Rams and Buffs Clash at Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic

CSU Lamkin Grips Sand Diego Classic - Staiano CSU

CU men top CSU men during season’s third meeting in Chula Vista.

By Drew Kort

For the third time this season, territorial rivals CU and CSU teed it up in the same competition. In their prior two meetings— the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational and the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate— the Rams edged out the Buffaloes on both occasions by just three strokes. This time, things were different.

The 54-hole event was held on Chula Vista’s San Diego Country Club, a 7,033-yard par-72 track that provided many scoring opportunities for its participants.

For the Buffs, Senior John Souza (Phoenix, Arizona) led the herd through the first two rounds with a pair of 2-under-par 70s. Souza was T9 and five strokes shy of the individual lead with one loop remaining. Senior Yannik Paul (Viernheim, Germany) carded 74-72 in his first two rounds to sit at 2 over par, and Spencer Painton (Aurora) posted 71-78 and 5 over par. Going into the third and final round, the team was in solo seventh place on the overall leaderboard, and one stroke behind CSU.

Senior CU Buff John Souza
Senior Buff John Souza found himself in contention headed into the final round

Senior and team captain Jake Staiano (Cherry Hills Village, pictured atop) was the low Ram after 36 holes as he shot 72-70 and 2 under par. He was T12. Senior Max Oelfke (Hannover, Germany) struggled with an opening 78, but showed resilience with an impressive 3-under-par 69 in his second loop. He sat at 4 over par for the tournament. Sophomore AJ Ott (Fort Collins) fired 75-73. He was also at 4 over par. As a unit, CSU was solo sixth after day one.

Day two brought a stumble by the Rams more than a surge by the Buffs, allowing CU to finish seven strokes clear of their Colorado counterparts when play came to an end.

CU’s Paul kept his steady play going with a solid 1-over-par round to end in a tie for 32nd. Painton shot his second under par score of the event with a 71 to land in a tie for 40th. Souza struggled mightily with a final round 82 that saw him plummet out of the individual leaderboard’s top-10. He wound up T51. The team shot a cumulative 875 (285-294-296), and that was good enough to earn them a finish alone in eighth place.

CSU’s Staiano finished his event with a 78 to end T40. Oelfke and Ott carded closing 73 and 75 to land at T44 and T56 respectively. The group finished alone in 12th.

Jack Ainscough - CSU Freshman
CSU Freshman Jack Ainscough – © Christian Newton

CSU Freshman Jack Ainscough from England, who was competing as an individual, showed off his abilities and logged the first top-10 of his collegiate career. After finishing his first two loops in even par, he shot a wonderful final-round 67 to get to 5-under-par and end in 9th individually.

Oklahoma State won the team title in dominating fashion at 44 under par-32 strokes ahead of second place Texas Tech. Texas Tech’s Fredrik Nilehn won on the individual side at 15 under par.

After three shared events, CU and CSU are separated by only a single stroke. These two evenly-matched groups will meet for the final time this season at the Arizona State Thunderbird Intercollegiate Apr. 14-15 in Tempe, Arizona.

Click here for tournament stats and scores.


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