The Colorado State men’s golf team opened their 2014-2015 season by finishing third out of a field of 16 at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational in Colorado Springs over the weekend.
Each of the five Rams shot a round in the 60s on the par 72 course at Air Force’s Eisenhower Golf Club-Blue Course. Senior Cameron Harrell and sophomores Alec Bone and Jimmy Makloski all carded scores of 69, three under par, in the final round Sunday.
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“I was very pleased with our play today,” said head coach Christian Newton. “I thought Jimmy and Alec had under-par rounds in them and I’m very happy with their play. Cam just was his usual self and was steady all week.”
The Rams finished the weekend 8 under, a comfortable 9 strokes ahead of fourth-place New Mexico State. Conference powerhouse UNLV took first overall (-26) and Colorado finished in second (-22).
Harrell was more than familiar with the course having grown up in Colorado Springs. He notched a seventh-place finish individually with a three-round total of 212 (-4).
“Today was a good round for the team, it’s always nice having three round in the 60’s,” Harrell said. “Everybody contributed well over the course of the week and we have some good momentum heading into our home event next weekend.”
Junior Dominic Keiffer also finished under par (-1) with a 54-hole total of 215, good enough to tie for 16th overall.
“I stuck to my process and kept it respectable,” Kieffer said. “Cam, Jimmy and Alec came through today though.”
Kieffer was also quick to point out how well the team performed as a whole.
“That is what teamwork is all about,” Kieffer said. “When one of us has a rough day, the others pick up the slack. Overall it was a good week for the team.”
Bone finished the weekend two strokes behind Kieffer with a score of 217 (+1) in a tie for 23rd. Makloski and senior Patrick Winther both finished with scores of 220 (+4) putting them in a tie for 32nd . Freshman Maximilian Oelfke competed individually and tied for 62nd with a score of 228 (+12) in his collegiate debut.
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New Mexico State finished fourth, nine strokes behind CSU overall (865), while Southern Utah rounded out the top five (869). UTEP (871) finished in sixth place, followed by UMKC and Nevada tied for seventh (873). Utah State (882) took ninth place and Utah (884) rounded out the top ten. Wyoming and Weber State tied for 11th, one stroke behind the Utah, followed by Boise State (891). Host team Air Force (892) finished 14th. Northern Colorado (908) took 15th and the Air Force B-Team (947) finished last in the pack.
CSU’s next event of the season is in their own backyard. They host the third-annual Ram Masters Invitational on September 15-16 at Fort Collins Country Club.
Collegian Sports Reporter Emmett McCarthy can be reached at sports@collegian.com and on Twitter at @EmmettCollegian.
