Colorado University Athletics
Sunday, September 8
Colorado Springs, Colo.
All Day
Colorado
vs
Third Round
Kristoffer Max shot his low collegiate round Sunday, the best by a Buffalo on the day.
Golfers Rally To Win Air Force Falcon Invitational
September 08, 2019 | Men's Golf
Buffs defend title in winning season opener for second straight year
USAFA, Colo. — The University of Colorado men's golf team assumed the tournament lead early in the final round and led the remainder of the day as the Buffaloes defended their title here in winning the 51st Annual Gene Miranda Air Force Falcon Invitational.
With five Buffs, including four of the designated scorers in the top 20, it marked the eighth time that CU has won the AFA event, the fourth time in the last nine years after often finishing second or third since a three-year run as tournament champion from 1991-93.
Colorado finished with a 10-under par team score of 854, turning in an even-par score for the final round; host Air Force entered the day with a two-shot lead over the Buffaloes, but got off to a poor start while CU, led by its underclassmen, overtook the Falcons, who eventually finished fourth, eight back of CU with an 862 score. Northern Colorado (859) finished second, ahead of UC Davis (861) in third, while Wyoming round out the top five with an 863 total.
"I am super proud of the team, we got off to a pretty good start," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "We talked all week about having patience and composure and we did that for 54 holes, and despite not playing our best at times. That's going to be something that will help carry us through the season, and I was especially pleased with them about how they handled that approach."
Sophomore John Paterson paced the Buffaloes thus weekend, firing a 1-over 73 Sunday to tie for ninth with a 3-under 213 effort, his first tournament under par as a collegian. Opening up the final round with five straight pars, he had a solid tournament with 12 birdies and 32 pars against nine bogeys and one double on USAFA's 7,511-yard, par-72 Eisenhower Blue course. He ended his round with one of his two birdies Sunday.
Senior Daniel O'Loughlin and junior Cole Krantz tied for 17th with 1-under 215 performances. Krantz posted a 1-under 71 while O'Loughlin put a 1-over 73 into the books to close things out. Krantz led the team in pars with 39 while scoring eight birdies against even bogeys. O'Loughlin was aiming to repeat as medalist here as was 2-under after nine as well as through 16, but closed with a bogey and rare double for him.
Senior Victor Bjorlow tied for 20th with an even-par 216 after turning in a 4-over 76 in the final round; he had a bogey and a double early but still managed to make the turn just 1-over. But after the winds hit he couldn't get any lower and had six pars and three bogeys down the stretch. He still had a fine showing here with 10 birdies and 35 pars overall.
Redshirt freshman Adam Matteson, playing in his first collegiate tournament, improved each day in tying for 37th with a 4-over 220 score. He recorded his first subpar round with a 1-under 71 on Sunday, as he started strong and was 4-under at one point until once again the winds made things tough for the final groups to finish. In his first event, he had 10 birdies, 30 pars and 14 bogeys, avoiding big numbers in the process.
Senior Ross Macdonald and sophomore Kristoffer Max competed here as individuals, thus their scores did not count toward the CU team total. Max tied for 12th after shooting his collegiate best score and CU's low round of the day, a 3-under 69, which enabled him to finish below par for the tournament at 2-under 214; he had 14 birdies over the 54 holes, which tied him for the second-most in the field. Macdonald closed with a 1-over 73 and he tied for 31st with a 2-over 218, he had nine birdies and 32 pars overall.
Both Macdonald and Max also scored both eagles by the Buffs, two of just 15 recorded all weekend. Max also "won" the competition among the 14 players competing here as individuals, as his 54-hole career best of 214 bested Air Force's Joseph Crisostomo by two strokes. His 69 was one of six scores in the 60s.
"I'm really pleased with how our younger guys performed today," Edwards noted. "Adam sent the tone early with three birdies in his first five holes. He hung in there while having some difficulties when the winds picked up late, but he still had a really nice round. Kristoffer had a really good round today, and John was solid out of the chute.
