The fall portion of the college golf season wrapped up last week for the Division I programs based in Colorado.

There were plenty of highlights for teams and players with major connections to the Centennial State and, probably not coincidentally, many of those superlatives took place in tournaments held in Colorado.

As we enter intermission for a 2018-19 season that won’t resume in earnest until February in most cases — or late January at least — we’ll revisit some of the top local moments from the fall Division I schedule:

— The University of Colorado men’s squad claimed two team titles in September — at the season-opening Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational at the Air Force Academy, and at their own Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational in Erie.

— Not to be outdone, the Colorado State University men also won twice team-wise in the fall. The Rams claimed their fifth straight title as they hosted the Ram Masters Invitational in Fort Collins, then prevailed in winter-like conditions at the Paintbrush Invitational in Parker.

— On the women’s side, CSU accomplished a momentous feat by earning a team victory at a major invitational for the first time in over eight years. It came at the University of Denver’s Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate in Highlands Ranch, the Rams’ third tournament under new head coach Laura Cilek.

— At that same event, CSU junior Ellen Secor claimed the first individual victory of her college career. Secor subsequently was named the Mountain West Conference’s Women’s Golfer of the Month for October. And notably, one of the two players who tied for second in Highlands Ranch, a stroke behind Secor, was CSU’s Katrina Prendergast, Secor’s teammate when the two won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball national championship in May. (The two are pictured, with Secor at left.)

— Kyler Dunkle, who grew up in Colorado and won the CGA Amateur in August, had a stellar fall individually as a senior at Utah. Dunkle won the individual title at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational for the second straight year. And this time, it was his second college win in eight days. Dunkle finished the fall with three top-four finishes.

— Also at CU’s Simpson Invitational, Buffs sophomore Trevor Olkowski technically tied for the individual title — and it will go down as a victory — though Dunkle beat him in a playoff by making a 6-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole. (Below, Olkowski is pictured with Dunkle, in the red shirt.)

— Junior Daniel O’Loughlin, a CU teammate of Olkowski, recorded an outright individual victory at the season opener at the Air Force Academy. O’Loughlin notched four top-10 finishes in five fall tournaments.

— One of the more remarkable performances of the fall was by CSU freshman Oscar Teiffel, from Sweden. In a final round of the Paintbrush Invitational in which temperatures hovered in the mid-30s and it was snowing more than a little, Teiffel carded a stellar 5-under-par 67 at Colorado Golf Club. The three-stroke victory was the first for Teiffel in his young college career.

Add up all of the above, and local schools recorded five team victories in the fall, and local players posted six individual wins — or, in Olkowski’s case, a tie for first.

— Junior Robyn Choi, the top player for the CU women, didn’t manage an individual victory in the fall, but certainly made a few runs at it. In all, she had three top-six finishes in three fall tournaments. And, perhaps most impressively, she earned her LPGA card for 2019 by finishing 45th in the final stage of Q-school, the Q-Series.

— Coby Welch, a junior at the University of Northern Colorado who went to the U.S. Amateur in August, had a strong fall, notching three top-five individual finishes — all coming in Colorado. He was third at both the Gene Miranda and Ram Masters, and fifth at the Paintbrush Invite.

— Freshmen had the top two stroke averages for CSU in the fall: Teiffel (70.77) and Aurora resident Davis Bryant (72.13).

— Mary Weinstein of Highlands Ranch, a junior at the University of Denver, shot a program-record 8-under-par 64 to close out the Golfweek Conference Challenge at the Fazio Course at Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott. The stellar final round gave Weinstein her best individual finish — third place — since transferring from Regis to DU in the summer of 2017.

— Luke Trujillo, a freshman from Colorado Springs, leads the Air Force Academy golf team in stroke average after the fall season with a 74.4 norm.

— Beah Cruz, a sophomore from Vacaville, Calif., recorded two top-10 individual finishes for the University of Northern Colorado women in the fall — a sixth and a ninth.

