CU men’s golf takes home 10th title at Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational
The Colorado Buffaloes men’s golf team capped off a dominant weekend at the 57th annual Air Force Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, taking home first place by a 15-stroke gap over the University of Denver Pioneers. This victory secured the Buffs' 10th title at the tournament in program history, and the first since they went back-to-back in 2018 and 2019.
Hosted by Eisenhower Golf Club in Colorado Springs, the par-72 Blue Course plays at 7,541 yards, with a difficult slope rating of 141. Eisenhower is lauded as one of the best military golf courses in the nation and was ranked as the 24th best college course in the country by Golfweek.
Led by a 68 from junior Parker Paxton, the Buffs opened play on Saturday tied for the lead at 8-under par (280), but began to seize control and separate from the pack on Sunday after firing the low score of the day at 10-under (278). Sunday’s round was highlighted by an incredible 64 (8-under par) by senior Brandon Knight, which included an eagle on the 640-yard par-5 fifth hole, the best single-round score of his collegiate career.
Monday sealed the deal for the Buffs, as they combined for their best round of the tournament at 12-under (276), to finish 30-under as a squad.
In addition to the first-place team finish, the Buffs had two top-5 individual finishers, seniors Ty Holbrook and Knight, who tied for third place. Both golfers bounced back from 16th place at the Vuori Invitational and have reached five career top-5 finishes for Colorado.
Junior Asher Whitaker also enjoyed a very strong weekend, picking up 16 birdies across his three rounds and going under par in each of them, finishing in 8th place with a final score of 211 (-5).
Paxton finished tied for ninth place with two great rounds on Saturday and Monday, with the only sore spot being his 75 (+3) on Saturday. This marked his fifth top-10 finish for Colorado and second in the past week, as he will look to continue to build on this strong start to the 2026 fall season.
Sophomore Tyler Long finished the tournament tied for 13th, firing a team low 68 (-4) on Monday. Long carded 10 birdies throughout his three days of golf, as well as an eagle on the par-5 9th hole on Sunday.
In the companion Gene Miranda Individual event held on the Silver Course, freshman Gavin Amella and sophomore Casey Kosney both turned in standout scores. Amella opened with a record-tying 65, and Kosney fired a bogey-free 65 in round two; both finished the 54 holes at 11-under par (205), tying San Jose State’s Joey Allan for first place. Kosney lost a four-hole playoff to Allan after narrowly missing a birdie putt.
Colorado will look to keep rolling as they head down to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate starting on Friday.
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