"Overall, I thought several of the guys despite not playing as best as they can competed really well, and that's as important as anything to become a really good team."
Southern Utah's Jake Vincent, the second round leader, and Northern Colorado's Coby Welch and Jack Castiglia all tied for medalist honors with 7-under 209 scores.
The Buffaloes will return to action later this week, competing in the Maui Jim Invitational in Scottsdale, Ariz., Friday through Sunday. The event usually lands in the top five strongest fields for the fall season as often eight or more teams in the top 25 are in the event.
"This will be a very good early test for our team to see where we stand against some of the best teams in the nation," Edwards said.
NOTES: This was the Buffaloes' 16th major tournament win under Edwards, as he has now tied the late Mark Simpson, who saw his teams win 16 during his tenure as coach from 1977 until his death in 2005 … The average score for Sunday ballooned by almost over a stroke from the first two rounds (74.24), as the average was 75.36 for the 104 players competing here … Colorado led the field in par-5 scoring at 19-under, finished second in par-3 scoring (plus-3) and fifth in par-4 scoring (15-over) … The five designated scorers for CU recorded 51 birdies and 171 pars combined (fourth and second in the field, respectively), with just two holes worse than bogey (both doubles).
*--competed as an individual.
TEAM STANDINGS
With five Buffs, including four of the designated scorers in the top 20, it marked the eighth time that CU has won the AFA event, the fourth time in the last nine years after often finishing second or third since a three-year run as tournament champion from 1991-93.
Colorado finished with a 10-under par team score of 854, turning in an even-par score for the final round; host Air Force entered the day with a two-shot lead over the Buffaloes, but got off to a poor start while CU, led by its underclassmen, overtook the Falcons, who eventually finished fourth, eight back of CU with an 862 score. Northern Colorado (859) finished second, ahead of UC Davis (861) in third, while Wyoming round out the top five with an 863 total.
"I am super proud of the team, we got off to a pretty good start," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "We talked all week about having patience and composure and we did that for 54 holes, and despite not playing our best at times. That's going to be something that will help carry us through the season, and I was especially pleased with them about how they handled that approach."
Sophomore John Paterson paced the Buffaloes thus weekend, firing a 1-over 73 Sunday to tie for ninth with a 3-under 213 effort, his first tournament under par as a collegian. Opening up the final round with five straight pars, he had a solid tournament with 12 birdies and 32 pars against nine bogeys and one double on USAFA's 7,511-yard, par-72 Eisenhower Blue course. He ended his round with one of his two birdies Sunday.
Senior Daniel O'Loughlin and junior Cole Krantz tied for 17th with 1-under 215 performances. Krantz posted a 1-under 71 while O'Loughlin put a 1-over 73 into the books to close things out. Krantz led the team in pars with 39 while scoring eight birdies against even bogeys. O'Loughlin was aiming to repeat as medalist here as was 2-under after nine as well as through 16, but closed with a bogey and rare double for him.
Senior Victor Bjorlow tied for 20th with an even-par 216 after turning in a 4-over 76 in the final round; he had a bogey and a double early but still managed to make the turn just 1-over. But after the winds hit he couldn't get any lower and had six pars and three bogeys down the stretch. He still had a fine showing here with 10 birdies and 35 pars overall.
Redshirt freshman Adam Matteson, playing in his first collegiate tournament, improved each day in tying for 37th with a 4-over 220 score. He recorded his first subpar round with a 1-under 71 on Sunday, as he started strong and was 4-under at one point until once again the winds made things tough for the final groups to finish. In his first event, he had 10 birdies, 30 pars and 14 bogeys, avoiding big numbers in the process.