— Meanwhile, in a matter not directly related to performance, this season a DU women’s player is carrying a golf bag at each tournament that honors Danny Dietz, a Navy Seal and former Littleton resident who was killed in combat in 2005 during the war in Afghanistan. Coach Lindsay Kuhle went to Heritage High School with Dietz, knows his family, and came up with the idea to pay tribute to Dietz through the Folds of Honor Foundation program. Dietz’s story was part of the book and movie “Lone Survivor”.

Below are the rankings for the Colorado-based NCAA Division I teams as of the end of the fall season (updated Nov. 14):

Men
Colorado State ( 47th Golfstat, 51st Golfweek)
Colorado (73rd Golfstat, 81st Golfweek)
Northern Colorado (118th Golfstat, 122nd Golfweek)
Denver (137th Golfstat, 149th Golfweek)
Air Force Academy (203rd Golfstat, 204th Golfweek)

Women
Colorado (36th Golfweek, 42nd Golfstat)
Colorado State (69th Golfstat, 74th Golfweek)
Denver (79th Golfweek, 81st Golfstat)
Northern Colorado (149th Golfstat, 150th Golfweek)

And here are the rankings of local players in the top 250 in the nation:

Men
91. Longtime Coloradan Kyler Dunkle, Utah (Golfweek)
110. Daniel O’Loughlin, CU (Golfstat)
118. Oscar Teiffel, CSU (Golfweek)
120. Coby Welch, UNC (Golfstat)
189. Davis Bryant, CSU (Golfweek)
238. Trevor Olkowski, CU (Golfstat)

Women
11. Robyn Choi, CU (Golfstat)
57. Coloradan Jennifer Kupcho, Wake Forest (Golfweek)
72. Kirsty Hodgkins, CU (Golfweek)
87. Mary Weinstein, DU (Golfweek)
97. Former Coloradan Elizabeth Wang, Harvard (Golfweek)
192. Katrina Prendergast, CSU (Golfstat)
 

The host Buffaloes stand at 8-under-par 568 for the first two rounds. Utah, which won last year’s playoff with the Buffs, trails by three going into the last day at CNGC (pictured in a CU photo).

Northern Colorado, the only other school from the Centennial State fielding a full team for this year’s event, sits in 13th place in the 16-team field, at 610.

Several local players are in contention for the individual title with one round remaining. Kyler Dunkle of Utah, a longtime Coloradan until moving away after winning last month’s CGA Amateur, shares the lead with CU’s Trevor Olkowski of Grand Junction and Daniel O’Loughlin. The three are at 5-under-par 139. Dunkle won the individual title at Colorado National last year.

Tee times for Tuesday’s final round will run 7:55 to 8:35 a.m.

For scores from the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, CLICK HERE.
 

DU’s Weinstein Tied for Lead at Red Sky: In another NCAA Division I tournament being held in Colorado, the defending champion University of Denver women are in fourth place after Monday’s first round of the 54-hole Golfweek Conference Challenge at the Fazio Course at Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott.

The Pioneers opened with a 5-over-par 293 and trail leader UCLA by 16 strokes.

DU’s Mary Weinstein, from Highlands Ranch, shares the individual lead after making six birdies in a round of 4-under-par 68.

Also at that figure are UCLA’s Clare Legaspi and Patty Tavatanakit, and Campbell’s Stacey White.

For all the scores from the Golfweek Conference Challenge, CLICK HERE.
 

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.

The University of Colorado sophomore recorded two top-10 finishes during the break, including his 10th-place showing out of a 135-player field on Saturday at The Goodwin at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.

The performance comes on the heels of the Englishman’s career-best second-place finish last weekend at the Kansas State Bighorn Invitational.

