Men's Golf Opens 2017-18 Season at Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational

Tournament: Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational
Date: September 8-10, 2017
Host: U.S. Air Force Academy
Location: USAFA, Colo.
Course: Eisenhower Blue Course
Course Par/Yardage: Par 72 / 7,461 yards
Host Web Site: http://www.goairforcefalcons.com
Live Scoring: http://www.golfstatresults.com
Tournament Field (16): Colorado State, Air Force, Abilene Christian, Colorado, Drake, George Washington, New Mexico State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, SIU-Edwardsville, Southern Utah, Texas State, UNLV, Utah State, Utah Valley State, UTEP, Weber State, Wyoming

Next on the Tee: The Colorado State men's golf team opens the 2017-18 season at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational. The three-day, 54-hole tournament, hosted by the U.S. Air Force Academy, will be played at the Eisenhower Blue Course (Par 72 - 7,461 yards) in USAFA, Colo. Groups will tee off a shotgun start on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 8-9, with tee times for the final round on Sept. 10. Live scoring will be available at GolfStatResults.com.

Recent History at the Falcon Invitational: Last year, CSU finished fourth out of 16 teams at the season-opening tournament hosted by Air Force. Current junior Jake Staiano kicked off his season with a fourth-place individual finish at 4-under 212. In 2015, the Rams took home the team title and have finished in the top four the last three years.

Handicapping the Field: There are 16 teams in the field for the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational. Joining the Rams, who finished 69th in the nation last season according to Golfweek, will be host Air Force, Abilene Christian, Colorado, Drake, George Washington, New Mexico State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, SIU-Edwardsville, Southern Utah, Texas State, UNLV, Utah State, Utah Valley State, UTEP, Weber State and Wyoming.

Lineup for the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational: The Rams are in a standard play five, count four event this week. For CSU, the lineup will be:
1.   Jake Staiano
2.   Max Oelfke
3.   AJ Ott
4.   Colton Yates
5.   Poon Suyasri
Ind.:   Cullen Plousha

Four Newcomers Join the Program: The Colorado State men's golf program has added four freshman to the competiton for lineup spots this season. Joining the Rams for the 2017-18 academic year are Jack Ainscough (England), Andrew Lafferty (Alpharetta, Ga./Marist HS), Cullen Plousha (Carlsbad, Calif./Carlsbad HS) and Parathakorn "Poon" Suyasri (Thailand).

Rams Successful In Summer Months: CSU was well represented in numerous U.S. and international tournaments this summer. Three Rams competed in the U.S. Amateur, as Jake Staiano, AJ Ott and Poon Suyasri all advanced to the premiere amateur event. Max Oelfke captured the German Amateur and Luxembourgh Amateur titles in his summer play. Additionally, Suyasri qualified for and made the cut at the Asian Tour's Thailand Open.

Staiano All-Mountain West: Sophomore Jake Staiano was named to the Mountain West Men's Golf All-MW team, a 10-member team voted on by the conference's 11 head coaches in a ballot vote. Staiano is the 20th Ram ever to earn the honor and the first since Zahkai Brown was recognized in 2011-12. The sophomore was in the lineup for all 11 tournaments and 33 rounds this year for the Rams, leading the squad with a 71.64 strokes per round average and 20 rounds of par or better. His +0.09 strokes versus par ranks eighth in CSU history, while his .788 won-loss percentage was best on the team. Staiano posted four top-10 and eight top-25 finishes, with the best a fourth at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational.

Last Time on the Tee: Colorado State's Jake Staiano wrapped up three days of postseason competition with a tie for 38th at the 2017 NCAA Men's Golf Austin Regional, May 15-17, 2017. The three-day, 54-hole event, hosted by the University of Texas, was played at UT Golf Club (Par 71 / 7,355 yards) in Austin, Texas.
   Staiano started his final 18 on No. 10 but couldn't find the rhythm, making four bogeys to just one birdie in the first nine holes. The sophomore was even par on his second nine of the day that included two birdies and two bogeys to finish the day at 3-over 74 and post a 54-hole score of 8-over 221 in the 75-player field.

Showing the Growth: Under head coach Christian Newton, CSU continues to show growth on the national stage, as the Rams play a high-level schedule each year. With the performance in the season, Newton's teams moved to a 57.4 percent winning record in his five years according to Golfstat. Newton moved ahead of Mark Crabtree (1994-99) on the list at 57.0 percent and both coaches have five career CSU team tournament titles.

Rams on Tour: Former Colorado State standout Martin Laird, a PGA tour veteran, has had a solid 2017 season so far on the tour, currently with $1,730,831 in earnings and is 49th in the FedEx Cup. He has made the cut in 17 of 24 events played with five top 10s, eight top 25s, with the best finish a tie for third at the Quicken Loans National in July. In 2017, his efforts during the regular season earned him a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs for the eighth time, as he has advanced to the third leg at the BMW Championship in Chicago next weekend. For his career, he has now surpassed the $15.60 million in winnings. Laird is scheduled to be inducted into the CSU Athletic Hall of Fame later thisfall.

Academic Success: The Colorado State men's golf program was recognized by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) as a 2017 All-Academic Team. Honored for the fourth consecutive year, the Rams were one of 102 DI programs honored for having a team GPA of 3.0 or better last season. In addition, recent graduate Blake Cannon was selected in July by the GCAA as a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar, becoming the 21st CSU golfer all-time to earn the accolade.
   Additionally, the squad posted better than a 3.2 GPA for the spring term, making the eighth straight semester that the program has accomplished that feat.

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