Colorado State University Athletics
Monday, September 18
Fort Collins, Colo.
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Colorado State
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Ram Masters Invitational Presented by Pedersen Toyota Day 1
Men's Golf Looks For Four-Peat, Hosting Ram Masters Invitational presented by Pedersen Toyota
9/14/2017 1:11:00 PM | Men's Golf
Tournament: Ram Masters Invitational presented by Pedersen Toyota
Date: September 18-19, 2017
Host: Colorado State University
Location: Fort Collins, Colo.
Course: Fort Collins Country Club
Course Par/Yardage: Par 70 / 7,218 yards
Host Web Site: http://www.CSURams.com
Live Scoring: http://www.golfstatresults.com
Tournament Field (19): Colorado State, Air Force, Denver, Grand Canyon, Idaho, Illinois State, Long Beach State, UMKC, New Mexico, Northern Colorado, Oral Roberts, Pacific, Sam Houston State, South Dakota, South Dakota State, TCU, Utah Valley, Wichita State, Wyoming
Next on the Tee: The Colorado State men's golf team returns to Fort Collins to host the sixth-annual Ram Masters Invitational presented by Pedersen Toyota. The three-day, 54-hole tournament will be played at Fort Collins Country Club (Par 70 - 7,218 yards) in Fort Collins, Colo. Groups will tee off an 8 a.m. shotgun start on Monday, Sept. 18, with tee times starting at 8 a.m. for the final round on Tuesday, Sept. 19. Live scoring will be available at GolfStatResults.com.Â
Recent History at the Ram Masters Invitational: Colorado State enters its home event as the three-time defending champion in the tournament's five-year history. Wichita State won it in 2012 and Denver took home the team title in 2013, with CSU finishing as runner-up in each of those years.
Handicapping the Field: There are 19 teams in the field for the Ram Masters Invitational. Joining the host Rams, who finished 69th in the nation last season according to Golfweek, will be Air Force, Denver, Grand Canyon, Idaho, Illinois State, Long Beach State, UMKC, New Mexico, Northern Colorado, Oral Roberts, Pacific, Sam Houston State, South Dakota, South Dakota State, TCU, Utah Valley, Wichita State and Wyoming. Four of the opponents were in last week's field at the Falcon Invitational, with CSU going 3-1 against them. Four teams in this year's field competed in the 2017 NCAA Golf Regionals (one advancing to the Championship), with four others sending individuals to the Regional events.
Lineup for the Ram Masters Invitational: The Rams are in a standard play five, count four event this week. For CSU, the lineup will be:
1.   Max Oelfke
2.   Colton Yates
3.   AJ Ott
4.   Jake Staiano
5.   Poon Suyasri
Ind.:Â Â Â Cullen Plousha, Pierce Aichinger
Last Time on the Tee: Colorado State men's golf wrapped up a solid three days of play with a second-place finish at the 2017 Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, Sept. 8-10. Entering the day three shots behind Wyoming, Colorado State shot a solid 5-under 283 in the final round and finished at 24-under 840. CSU defeated several other quality teams in the field, including Colorado, defending Mountain West champion UNLV and Utah. For the tournament, the Rams had 11 of 12 counting scores at par or better, including four rounds in the 60s, and led the field in par-four scoring and second in pars and par-3 scoring.
   Senior Max Oelfke was the top Ram in the tournament, shooting a 3-under 69 in the last round to finish as the event's individual runner-up at 9-under 207, five shots back of medalist John Murdock of Wyoming. (complete recap on page 4)
Ott Racks Up First Career Top-10 Finish: Sophomore AJ Ott posted his first collegiate top-10 finish with a tie for 10th at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, Sept. 8-10. The Fort Collins native opened with a 1-over 73 but followed it up with a career-best 5-under 67 in the second round. He then closed with a 1-under 71 to post a 5-under 211, his best 54-hole score at Colorado State.
