CSU Opens 2022-23 Season At Gene Miranda Invitational Sept. 9-11

Tournament: Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational
Dates: Sept. 9-11
Host: U.S. Air Force Academy
Location: USAFA, Colo.
Course: Eisenhower Blue (Full Field) and Silver (Individuals) Golf Club
Course Par/Yardage: Par 72 / 7,541 yds (Blue), 6,510 yards (Silver)
Host Web Site: goairforcefalcons.com
Live Scoring: https://csura.ms/3BgPlK1
Tournament Field (24): Colorado State, Air Force, Boston College, Cal Baptist, Cal Poly, Cal State Northridge, Colorado, Denver, Idaho, Murray State, New Mexico State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, San Jose State, SIU-Edwardsville, South Dakota, Southern Utah, Utah State, Utah Tech, Utah Valley, UTEP, Weber State, Wofford, Wyoming

Next on the Tee: The Rams open the 2022-23 schedule two hours south, playing in the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, Sept. 9-11. The three-day, 54-hole tournament, hosted by the U.S. Air Force Academy, is being played at the Eisenhower Blue Golf Club (Par 72 - 7,541 yards) in USAFA, Colo.
       Along with the team event, there is an individual-only tournament on the Silver course at the same time, with the course a par 72 playing to 6,510 yards.

Lineup for the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational: The Rams are in the traditional play-five, count-four event this week at Eisenhower Golf Club Blue Course and individuals on the Silver Course. For CSU, the lineup will be:
1.      Rasmus Hjelm
2.     Davis Bryant
3.     Connor Jones
4.     Matthew Wilkinson
5.     Christoph Bleier
Ind. Gavin Hagstrom
Ind. Jordan Jennings
Ind. Jay Pabin

CSU History In Gene Miranda Invitational
9/9-10/2006        2nd/19        286-280-288=854 (-10)
9/8-9/2007         8th/18         295-289-292=876 (+12)
9/6-7/2008         1st/17            276-284-277=837 (-27)
9/19-20/2009      1st/19            288-284-283=855 (-9)
9/19-20/2010       3rd/18           290-292-289=871 (+7)
9/18-19/2011         3rd/19           282-286-289=857 (-7)
9/9-10/2012         t-4th/16        293-290-283=866 (+2)
9/8-9/2013          t-12th/16     294-296-298=888 (+24)
9/6-7/2014          3rd/16            291-284-281=856 (-8)
9/12-13/2015        1st/16            286-282-281=849 (-15)
9/10-11/2016        4th/16         298-290-288=876 (+12)
9/8-10/2017         2nd/19        282-275-283=840 (-24)

Par Five On Gene Miranda Invitational

This will be the Rams 13th appearance at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational.
CSU has won the event three times (2008, 2009, 2015) and has finished in the top four in 10 of the 12 tournaments.
Of the 24 teams in the field, five of them were represented in the 2022 NCAA Regionals, three of them with full teams (Colorado State, Denver and Weber State) and two with individuals (Colorado and New Mexico State).
This will be the first time that any of the Rams have played in the event, including both of the new coaches.
Since 1999-2000, CSU holds a 84.1 win percentage against this week's field in 906 matchups (756-138-12).

New Coaching Staff: Colorado State has a new coaching staff for the 2022-23 season, as Michael Wilson has taken over as head coach and Chris Babcock joined his as his assistant.

Duo Named All-Mountain West: Colorado State men's golf received significant 2021-22 postseason recognition, with senior Davis Bryant and junior Connor Jones being named All-Mountain West, the league announced today. The selections were made by the conference's head coaches and bring CSU's total to 29 All-Mountain West honorees since the league was formed in 1999.
       The duo were two of the key components in the leading the Rams to a runner-up finish in the Mountain West Championship and the program's 20th bid to the NCAA Regionals, the third under head coach Christian Newton. Both players won an individual title during the season, helped CSU to a pair of team tournament crowns and led the late-season surge that moved the program up more than 30 spots to earn the last at-large berth.

