Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational Day 2
Recap: Rams Finish Fourth at Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational
9/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
USAFA, Colo. - The Colorado State men's golf team shot its best round of the tournament but could not move up and finished fourth at the 48th annual Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, Sept. 10-11. Hosted by the U.S. Air Force Academy, the two-day, 54-hole tournament was played at the Eisenhower Golf Club's Blue Course (Par 72 - 7,461 yards) in USAFA, Colo.
Again, CSU got off to a solid start on the day and put together an even-par 288, the third-best team round of the day still, to finish at 12-over 876. UTEP and UNLV tied for the team title at 1-under 863, with second round leader Colorado falling to third at 1-over 865. Wyoming was fifth, six shots back of the Rams at 18-over 882, rounding out the top five teams in the 16-team field. Colorado State did finish ahead of four Mountain West schools in the tournament (Wyoming, Air Force, Boise State and Utah State).
"We had a good round today," head coach Christian Newton said. "We didn't win the tournament, but I saw lots of great golf in spots. The team has lots of potential. Jake aand Blake had great tournament and were steady the entire time. It was also good to see Jimmy play well as an individual."
Individually, CSU's top finisher was sophomore Jake Staiano in fourth after an even-par 72 in the final 18 put him at 4-under 212 for the tournament. This was the top finish of his collegiate career and lowest score versus par (4-under) and also tied his lowest 54-hole total at 212. It was also the second tournament in his career that he had two under-par round and first time he has had all three rounds at par or better.
"It was a really good week for me," Staiano said. "I feel very comfortable with my game right now. Although I didn't hit it very well today, I am happy I could still find a way to score. I'm excited to out to our home tournament next week."
Senior Blake Cannon also posted a top-10 finish, tying for 10th at 2-over 218, also shooting an even-par 72 in the last round. Junior Colton Yates had the best final 18 for the Rams at 2-under 70, improving to a tie for 17th at 5-over 221, while freshman A.J. Ott, playing in his first collegiate event, tied for 30th at 9-over 225. Redshirt freshman Kyle Kidd rounded out the CSU team effort at 18-over 234, tied for 69th. Individually, senior Jimmy Makloski tied for eighth at 1-over 217 following a 2-under 70 today, while junior Max Oelfke moved up to a tie for 39th at 10-over 226.
UNLV's John Oda and UTEP's Andreas Sorensen were tied for the 36-hole lead, but Oda took medalist honors by three shots over Sorensen following his final-round 3-under 69 to finish at 10-nder 206.
Colorado State returns to Fort Collins to host the fifth-annual Ram Masters Invitational, Mon.-Tue., Sept. 19-20 at Fort Collins Country Club. There will be 17 teams in the field competing in 36 holes on Monday followed by an 18-hole final round on Tuesday, with live scoring available on GolfStat.com.
Team Results
| T1. | UTEP | 286-287-290=863 (-1) |
| T1. | UNLV | 296-283-284=863 (-1) |
| 3. | Colorado | 284-289-292=865 ( 1) |
| 4. | Colorado State | 298-290-288=876 ( 12) |
| 5. | Wyoming | 300-296-286=882 ( 18) |
| 6. | Utah State | 303-303-291=897 ( 33) |
| 7. | Air Force | 305-286-307=898 ( 34) |
| 8. | Boise State | 299-304-297=900 ( 36) |
| 9. | Northern Colorado | 308-297-298=903 ( 39) |
| 10. | UMKC | 306-295-304=905 ( 41) |
| 11. | Air Force | 301-307-303=911 ( 47) |
| 12. | New Mexico State | 307-294-312=913 ( 49) |
| 13. | Weber State | 313-306-295=914 ( 50) |
| 14. | Southern Utah | 305-311-307=923 ( 59) |
| 15. | William & Mary | 318-302-305=925 ( 61) |
| 16. | Abilene Christian | 312-307-310=929 ( 65) |
Top Five Individuals Plus CSU
| 1. | John Oda (UNLV) | 70-67-69=206 (-10) |
| 2. | Andreas Sorenson (UTEP) | 68-69-72=209 (-7) |
| 3. | Shintaro Ban (UNLV) | 69-70-71=210 (-6) |
| 4. | Jake Staiano (Colorado State) | 71-69-72=212 (-4) |
| 5. | Ethan Freeman (Colorado) | 69-73-72=214 (-2) |
| T8. | Jimmy Makloski (Colorado State-Ind.) | 73-74-70=217 ( 1) |
| T10. | Blake Cannon (Colorado State) | 73-73-72=218 ( 2) |
| T17. | Colton Yates (Colorado State) | 76-75-70=221 ( 5) |
| T30. | A.J. Ott (Colorado State) | 78-73-74=225 ( 9) |
| T39. | Max Oelfke (Colorado State-Ind.) | 78-75-73=226 ( 10) |
| T69. | Kyle Kidd (Colorado State) | 80-75-79=234 ( 18) |
Players Mentioned