Rams Successful In Summer Months: CSU was well represented in numerous U.S. and international tournaments this summer. Three Rams competed in the U.S. Amateur, as Jake Staiano, AJ Ott and Poon Suyasri all advanced to the premiere amateur event. Max Oelfke captured the German Amateur and Luxembourgh Amateur titles in his summer play. Additionally, Suyasri qualified for and made the cut at the Asian Tour's Thailand Open.Â
On the CSU Career Chart: Junior Jake Staiano continues to be among the best to have played at CSU so far in his career. His scoring average of 72.30 in 54 competitive rounds ranks fifth all-time, just ahead of PGA Tour veteran Martin Laird at 72.48. Senior Colton Yates at 73.13 and senior Max Oelfke at 73.39 are just outside of the top 11 on the list after the opening tournament.
Showing the Growth: Under head coach Christian Newton, CSU continues to show growth on the national stage, as the Rams play a high-level schedule each year. With the performance in the season, Newton's teams moved to a 58.2 percent winning record in his five-plus years according to Golfstat. Newton moved ahead of Mark Crabtree (1994-99) on the list at 57.0 percent and both coaches have five career CSU team tournament titles.
Rams on Tour: Former Colorado State standout Martin Laird, a PGA tour veteran, has had a solid 2017 season so far on the tour, currently with $1,730,831 in earnings and is 49th in the FedEx Cup. He has made the cut in 17 of 24 events played with five top 10s, eight top 25s, with the best finish a tie for third at the Quicken Loans National in July. In 2017, his efforts during the regular season earned him a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs for the eighth time, as he has advanced to the third leg at the BMW Championship in Chicago this weekend. For his career, he has now surpassed the $15.60 million in winnings. Laird is scheduled to be inducted into the CSU Athletic Hall of Fame later this fall.
Academic Success: The Colorado State men's golf program was recognized by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) as a 2017 All-Academic Team. Honored for the fourth consecutive year, the Rams were one of 102 DI programs honored for having a team GPA of 3.0 or better last season. In addition, recent graduate Blake Cannon was selected in July by the GCAA as a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar, becoming the 21st CSU golfer all-time to earn the accolade.
 Additionally, the squad posted better than a 3.2 GPA for the spring term, making the eighth straight semester that the program has accomplished that feat.
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Date: September 18-19, 2017
Host: Colorado State University
Location: Fort Collins, Colo.
Course: Fort Collins Country Club
Course Par/Yardage: Par 70 / 7,218 yards
Host Web Site: http://www.CSURams.com
Live Scoring: http://www.golfstatresults.com
Tournament Field (19): Colorado State, Air Force, Denver, Grand Canyon, Idaho, Illinois State, Long Beach State, UMKC, New Mexico, Northern Colorado, Oral Roberts, Pacific, Sam Houston State, South Dakota, South Dakota State, TCU, Utah Valley, Wichita State, Wyoming
Next on the Tee: The Colorado State men's golf team returns to Fort Collins to host the sixth-annual Ram Masters Invitational presented by Pedersen Toyota. The three-day, 54-hole tournament will be played at Fort Collins Country Club (Par 70 - 7,218 yards) in Fort Collins, Colo. Groups will tee off an 8 a.m. shotgun start on Monday, Sept. 18, with tee times starting at 8 a.m. for the final round on Tuesday, Sept. 19. Live scoring will be available at GolfStatResults.com.Â
Recent History at the Ram Masters Invitational: Colorado State enters its home event as the three-time defending champion in the tournament's five-year history. Wichita State won it in 2012 and Denver took home the team title in 2013, with CSU finishing as runner-up in each of those years.
Handicapping the Field: There are 19 teams in the field for the Ram Masters Invitational. Joining the host Rams, who finished 69th in the nation last season according to Golfweek, will be Air Force, Denver, Grand Canyon, Idaho, Illinois State, Long Beach State, UMKC, New Mexico, Northern Colorado, Oral Roberts, Pacific, Sam Houston State, South Dakota, South Dakota State, TCU, Utah Valley, Wichita State and Wyoming. Four of the opponents were in last week's field at the Falcon Invitational, with CSU going 3-1 against them. Four teams in this year's field competed in the 2017 NCAA Golf Regionals (one advancing to the Championship), with four others sending individuals to the Regional events.