Last Time Out: Colorado State rallied back on the final day, posting its best round of the event and finishing 10th at the 2022 NCAA Bryan Regional Wednesday. The three-day, 54-hole event, hosted by Texas A&M University, was played at Traditions Golf Club (Par 72 – 7,146 yards) in Bryan, Texas.
       On a day with the wind constantly blowing across the course, the Rams posted the fourth-best round of the day with a 4-over 292 and finished at 24-over 888 for the tournament. No. 33 Arizona led start-to-finish to take home team honors at 13-under 851, four shots ahead of No. 6 Pepperdine at 8-under 856. No. 12 Texas A&M was third at 4-under 860, with No. 13 Georgia fourth at 1-under 863. No. 29 Kansas claimed the fifth and final advancing spot to the NCAA Championships at 3-over 867.
       Freshman Christoph Bleier was the top CSU player in 19th at 1-over 217, the 21st Ram in the 20-year postseason history to finish in the top 20 at a regional. Senior Davis Bryant shot a 1-under 71 on the final day to move up to a tie for 24th at 3-over 219 in his second regional appearance at CSU. Junior Connor Jones posted his second 1-under 71 of the event and tied for 39th at 6-over 222, while redshirt freshman Gavin Hagstrom tied for 62nd at 16-over 232. Freshman Jay Pabin was the final team player in the last round, shooting a 4-over 76. Pepperdine's Joe Highsmith took home medalist honors at 6-under 210.

Last Time at the Gene Miranda in 2017: 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.
       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.
       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.

Summer of Success:

Davis Bryant - Won the prestigious 2022 Southwestern Amateur title after the season at Desert Mountain Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., while also advancing to the match-play quarterfinals of the nationally-renowned North-South Amateur and finishing runner-up in the Colorado Golf Association Amateur.
Connor Jones - Won the 2022 Colorado Golf Association (CGA) Match Play Championship and CGA Amateur.
Gavin Hagstrom - Advanced to the semifinals of the Colorado Golf Assocation Match Play Championship and qualified for the 2022 U.S. Amateur in Paramus, N.J.
Matthew Wilkinson - Won the 2022 Colorado Golf Association (CGA) State Junior Championship and was honored by the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame as a "future famer"
Christoph Bleier - Represented Austria in the World Amateur Team Championship, helping Austria to a tie for eighth and tying for 46th out of 213 players individually.

Fast Four On The Rams:

The Rams have had representation in the last five NCAA Regionals competed -- twice by individuals (2017, 2021) and twice with a full team (2018, 2019, 2022). The 2020 regionals were not played due to COVID, but CSU was ranked in the top 30 nationally when the season ended early.
The Rams will spend their entire regular season in the Mountain and West time zones, playing in four different states. CSU will have three tournaments to open in Colorado, four in California, one in Oregon and two in Arizona, including the Mountain West Championship.
Davis Bryant is currently second in career scoring at CSU in scoring average and versus par.
Head coach Michael Wilson is in his first year at CSU but not as a head coach, having built the Long Beach State program up over the previous five years, inclduing NCAA Regional representation in each of the last two years.

On the World Stage: Four Rams on the current roster are ranked among the top 800 players in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings, as of Sept. 6. The rankings are based on their average performance in selected counting events over the past two calendar years.
Player                                     WAGR     (April 27 rank)
Davis Bryant                          191            327 (+136)
Christoph Bleier                   236          369 (+163)
Connor Jones                       283          988 (+705)
Rasmus Hjelm                       773           766 (-7)

Rams on Tour: Former Colorado State standout Martin Laird, a PGA tour veteran, just wrapped up his 15th full season on the tour.
       In his 2021-22 season, he made the cut in 14 of 22 events and had a season-best third-place finish as part of five top-25 placings, finishing with more than $1.09 million in winnings. His efforts during the regular season earned him a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs for the 12th time in 14 seasons.
       He made a statement in the 2021 season with his fourth career victory on tour, a playoff win at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. That was his second in in the event as he also captured the title in 2009. He made the cut in 14 events, with the win and two other top-25 placings as his top finishes. He earned $1.81 million last season after the 2020 season was halted due to the pandemic.    For his career, he has surpassed $20.65 million in official PGA Tour winnings and made the cut in almost two-thirds of his 339 PGA Tour starts in his 14-plus years on the top golf tour. Laird was inducted into the CSU Athletic Hall of Fame in the fall of 2017.
                Recent standout Jake Staiano earned a spot on the Korn Ferry Tour this past year and made the cut in his first event at the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard in Columbia in mid-February 2022. His top finish was a tie for 43rd at the AdventHealth Championship.

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