6 NCAA Div. I golf tournaments will be held in Colorado in 3-week stretch; men’s NCAA DII national champ Colorado Christian opens season at Bear Creek GC
By Gary Baines – 9/6/2024
As usual, there will be no lack of NCAA Division I golf tournaments held in Colorado during the fall portion of the college schedule. But this year, they’ll crank into action a little later than usual.
Six DI events are scheduled for the fall season in the Centennial State — three each for men and women — but the first one isn’t until the second half of the month, with the men’s Ram Masters Invitational at Fort Collins Country Club set for Sept. 17-18. And that’s where the host team, Colorado State, will have its new head coach, Jack Kennedy, make his Ram debut.
All six Colorado-based tournaments are scheduled in a three-week timeframe, from Sept. 17 to Oct. 6.
This season, both the University of Colorado men’s and women’s teams move from the Pac-12 to the Big 12, and the CU women will feature a new head coach in Madeleine Sheils, who succeeds Anne Kelly, who retired after 27 seasons at the helm.
Here’s the overall rundown of DI golf tournaments scheduled in the Centennial State during the fall season:
MEN
— Sept. 17-18: Ram Masters Invitational, Fort Collins CC (Participating local teams: CSU, CU, DU and UNC.)
— Sept. 21-23: Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, Eisenhower GC at Air Force Academy (Participating local teams: Air Force, CSU, DU and UNC.)
— Sept. 30-Oct. 1: Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, Colorado National GC in Erie (Participating local teams: CU, CSU, DU, UNC and Air Force.)
WOMEN
— Sept. 22-24: Red Sky Classic Hosted by Golfweek, Red Sky GC (Participating local team: DU and UNC.)
— Sept. 23-24: Ptarmigan Ram Classic, Ptarmigan CC; (Participating local teams: CSU and CU.)
— Oct. 4-6: Ron Moore Intercollegiate, DU GC at Highlands Ranch. (Participating local teams: DU, CU and CSU.)
Meanwhile, it definitely should be noted — given that the men’s golf team from Lakewood-based Colorado Christian University won the NCAA Division II national title late in the spring — that the DII men begin playing tournaments a little earlier than many of their DI counterparts in the state. CCU — along with CSU-Pueblo, Colorado School of Mines and Colorado Mesa — tee it up for their season openers Sept. 9-10 at The Writz at Mile High at Bear Creek Golf Club in west Denver.
Overall, the first Colorado-based DI program to play a college tournament in the 2024-25 season will be the Air Force Academy men and the CSU women, both of whom will tee it up at the GCAA/Folds of Honor Collegiate in Grand Haven, Mich., Sept. 9-11.
Below are the season openers and Colorado-based tournaments for all nine DI golf teams located in the Centennial State:
Air Force Academy Men
Season Opener — Sept. 9-11: GCAA/Folds of Honor Collegiate, Grand Haven, Mich.
Colorado-Based Tournaments — Sept. 21-23: Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, Eisenhower GC at Air Force Academy; Sept. 30-Oct. 1: Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, Colorado National GC.
CSU Men
Season Opener — Sept. 17-18: Ram Masters Invitational, Fort Collins CC.
Colorado-Based Tournaments — Sept. 17-18: Ram Masters Invitational, Fort Collins CC; Sept. 21-23: Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, Eisenhower GC; Sept. 30-Oct. 1: Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, Colorado National GC.
CU Men
Season Opener — Sept. 10-11: Palouse Collegiate, Pullman, Wash.
Colorado-Based Tournaments — Sept. 17-18: Ram Masters Invitational; Fort Collins CC; Sept. 30-Oct. 1: Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, Colorado National GC.
DU Men
Season Opener — Sept. 17-18: Ram Masters Invitational, Fort Collins CC.
Colorado-Based Tournaments — Sept. 17-18: Ram Masters Invitational, Fort Collins CC; Sept. 21-23: Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, Eisenhower GC; Sept. 30-Oct. 1: Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, Colorado National GC.
UNC Men
Season Opener — Sept. 17-18: Ram Masters Invitational, Fort Collins CC.
Colorado-Based Tournaments — Sept. 17-18: Ram Masters Invitational, Fort Collins CC; Sept. 21-23: Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, Eisenhower GC; Sept. 30-Oct. 1: Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, Colorado National GC.
CSU Women
Season Opener — Sept. 9-11: Folds of Honor, Grand Haven, Mich.
Colorado-Based Tournaments — Sept. 23-24: Ptarmigan Ram Classic, Ptarmigan CC; Oct. 4-6: Ron Moore Intercollegiate, DU GC at Highlands Ranch.
CU Women
Season Opener — Sept. 16-17: Leadership and Golf Invitational, University Place, Wash.
Colorado-Based Tournaments — Sept. 23-24: Ptarmigan Ram Classic, Ptarmigan CC; Oct. 4-6: Ron Moore Intercollegiate, DU GC at Highlands Ranch.
DU Women
Season Opener —Sept. 22-24: Red Sky Classic Hosted by Golfweek, Red Sky GC.
Colorado-Based Tournaments — Sept. 22-24: Red Sky Classic Hosted by Golfweek, Red Sky GC; 4-6: Ron Moore Intercollegiate, DU GC at Highlands Ranch.
UNC Women
Season Opener — Sept. 9-10: Powercat Invitational in Manhattan, Kan.
Colorado-Based Tournaments — Red Sky Classic Hosted by Golfweek, Red Sky GC.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com