Air Force Academy

Feb. 14, 2009

The Air Force golf team opens up the 2009 spring season Feb. 16-17 at the UTSA Oak Hills Invitational. The tournament will take place at the par-72, 6.691-yard Oak Hills Country Club. The 54-hole tournament is slated to begin with two rounds on Monday and the final round on Tuesday. Monday's action begins with an 8:00 a.m. shotgun start, while tee times start at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

Last Time Out...
The Falcons closed out the 2008 fall season at the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate, finishing tied for 12th place. Air Force fired a three-round total of 879 (+27).

Leading Air Force for the sixth time in as many tournaments this year was junior Tom Whitney, who tied for seventh place at 212 (-1). It marked the fourth top-10 performance for Whitney in the fall and the fifth tournament of the year in which he has shot under par.

The Field...
Fourteen teams are slated to compete in this year's tournament. The full list follows, with Golfweek/Sagarin ratings in parentheses: Air Force (127), Central Arkansas (130), DePaul (149), Illinois State (106), Louisiana-Monroe (163), McNeese State, Oklahoma (86), Sam Houston State (90), Stephen F. Austin (120), Texas State (96), Texas Tech (15), UT Arlington (66), UTSA (177) and Wichita State (79).

In the Conference Rankings...
Junior Tom Whitney is currently ranked in the top 10 of the Mountain West Conference for lowest stroke average this season. Whitney is sixth in the league with a stroke average of 71.28.

Meanwhile, Air Force rates sixth in the MWC with a team stroke average of 293.89.

Air Force in the Record Books...
In four of its fall tournaments, Air Force made entries into the school's record books with its performance. The Falcons' team score of 859 at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate ranks as the third-lowest tournament score (54 holes) in school history. Air Force's total of 872 at the Falcon Invitational ranks 11th in the record book, while the team's score of 875 at the Sycuan Collegiate Invitational is tied for 13th in the Air Force record books. In addition, the Falcons' score of 879 at the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate ranks 20th on the list of lowest-team scores in school history.

Whitney now owns five of the 20 lowest individual scores in Air Force history, tying with 2007 graduate Tyler Goulding, who also has five. Whitney has also fired a 214 or lower in a 54-hole tournament 12 times (Goulding did so 13 times).

Up Next...
The Falcons are back in action March 2-3 at the Argonaut Invitational, hosted by West Florida in Pensacola, Fla.

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