O’Loughlin (pictured in a CU photo by Chip Bromfield), carded scores of 73-66-70 in San Francisco, which gave him a three-day total of 4-under-par 209. He made 13 birdies over the course of 54 holes. It was his third top-10 of the season for the sophomore, who also ended up fifth in the season-opening Miranda Invitational in September. Norman Xiong of Oregon claimed the individual title Saturday with a 198 total.

CU put three players in the top 30 as the Buffs tied for sixth in the 26-team field. Also finishing highly for Colorado were senior Yannik Paul of Germany (20th place at 212) and freshman Trevor Olkowski of Grand Junction (27th place at 213).

Northern Colorado, led by Joshua Matz, finished 25th as a team on Saturday.

The Goodwin
March 29-31, 2018 (final) in San Francisco
6. (out of 26 teams) Colorado 287-278-288–853
10. Daniel O’Loughlin 73-66-70–209
20. Yannik Paul 70-72-70–212
27. Trevor Olkowski 71-66-76–213
92. Spencer Painton 73-76-74–223
101. John Souza 77-74-74–225

25. Northern Colorado 302-303-294–899
92. Joshua Matz 72-79-72–223
99. Coby Welch 78-71-75–224
101. Sam Marley 75-78-72–225
118. Andrew Romano 77-77-75–229
133. Li Chen 80-77-80–237

Also
65. Coloradan Coloradan Kyler Dunkle, Utah 70-75-74–219
101. Coloradan Glenn Workman, Wyoming 76-73-76–225
 

At the Kansas State Bighorn Invitational in Palm Desert, Calif., the Buffs had three individuals finish in the top six of a large-field NCAA Division I tournament for the first time since September 2015.

Sophomore Daniel O’Loughlin from England (pictured in a CU photo by Chip Bromfield) placed a college career-best second, while seniors Spencer Painton of Colorado and Yannik Paul of Germany tied for sixth.

With a strong final round — a 9-under-par 279 at The Canyons at Bighorn Golf Club — the Buffs placed third in the 12-team field, 19 strokes behind champion Illinois and nine back of runner-up Mississippi State.

The last time before Saturday that CU had put three individuals in the top six in a large-field DI tournament — featuring 10 teams or more — was at the 2015 Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational in Erie, where Jeremy Paul, Ethan Freeman and Ross Macdonald all placed in the top five individually.

O’Loughlin recorded six birdies on Saturday and closed with a 3-under-par 69 to post an 8-under 208 total, which left him three strokes behind individual winner Bryan Baumgarten of Illinois.

Painton, a former Colorado 5A state high school champion, notched his second top-six individual finish of the season. He carded six birdies on Saturday, with nine 3s on his card, in a round of 68. He ended up at 209.

Also at that figure was Paul, who recorded his third top-six showing of the season. Paul had five birdies in a round of 71 on Saturday.

Meanwhile, two of the other Colorado-based Division I men’s teams squared off in a dual match Friday in Bremerton, Wash., with Colorado State and the University of Denver tying with 2.5 points each. Each team won two matches and halved one.

Posting individual victories were Chris Korte and Eric Hagen of DU, and Jack Ainscough and Max Oelfke of CSU. The match results are below.

K-State Bighorn Invitational
March 23-24, 2018 (final) in Palm Desert, Calif.
3. (out of 12 teams) Colorado 283-281-279–843
2. Daniel O’Loughlin 72-67-69–208
6. Spencer Painton 72-69-68–209
6. Yannik Paul 65-73-71–209
39. John Souza 74-75-71–220
65. Victor Bjorlow 80-72-82–234

Colorado State-Denver Dual Match
March 23, 2018 (final) at Gold Mountain GC in Bremerton, Wash.
CSU 2.5, DENVER 2.5
Chris Korte, DU, def. AJ Ott, 3 and 1
Eric Hagen, DU, def. Jake Staiano, 2 and 1
Jack Ainscough, CSU, def. Jackson Solem, 5 and 3
Max Oelfke, CSU, def. Isaac Petersilie, 4 and 3
Parathakorn Suyasri, CSU, halved with John Sand, DU