REXFORD — The theme for the annual Edison Invitational was all in the family — the Siena College family, that is.

Jim Gifford of the host club shot an even-par 72 to edge fellow Siena College golfers Justin Deitz, also of The Edison Club, and Donald

DeNyse III of Capital Hills at Albany by one shot Monday to win the area’s premier one-day event for scratch golfers.

Bill Paulsen, owner and general manager of Eagle Crest Golf Club, also posted a 72 to win the senior division by a shot over Ralph Maru of Van Patten Golf Course.

Gifford, Deitz and DeNyse were all in the same group, and they had just as many laughs as birdies during a round that seemed more like a regular weekend foursome than a tournament.

“It was fun and relaxing. They are great friends of mine, and we are very competive,” said Gifford, past winner of the Saratoga County Amateur championship and this year’s Tri-Country Match Play

titlist. “Early on, we knew it was

going to be a shootout. Justin birdied the first two, and I had five birdies in the first eight holes. Don made three birdies, also. There were birdie putts galore out there.”

Gifford took advantage of extremely receptive greens to birdie the fourth, 10th, 12th, 14th, 15th and 17th holes from a shotgun start, but he was not happy when he brought his scorecard in.

“I’m very disappointed right now, because I was four-under-par with eight holes to play and two par-5s left. I could have taken it very low,” he said.

Instead, Gifford went three-over-par over his final four holes. He bogeyed the first, fifth and seventh holes, and he also bogeyed the par-5 eighth, when he hit his tee shot left and failed to get back into proper position.

“I had a lot of lip-outs today,” he said. “But I hit it well. We all did. The fifth, sixth and seventh holes were tough against the wind today, but I felt I should have scored better.”

Deitz agreed that the low-key atmosphere of his group made for a fun afternoon.

“It didn’t seem like we were

really playing a tournament. We were very relaxed,” he said. “It was a great group of guys to play with.”

Deitz birdied the fourth, ninth, 10th, 12th and 15th holes, but he said he wasn’t that surprised that nobody shot under par.

“It’s hard to read these greens. Everyone has trouble putting these greens. If you want to go low here, you have to make your putts, he said.

DeNyse, who has an Albany County Amateur title and the New York State Junior Amateur crown on his resume, birdied the fourth, 12th and 15th holes.

“It definitely was a fun round out there,” he said. “I had a pretty good round overall, but I had trouble on the 17th hole when I hooked my drive, and I also had two three-putts. At one point, Jim was four-under, Justin was three-under and I was two-under. We figured the winner was going to come out of our group.”

Chad Stoffer and Chris Comi, both of The Edison Club, shot 74, along with Steve Owens of Normanside Country Club and Dave Hayes of Schuyler Meadows.

“There wasn’t a lot to talk about,” said Stoffer, who birdied the third and 15th holes. “There was a lot of blah, blah, blah.”

Hayes was four-under-par at one point but had six bogeys in a row.

In the senior division, Paulsen was able to edge Maru by keeping his tee shots in the fairway.

“You had to keep the driver in play, because the rough was very juicy because of the rain,” he said. “It’s easier to play from the short grass.”

Paulsen birdied the eighth and 15th holes.

Chuck Connolly of Hiland shot a 74, followed by Mike Zablocky with a 75 and Charlie Murphy of the host club with a 76.

RESULTS

(Par 72)

Open division — Jim Gifford 72, Justin Deitz 73, Donald DeNyse III 73, Dave Hayes 74, Chad Stoffer 74, Steve Owens 74, Chris Comi 74, Peter Schaaf 75, John Vaccaro 75, Joe Macaluso 75, John Deitz 76, Mike Wheeler 77, Jim Toomey 77, Chris Driscoll 78, Nick Longo 78, Mike Gifford 78, Brian Simpson 79, Dan Russo 79, Chris Barach 79, Jim Cocca 79, Bryan Barach 79, Greg Bennett 79, Kip Kirby 79, Tom Salmon 80, Ken Bessette 80, Darren Hart 81, Chris Braman 81, Sal Romano 82, Stan Moore 84, John Devito 84, Jon Michael Socaris 86, Dave Pallas NC, Dave Arakelian NC.

Senior division — Bill Paulsen 72, Ralph Maru 73, Chuck Connolly 74, Mike Zablocky 75, Charlie Murphy 76, Dan Seiter 77, Peter Andrikopoulos 77, John Kellogg 78, Matt Burke 79, Tim Bethel 80, Nick Lambros 79, Bob Crouser 80, Tim Getwright 80, Chris Cross 80, Mark Riley 80, Neil Golub 81, Mario Marino 81, Gene Stefanacci 81, Tim Dugan 81, Rich Myers 82, Fred Marsh 82, Don Blaha 83, Jim Mannix 83, Joe Phillipbar 85, Dave LaFlesch 85, Joe Cebula 85, Ron Trischetta 88, Jim Kowalski 87, Mike Sullivan 92, Gary Grimaldi WD.