The Rams used a tournament-record score of 12-under-par 268 in Monday’s first round at Fort Collins Country Club to help build the 14-stroke lead they’ll take into Tuesday’s final round of the 54-hole event.
Colorado State has won the team title at the Ram Masters each of the last three years after being runner-up by a single stroke the first two years it was held.
CSU stands at 12-under 548 for 36 holes, with Missouri-Kansas City in second place at 562 and Wyoming in third at 563. Northern Colorado is sixth at 573, while Denver is seventh at 574 and the Air Force Academy is 13th at 587 in the 19-team field.
The Rams were the runner-up to Wyoming in last weekend’s season-opening Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational at the Air Force Academy.
CSU has four players in the top 10 individually after day 1: AJ Ott is third at 4-under-par 136; Max Oelfke sixth at 137; Jake Staiano seventh at 138; and Colton Yates ninth at 139.
Also in the top 10 from a Colorado-based school is DU’s Chris Korte, who’s tied with Staiano at 138.
Missouri-KC’s Francois Lagraulet leads individually at 8-under-par 132, while Wyoming’s John Murdock is second at 134.
For all the scores from the Ram Masters Invite, CLICK HERE.
The Rams shot a 1-under-par 287 in the final round to post a 4-under 860 total, finishing 14 strokes behind champion UNLV.
Senior Dominic Kieffer (pictured) fired a career-best 6-under-par 66 in Sunday’s final round to lead the way for CSU by placing sixth individually at 5-under 211. Coloradan Jimmy Makloski, who aced the 170-yard fourth hole on Saturday, tied teammate Max Oelfke for 15th place at 214.
The Air Force Academy ended up 10th in the 11-team field with an 878 total.
Meanwhile, Coloradan Hannah Wood, a sophomore at the University of Oklahoma, tied for 12th Sunday at the Women’s Big 12 Conference Championship in San Antonio, Texas. The 2014 CWGA Stroke Play champion rallied after an opening-round 77 to post two consecutive 70s and finished at 1-over 217, 10 strokes behind winner Kenzie Neisen of Oklahoma State.
Men’s Mountain West Conference Championship
April 22-24, 2016 (final) in Tucson, Ariz.
4. (out of 11 teams) Colorado State 281-292-287–860
6. Dominic Kieffer 71-74-66–211; 15. Max Oelfke 69-71-74–214; 15. Jimmy Makloski 71-70-73–214; 33. Kyler Dunkle 70-77-74–221; 54. Blake Cannon 73-80-81–234.
10. Air Force Academy 287-293-298–878
22. Sunwoo Choi 71-71-75–217; 28. Brenden Bone 68-74-76–218; 39. Michael Fan 77-73-73–223; 43. Bryant Falconello 76-75-74–225; 48. Tate Tatom 72-76-78–226.
Cameron Harrell of Colorado Springs was named one of the five national finalists for the 2015 Nelson Award, which is presented by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
One of the 10 nominees for this year’s Nelson Award, announced on Wednesday, is CSU’s Dominic Kieffer, who appopriately hails from Byron, Minn.
So far this college season, Kieffer has three top-six individual finishes to his credit, including a second and a third. But the senior is currently nursing an ankle injury.
Other nominees for the Nelson Award are South Carolina’s Will Starke, Clemson’s Stephen Behr Jr., UNLV’s AJ McInerney, Oklahoma State’s Jordan Niebrugge, Michigan’s Chris O’Neill, Washington’s Jonathan Sanders, Louisville’s Robin Sciot-Siegrist and two players from Illinois, Charlie Danielson and Alex Burge.
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