By: by Tim Flynn
Mile High Shootout [Live Leaderboard] [Twitter: @minesgolf]
hosted by Colorado Christian, Todd Creek GC, Thornton, Colo., Monday-Tuesday
THE TOURNAMENT
The long-awaited return of Mines Athletics begins Monday when the Oredigger golf team tees off in the Mile High Shootout at Todd Creek in Thornton. The tournament will bring together most of the RMAC, with a women's tournament running concurrently. Mines will have two five-man teams entered in the field, teeing off Monday's 36 holes at 8 a.m., and Tuesday's final round also tees off at 8 a.m. The course is open to spectators with social distancing in effect; fans are asked to remain away from practice areas, and carts are not available.
Live scoring will be available via Golfstat.
IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK
It will have been 195 days since Mines last played a competitive round of golf when they wrapped up the Las Vegas Desert Classic in fifth place on March 3. Ten days later, all college sports were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic and now, golf is one of just two RMAC sports (along with cross country) that will compete this fall. The Orediggers are slated to play a limited fall schedule with the Mile High Shootout as well as the Sam Proal Invitational in Pueblo on Oct. 5-6, and plan on a full schedule this spring.
MINES PICKED ATOP THE RMAC
Mines was announced as the favorite in the
RMAC's preseason poll of men's golf coaches on Thursday. The Orediggers collected 63 points overall including seven first-place votes to top the poll. CSU Pueblo was second (50 points, 2 first) followed by Colorado Mesa (43), UCCS (41), and Westminster (38) to round out the top five.
IN THE RANKINGS
There was no GCAA preseason coaches poll for the fall, but Mines enters 2020-21 coming off a #19 final ranking last spring. The Orediggers were also #16 in the Golfstat computer ratings including individuals
Preston Smith at #25 and
Tim Amundson at #63.
SEEING DOUBLE
The Mines golf program has had eight all-Americans in its history, but has never returned two all-Americans for a season – until now. Both
Tim Amundson and
Preston Smith garnered PING/GCAA Honorable Mention All-America status last spring; Amundson notched four top-10s and a team-high three top-5s on a 72.5 average, while Smith had the team's low average of 71.9 which included one individual win among four top-10 finishes overall.
SMITH NAMED CAPTAIN
Redshirt senior
Preston Smith will captain the team for the second straight season, it was announced earlier this week. Smith locked himself into Mines' #1 spot last year with an early-season win at the RJGA South Central Preview and went on to three more top-10s and a top-25 Golfstat ranking.
WHO'S BACK AND WHO'S NEW
The NCAA's decision last spring to grant an additional year of eligibility to student-athletes looks to greatly benefit this year's team as instead of graduating three of the everyday five starters (Amundson,
Colin Dubnik, and
Nic Beno), the Orediggers instead return four of five starters as Amundson and Dubnik elected to return. That pairs them with Smith and sophomore
Christian Schrodt as returning everyday members of the lineup;
Ryan Hunter and
Max Engel return as juniors while sophomores
Mark McNulty and
Jake Welch will fight for lineup spots. Mines brought in two freshmen in
Bradley Vu (Santa Cruz, Calif.) and
Ethan Adam (Phoenix, Ariz.).
KIMBLE FEATURED ON PODCAST
Mines coach
Tyler Kimble was the guest on
this week's edition of the Every Honest Fellow podcast to talk about the team's upcoming season, a look back at last year, and the state of golf amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
OREDIGGERS ON TOUR
Mines Hall of Famer Marty Jertson, the director of product development at PING, qualified for his fifth career PGA Championship last month and played in the event at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. Jertson is now set to be the first Oredigger to play in the US Open, which will take place at Winged Foot in New York starting Sept. 17.
Fellow Hall of Famer
Jim Knous, who had his rookie PGA Tour season cut short by injury last summer, made his long-awaited PGA Tour return this week at the Safeway Open in California; Knous finished outside the cut at +1 on Friday.
MINES "A" PROJECTED LINEUP
1. Preston Smith (R-Sr., career avg.: 73.20)
GCAA/PING All-American in 2020 … Ranked Golfstat #25 to end 2020 … Held team's low average of 71.9 last season … Won the RJGA South Central Preview among four top-10 finishes.
2. Tim Amundson (Sr., season avg.: 73.61)
GCAA/PING All-American in 2020 … Ranked Golfstat #63 to end 2020 … Returns for a fifth year thanks to NCAA eligibility extension … Team's active leader in career rounds played (108) and top-10 finishes (10).
3. Christian Schrodt (So., career avg: 75.87)
Played in five tournaments as a rookie in 2019-20 … Top finish was T25 at the Otter Invitational.
4. Ryan Hunter (R-Jr., career avg.: 78.15)
Played in two tournaments last year … Top finish was 48th in the Sam Proal Invite with a low round of 76
5. Bradley Vu (Fr.)
Set to make collegiate debut
MINES "B" PROJECTED LINEUP
1. Jake Welch (So., career avg.: 75.0)
Appeared in the Sam Proal Invite last year finishing T31 … Shot career-low 73 in that tournament
2. Colin Dubnik (Sr., career avg: 75.78)
Returns for a fifth year thanks to NCAA eligibility extension … Started all six tournaments last year with a best finish of T31 at the Sam Proal Invite.
3. Mark McNulty (So., career avg.: 74.0)
Appeared in the Sam Proal Invite last year finishing T20 … Shot career-low 69 in that tournament
4. Ethan Adam (Fr.)
Set to make collegiate debut
5. Max Engel (Jr., career avg.: 79.6)
Played in the Sam Proal Invite last year, finishing T49 with a low round of 73
