Five times since 1990, the University of Colorado men had won the team title at the golf tournament hosted by the Air Force Academy. But the last victory had come six years ago.
Since then, it had been close but no cigar for the Buffs, who finished second twice and third three times at Eisenhower Golf Club. But on Sunday, they weren’t to be denied.
After trailing by one stroke after each of the first two rounds, CU overcame 2017 champion Wyoming to win by five at the 50th annual Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational. (The victorious team is pictured in a CU photo.)
It was the first outright team title for the Buffs in almost two years. CU technically tied for a championship last year at its own Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, though Utah won a team playoff.
The Buffs also took home the individual title on Sunday as Daniel O’Loughlin, a junior from England, earned the top spot for his first individual college championship.
CU, the Pac-12 runner-up last year, shot a 1-under-par 287 in Sunday’s final round at the Blue Course, posting a three-day total of 9-under 855, which was five better than Wyoming.
The Buffs dedicated the victory to recruit Oliver Jack, the 2016 3A state high school champion from Kent Denver, who is recovering after being involved in an auto accident in July. He’s deferred his enrollment at CU until the spring semester.
Host Air Force placed fourth on Sunday at 862, while Northern Colorado was sixth at 867.
CU put three players in the top five individually — O’Loughlin; and Trevor Olkowski of Grand Junction and Cole Krantz of Windsor, who tied for fifth place at 212. Krantz was competing only as an individual at Eisenhower.
Joining O’Loughlin and Olkowski on the Buffs’ victorious team were Ross Macdonald (216), Victor Bjorlow (220) and John Paterson (221).
O’Loughlin landed CU’s first outright individual title in a full-field Division I tournament since Philip Juel-Berg won this same event in 2015. In the interim, CU players have shared DI titles twice, won the three-team Ballyneal Challenge, and finished first in a Division II tournament. But this time O’Loughlin was alone atop the scoreboard in a 16-team DI event.
At the Falcon Invite, O’Loughlin was remarkably steady throughout the season-opening tournament, going 70-70-69 for a 7-under 209 total, which was one better than New Mexico State’s Tadhg Campbell. O’Loughlin, who birdied his final hole from 10 feet, finished the 54-hole event with 12 birdies and five bogeys.
“It feels good to finally win; being the first one is really special,” O’Loughlin told CUBuffs.com. “It’s such a big relief, and the team winning as well made it that much more special.”
Joining Olkowski and Krantz as Colorado residents who recorded top-five finishes on Sunday was UNC’s Coby Welch, who placed third at 211 after racking up 18 birdies for the week. In other words, he birdied 33 percent of his holes for the tournament.
Leading the way for Air Force was Joseph Crisostomo, who tied for fifth at 212 after closing with a 67, Sunday’s low round.
Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational
Sept. 7-9, 2018 (final) at Eisenhower GC at Air Force Academy
1. (out of 16 teams) Colorado 285-283-287–855
1. Daniel O’Loughlin 70-70-69–209
5. Trevor Olkowski 71-67-74–212
17. Ross Macdonald 74-71-71–216
36. Victor Bjorlow 71-75-74–220
41. John Paterson 73-75-73–221
Competing Only as Individuals
5. Cole Krantz 71-71-70–212
30. Wilson Belk 73-73-73–219
56. Anson Kuznik 76-74-74–224
76. Kristoffer Max 75-80-74–229
4. Air Force 288-288-286–862
5. Joseph Crisostomo 72-73-67–212
17. Andy Germann 74-67-75–216
17. Joshua Wu 69-74-73–216
36. Turner Howe 73-74-73–220
41. Tate Tatom 74-74-73–221
Competing Only as Individuals
23. Luke Trujillo 74-70-73–217
69. Colter Baca 74-78-75–227
82. Jonathan Farmer 73-82-78–233
6. Northern Colorado 292-283-292–867
3. Coby Welch 72-67-72–211
17. Li Chen 71-71-74–216
36. Joshua Matz 75-73-72–220
50. Marcus Tait 77-72-74–223
63. Jack Castiglia 74-77-74–221
Competing Only as Individual
76. Nick Sharp 77-74-78–229
For complete results, CLICK HERE.
For all the local Division I golf results, CLICK HERE.
