Conference honors, in addition to being named the SLC's Freshman of the Year. He's joined by two state of Colorado prep stars, freshmen Cole Krantz (Windsor) and Trevor Olkowski (Grand Junction).
"Everyone is excited to get started," Edwards said. "Qualifying went well and everyone on the team had some good scores. We feel really good about how everyone is playing. I see this as a team that has a chance to be very good as the year evolves and we expect to come out of the gates strong. We have a good mix of talented young players and veterans who have had success."
For the inaugural tournament of the year, Edwards will have Painton, Souza, O'Loughlin, Paul and Macdonald play the 1-through-5 positions to contribute to the team scoring, while Bjorlow, Krantz and Olkowski will play as individuals.
The 54-hole tournament will be played over three days on the USAFA's Eisenhower Blue course, a par-72 layout that spans some 7,461 yards. Play features 18 holes each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, all with 7:30 a.m. start times; the first two rounds will feature shotgun starts with the leaders teeing off last on Sunday.
Eighteen schools will be competing in the event; in addition to CU and host Air Force, Abilene Christian, Colorado State, Drake, George Washington, New Mexico State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, SIU-Edwardsville, Southern Utah, Texas-El Paso, Texas State, UNLV, Utah State, Utah Valley State, Weber State and Wyoming are entered in the field.
This will be the 35th time the Buffaloes are competing in this tournament, which was known as the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate prior to 1977. Colorado has won the meet six times, last doing so in 2012, along with five runner-up finishes and four third-place efforts.
Colorado head coach Roy Edwards is beginning his 12th season as coach of the Buffaloes. The team is arguably coming off one of, if not the best years they have experienced under his guidance. Colorado reached as high as No. 18 in the national rankings last spring, the second-highest rank on record for the program to only a No. 14 standing in the 1980-81 school year.
Colorado returns seven lettermen from the '16-17 team, while two graduated and one returned home to his native Denmark at midseason. Four seniors dot the roster, three of whom were instrumental in last year's success, Spencer Painton, Yannik Paul and John Souza.
Paul tied for second in stroke average last seasons, owning a 72.43 mark for 37 rounds; he trailed his twin brother, Jeremy (71.75) and tied Ethan Freeman (72.43). Souza (73.71) and Painton (74.21) rounded out the top five.
Rounding out the veterans are senior Kade Crossland, junior Wilson Belk and sophomores Victor Bjorlow and Ross Macdonald, the latter of whom redshirted last year to work on his game and get ahead with his academics.
Newcomers include a sophomore transfer from the McNeese State, Daniel O'Loughlin, who earned first-team All-Southland Conference honors, in addition to being named the SLC's Freshman of the Year. He's joined by two state of Colorado prep stars, freshmen Cole Krantz (Windsor) and Trevor Olkowski (Grand Junction).
"Everyone is excited to get started," Edwards said. "Qualifying went well and everyone on the team had some good scores. We feel really good about how everyone is playing. I see this as a team that has a chance to be very good as the year evolves and we expect to come out of the gates strong. We have a good mix of talented young players and veterans who have had success."
For the inaugural tournament of the year, Edwards will have Painton, Souza, O'Loughlin, Paul and Macdonald play the 1-through-5 positions to contribute to the team scoring, while Bjorlow, Krantz and Olkowski will play as individuals.
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