Soaring at Air Force Academy

Coloradan Matthew Wilkinson scores first individual college victory, leading CSU men to their 2nd team title in less than a week

By Gary Baines – 9/23/2024

A month and a half after finishing runner-up at Eisenhower Golf Club’s Blue Course at the Air Force Academy — in the CGA Amateur — Matthew Wilkinson of Centennial didn’t have to settle for second on Monday at the same site.

The Colorado State University junior, who won the 2024 CGA Match Play in June, notched his first individual victory in college golf by prevailing at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational hosted by the Air Force men’s golf team.

In fact, the Rams ended up with a sweep of the team and individual titles on Monday. And the team victory gives new Jack Kennedy two wins in his first two tournaments as CSU men’s golf head coach as the Rams also prevailed in the Ram Masters Invitational at Fort Collins Country Club on Wednesday.

Matthew Wilkinson, the 2024 CGA Match Play champion, prevailed by three on Monday at the Air Force Academy. Here, he stands alongside Gene Miranda, for whom the Falcon Invitational is named. (Photo: @CSUMGolf on X)

Wilkinson, an Arapahoe High School graduate and former Colorado junior golf standout, hadn’t finished higher than fifth individually in a college event, but rectified that as he led wire to wire at Eisenhower, where he went 65-70-71 for a 10-under-par total. That gave him a three-stroke victory over Brady Kaufman of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

Over three rounds, Wilkinson carded one eagle, 12 birdies and four bogeys. The Coloradan has placed in the top 10 individually in each of his first two starts of this season.

As a team, CSU checked in at 14 under par and posted a nine-stroke victory over Utah State, giving the Rams three consecutive team titles in the event. San Jose State was tied with CSU for the lead in the middle of the final round, but soon dropped back. 

Colorado State put two players in the top five individually, with Ralf Kivi, a freshman from Estonia, taking fifth place at 4 under par overall (71-72-69).

Also placing in the top 10 for Colorado-based teams were Air Force’s Eli Huntington and Northern Colorado’s JaeSeung Na, who tied for sixth at 3 under.

In the final team standings, host Air Force placed 10th (14 over par) out of 22 teams, UNC 12th (21 over) and the University of Denver 15th (29 over).

For all the scores from the Gene Miranda Falcon Invite, CLICK HERE.