Senior Ross Macdonald and sophomore Kristoffer Max competed here as individuals, thus their scores did not count toward the CU team total. Max tied for 12th after shooting his collegiate best score and CU's low round of the day, a 3-under 69, which enabled him to finish below par for the tournament at 2-under 214; he had 14 birdies over the 54 holes, which tied him for the second-most in the field. Macdonald closed with a 1-over 73 and he tied for 31st with a 2-over 218, he had nine birdies and 32 pars overall.
Both Macdonald and Max also scored both eagles by the Buffs, two of just 15 recorded all weekend. Max also "won" the competition among the 14 players competing here as individuals, as his 54-hole career best of 214 bested Air Force's Joseph Crisostomo by two strokes. His 69 was one of six scores in the 60s.
"I'm really pleased with how our younger guys performed today," Edwards noted. "Adam sent the tone early with three birdies in his first five holes. He hung in there while having some difficulties when the winds picked up late, but he still had a really nice round. Kristoffer had a really good round today, and John was solid out of the chute.
"Overall, I thought several of the guys despite not playing as best as they can competed really well, and that's as important as anything to become a really good team."
Southern Utah's Jake Vincent, the second round leader, and Northern Colorado's Coby Welch and Jack Castiglia all tied for medalist honors with 7-under 209 scores.
The Buffaloes will return to action later this week, competing in the Maui Jim Invitational in Scottsdale, Ariz., Friday through Sunday. The event usually lands in the top five strongest fields for the fall season as often eight or more teams in the top 25 are in the event.
"This will be a very good early test for our team to see where we stand against some of the best teams in the nation," Edwards said.
NOTES: This was the Buffaloes' 16th major tournament win under Edwards, as he has now tied the late Mark Simpson, who saw his teams win 16 during his tenure as coach from 1977 until his death in 2005 … The average score for Sunday ballooned by almost over a stroke from the first two rounds (74.24), as the average was 75.36 for the 104 players competing here … Colorado led the field in par-5 scoring at 19-under, finished second in par-3 scoring (plus-3) and fifth in par-4 scoring (15-over) … The five designated scorers for CU recorded 51 birdies and 171 pars combined (fourth and second in the field, respectively), with just two holes worse than bogey (both doubles).
| BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS |
| T9. | John Paterson | 70-70-73—213 |
| T12. | *Kristoffer Max | 72-73-69—214 |
| T17. | Cole Krantz | 72-72-71—215 |
| T17. | Daniel O'Loughlin | 73-69-73—215 |
| T20. | Victor Bjorlow | 73-67-76—216 |
| T31. | *Ross Macdonald | 72-73-73—218 |
| T37. | Adam Matteson | 76-73-71—220 |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
| T1. | Jake Vincent, Southern Utah | 68-66-75—209 |
| T1. | Jack Castiglia, UNC | 69-69-71—209 |
| T1. | Coby Welch, UNC | 69-68-72—209 |
| T4. | Oskar Ambrosius, UTEP | 74-68-68—210 |
| T4. | Joshua Wu, Air Force | 67-70-74—211 |
TEAM STANDINGS
| 1. | COLORADO | 288-278-288—854 |
| 2. | Northern Colorado | 284-285-290—859 |
| 3. | UC Davis | 292-283-286—861 |
| 4. | Air Force | 279-285-298—862 |
| 5. | Wyoming | 282-288-292—863 |
| 6. | Texas State | 296-282-288—866 |
| 7. | UTEP | 294-286-287—867 |
| 8. | Boise State | 293-285-292—870 |
| 9. | Weber State | 290-296-287—873 |
| 10. | Utah State | 292-286-297—875 |
| 11. | Cal State Northridge | 291-292-295—878 |
| 12. | Valparaiso | 296-299-291—886 |
| 13. | Southern Utah | 292-293-306—891 |
| 14. | New Mexico State | 300-294-299—893 |
| 15. | Drake | 296-299-310—905 |
| 16. | Cal Baptist | 303-306-300—909 |
| 17. | SIU-Edwardsville | 304-303-305—912 |
| 18. | Utah Valley State | 301-307-309—917 |
Players Mentioned
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