Air Force Academy

Sept. 24, 2008

The Air Force golf team is back in action this weekend, Sept. 26-27, at the 54th-annual William H. Tucker Intercollegiate, hosted by New Mexico at the par-72, 7,403-yard UNM Championship Course. The 54-hole tournament is slated to begin with two rounds on Friday and the final round on Saturday. Both days will begin with an 7:30 a.m. shotgun start. Live scoring for the event will be available on golfstat.com.

Last Time Out...
Last week, Air Force finished second at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate, hosted by Denver. The Falcons fired a three-round total of 859 (-5), ranking as the third-lowest team score in school history.

Leading the way for Air Force at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate were junior Tom Whitney and sophomore Kyle Bailey, who tied for third individually at 207 (-9). Their scores rank as the third-lowest in the individual record books at the Academy.

The Field...
Sixteen teams are slated to compete in this year's invitational, including UNLV, which is ranked 22nd in the preseason Golf World/NIKE Golf coaches poll. The full list follows, with Golfweek/Sagarin rankings in parentheses: Air Force (66), Arizona, BYU, Campbell (94), Colorado (10), Hawaii, New Mexico (77), Ohio State, Pacific, Pepperdine (13), Texas State (78), UNLV (35), UTEP (123), UT-San Antonio (145), Utah (164) and Wyoming (165).

In the Conference Rankings...
Two Air Force golfers are ranked in the top 10 of the Mountain West Conference for lowest stroke average this season. Junior Tom Whitney is currently ranked second in the league (only trailing UNLV's Eddie Olson) with a stroke average of 69.83. Meanwhile, sophomore Kyle Bailey rates sixth in the MWC with a stroke average of 71.17.

Also close behind in the conference rankings is senior Shaun O'Bryant, who is tied for 14th with a stroke average of 72.67 after two events.

The last time the Falcons finished in the top two as a team was at the 2006 Service Academy Golf Classic, when they captured the title. Air Force's performance at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate also marks just the third time since 1995 that the Falcons have finished in the top two as a team, outside of the SAGC (which Air Force has won for 12 consecutive years).

A Standout Performance...
While Tom Whitney's third-place showing at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate was impressive, giving him his second top 10 performance of the season, Kyle Bailey's finish was perhaps even more noteworthy. By finishing tied for third, Bailey not only captured the first top-five showing of his career, but his first finish in the top 20. Bailey's previous top finish was a tie for 29th at the Falcon Invitational earlier this year.

Air Force in the Record Books...
In both of its tournaments this season, Air Force has 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. Meanwhile, Air Force's total of 872 at the Falcon Invitational ranks 11th in the record book.

Junior Tom Whitney and sophomore Kyle Bailey each added their names to the individual record books after the Ron Moore Intercollegiate, ranking tied for third for lowest tournament score at 207. Whitney also posted a score of 212 at the Falcon Invitational, ranking 22nd in the individual record books.

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's has also fired a 214 or lower in a 54-hole tournament nine times (Goulding did so 13 times).

Up Next...
The Falcons return to action Oct. 6-7, when they head to the annual Wolf Pack Classic, hosted by Nevada.

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