USAFA, Colo. – Colorado State men's golf wrapped up a solid three days of play with a second-place finish at the 2017 Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, Sept. 8-10. The three-day, 54-hole tournament, hosted by the U.S. Air Force Academy, was played at the Eisenhower Blue Course  (Par 72 – 7,511 yards) at USAFA, Colo.
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Entering the day three shots behind Wyoming, Colorado State shot a solid 5-under 283 in the final round and finished at 24-under 840. Wyoming held on to the lead and posted a 7-under 281 in the last 18 and a 54-hole total of 29-under 835 to win the event. CSU defeated several other quality teams in the field, including Colorado (3rd, 21-under 843), defending Mountain West champion UNLV (4th, 13-under 851) and Utah (5th, 12-under 852). For the tournament, the Rams had 11 of 12 counting scores at par or better, including four rounds in the 60s, and led the field in par-four scoring and second in pars and par-3 scoring.
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"Hats off to Wyoming as they were the better team this week," head coach Christian Newton said. "This was a great start to our season. Four guys in the top 17 and counting only one over-par score all tournament was awesome."
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Senior Max Oelfke was the top Ram in the tournament, shooting a 3-under 69 in the last round to finish as the event's individual runner-up at 9-under 207, five shots back of medalist John Murdock of Wyoming. Oelfke was 1-over at the turn but birdied the first four holes of the back nine to shoot a 4-under 32 for the side and post his third under-par round of the tournament. Senior Colton Yates was next in a tie for seventh at 6-under 210, shooting an even-par 72 in the final 18. Sophomore AJ Ott posted his first collegiate career top 10 finish with a tie for 10th at 5-under 211, including a 1-under 71 in today's round. Sophomore Jake Staiano was next in a tie for 17th at 3-under 213, with freshman Poon Suyasri finishing in a tie for 40th at 2-over 218, with a personal tournament-best 1-under 71 in the final 18. Playing as an individual, freshman Cullen Plousha tied for 68th at 7-over 223, shooting a 3-over 75 today.
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"Max was great this week," Newton continued. "I'm pleased to see him continue his great play from the summer. His four birdies in row came at a great time on the back nine. AJ had a great event and has grown a lot in a year and this was a career best for him. Colton got off to hot start and had one of his best career finishes as well. Jake wasn't quite on, but he isn't far off and it's nice to see us post a good score today without having to counting his score. This is a tough place for a freshman to start, so Poon shooting under par today was good to see."
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The Rams will be back in action quickly, hosting their annual Ram Masters Invitational on Monday-Tuesday, Sept. 18-19 at Fort Collins Country Club. CSU enters the tournament as three-time defending champions, having captured last year's team title by seven shots.
