Air Force Academy

May 8, 2010

Results

TUCSON, Ariz. -

The Air Force golf team posted its highest MWC finish ever on Saturday, placing sixth at the 2010 Mountain West Conference Championship, being held at the par-71, 7,144-yard Catalina Course at OMNI Tucson National. The Falcons turned in their best round of the tournament on Saturday, firing a 291 to finish at 887 (+35).

The Falcons’ previous best finish at the Mountain West Conference Championship was in 2002, when they placed seventh in the eight-team league.

Sophomore Robert Belz (San Antonio, Texas) was the top finisher for the Falcons, tying for 19th overall with a three-round score of 217 (+4) after firing a 72 on Saturday. Freshman Andrew Hoops (Highland, Calif.), who also shot a 72 in the final round, was next in the individual standings, tying for 26th place at 221.

Senior Tom Whitney (La Quinta, Calif.), the Falcons’ leader throughout the season, struggled on the final day of competition before finishing the tournament tied for 31st place overall at 225. Meanwhile, Caleb Leestma (So., Seabrook, Texas) and Kyle Bailey (Jr., Austin, Texas) each turned in their best rounds of the tournament on Saturday before placing 38th and tied for 41st, respectively.

Colorado State ran away with the team title, finishing at 834 (-18) for the tournament, 13 strokes ahead of second-place San Diego State. The Rams were led by Ryan Peterson, who earned medalist honors with a three-round score of 205 (-8).

UNLV finished third in the team standings, followed by BYU in fourth place, 2009 champion TCU in fifth place and Air Force in sixth. Wyoming (seventh), New Mexico (eighth) and Utah (ninth) rounded out the competition.

Next up are the NCAA Regionals, which will be held May 20-22 at six sites around the country. Selections to the regionals will be announced on Monday, May 10.

6            Air Force                 304-292-291            887

T19       Robert Belz             76-69-72                   217

T26       Andrew Hoops       74-75-72                   221

T31       Tom Whitney          76-71-78                   225

38         Caleb Leestma      78-77-75                   230

T41       Kyle Bailey              78-82-72                   232

Final Results in PDF Format