Lineup for the Ram Masters Invitational: The Rams are in a standard play five, count four event this week. For CSU, the lineup will be:
1.   Max Oelfke
2.   Colton Yates
3.   AJ Ott
4.   Jake Staiano
5.   Poon Suyasri
Ind.:Â Â Â Cullen Plousha, Pierce Aichinger
Last Time on the Tee: Colorado State men's golf wrapped up a solid three days of play with a second-place finish at the 2017 Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, Sept. 8-10. Entering the day three shots behind Wyoming, Colorado State shot a solid 5-under 283 in the final round and finished at 24-under 840. CSU defeated several other quality teams in the field, including Colorado, defending Mountain West champion UNLV and Utah. For the tournament, the Rams had 11 of 12 counting scores at par or better, including four rounds in the 60s, and led the field in par-four scoring and second in pars and par-3 scoring.
   Senior Max Oelfke was the top Ram in the tournament, shooting a 3-under 69 in the last round to finish as the event's individual runner-up at 9-under 207, five shots back of medalist John Murdock of Wyoming. (complete recap on page 4)
Ott Racks Up First Career Top-10 Finish: Sophomore AJ Ott posted his first collegiate top-10 finish with a tie for 10th at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, Sept. 8-10. The Fort Collins native opened with a 1-over 73 but followed it up with a career-best 5-under 67 in the second round. He then closed with a 1-under 71 to post a 5-under 211, his best 54-hole score at Colorado State.
Rams Successful In Summer Months: CSU was well represented in numerous U.S. and international tournaments this summer. Three Rams competed in the U.S. Amateur, as Jake Staiano, AJ Ott and Poon Suyasri all advanced to the premiere amateur event. Max Oelfke captured the German Amateur and Luxembourgh Amateur titles in his summer play. Additionally, Suyasri qualified for and made the cut at the Asian Tour's Thailand Open.Â
On the CSU Career Chart: Junior Jake Staiano continues to be among the best to have played at CSU so far in his career. His scoring average of 72.30 in 54 competitive rounds ranks fifth all-time, just ahead of PGA Tour veteran Martin Laird at 72.48. Senior Colton Yates at 73.13 and senior Max Oelfke at 73.39 are just outside of the top 11 on the list after the opening tournament.
Showing the Growth: Under head coach Christian Newton, CSU continues to show growth on the national stage, as the Rams play a high-level schedule each year. With the performance in the season, Newton's teams moved to a 58.2 percent winning record in his five-plus years according to Golfstat. Newton moved ahead of Mark Crabtree (1994-99) on the list at 57.0 percent and both coaches have five career CSU team tournament titles.
Rams on Tour: Former Colorado State standout Martin Laird, a PGA tour veteran, has had a solid 2017 season so far on the tour, currently with $1,730,831 in earnings and is 49th in the FedEx Cup. He has made the cut in 17 of 24 events played with five top 10s, eight top 25s, with the best finish a tie for third at the Quicken Loans National in July. In 2017, his efforts during the regular season earned him a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs for the eighth time, as he has advanced to the third leg at the BMW Championship in Chicago this weekend. For his career, he has now surpassed the $15.60 million in winnings. Laird is scheduled to be inducted into the CSU Athletic Hall of Fame later this fall.
Academic Success: The Colorado State men's golf program was recognized by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) as a 2017 All-Academic Team. Honored for the fourth consecutive year, the Rams were one of 102 DI programs honored for having a team GPA of 3.0 or better last season. In addition, recent graduate Blake Cannon was selected in July by the GCAA as a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar, becoming the 21st CSU golfer all-time to earn the accolade.
 Additionally, the squad posted better than a 3.2 GPA for the spring term, making the eighth straight semester that the program has accomplished that feat.
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Players Mentioned
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