Men's Golf Quickly Back In Action at Tucker Intercollegiate

Tournament: William H. Tucker Intercollegiate
Date: September 22-23, 2017
Host: University of New Mexico
Location: Albuquerque, N.M.
Course: UNM Championship Golf Course
Course Par/Yardage: Par 72 / 7,556 yards
Host Web Site: http://www.golobos.com
Live Scoring: http://www.golfstatresults.com
Tournament Field (17): Colorado State, New Mexico, Arizona, BYU, Cal State Fullerton, Colorado, Denver, Louisiana Tech, UNLV, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Diego, San Diego State, Texas-Arlington, UTEP, Washington, Washington State

Next on the Tee: The Colorado State men's golf team is quickly back on the course for its second tournament in less than a week for the 2017 William H. Tucker Intercollegiate. The two-day, 54-hole tournament, hosted by the University of New Mexico, will be played at UNM's Championship Course (Par 72 - 7,556 yards) in Albuquerque, N.M. Groups will tee off an 7:45 a.m. shotgun start for 36 holes on Friday, Sept. 21, with a final round shotgun start on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 7:45 a.m. Live scoring will be available at GolfStatResults.com.

Recent History at the Tucker Intercollegiate: Colorado State finished as the team runner-up in last year's Tucker Intercollegiate to Mountain West-rival San Diego State. Then-senior Blake Cannon took home medalist honors, his second individual tournament victory in six days.

Handicapping the Field: There are 17 teams in the field for the Ram Masters Invitational. Joining the Rams will be host New Mexico, Arizona, BYU, Cal State Fullerton, Colorado, Denver, Louisiana Tech, UNLV, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Diego, San Diego State, Texas-Arlington, UTEP, Washington, Washington State. In the field, seven teams competed in the 2017 NCAA Regionals, with two other schools qualifying individuals for the postseason.

Lineup for the Tucker Intercollegiate: The Rams are in a standard play five, count four event this week. For CSU, the lineup will be:
1.        AJ Ott
2.       Colton Yates
3.       Max Oelfke
4.       Jake Staiano
5.       Parathakorn Suyasri

Last Time on the Tee: Colorado State men's golf completed a record run to capture its fourth consecutive home tournament victory, winning 2017 Ram Masters Invitational presented by Pedersen Toyota, Sept. 18-19.
        Entering the final day with a 14-shot advantage, the Rams were again the top team on the course, shooting their third round of par or better with a 5-under 275 to finish with a 54-hole tournament record 17-under 823. With increased wind for today's final round, including gusts up to 25 miles per hour, CSU never led by fewer than 12 shots on the day, stretching the advantage to more than 20 strokes before winning by 19 shots over runner-up UMKC at 2-over 842 in a 19-team field that featured eight programs represented by either teams or individuals in the 2017 NCAA Regionals. (complete recap on page 4)

Record Setting Event at Ram Masters: CSU had its name all over the Ram Masters Invitational record book during the 2017 event. As a team, the Rams set new records for lowest single-round score (-12, 268 in opening round), lowest 36-hole score (-12, 548) and lowest 54-hole score (-17, 823) in the tournament's history. The Rams' third round of 5-under 275 is also the fourth lowest in the tournament's annals. Individually, AJ Ott's 4-under 206 is tied for the sixth-lowest 54-hole score, while Jake Staiano's 3-under 207 is tied for ninth. Staiano's 4-under 66 in the first round is tied for the 10th lowest single-round score.

Ott Racks Up First Career Top-5 Finish: Sophomore AJ Ott posted his first collegiate top-5 and second top-10 finish of the year with a fourth at the Ram Masters Invitational, Sept. 18-19.The Fort Collins native previously tied for 10th at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational for his first collegiate career top 10.

Putting Together Top-10s This Season: In the early going, CSU is playing extremely solid golf, showing in the rankings. Sophomore AJ Ott has a pair of top-10 placings, as does senior Colton Yates, as the latter has a tie for seventh and tie for sixth in his first two tournaments. Additionally, senior Max Oelfke finished second at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational while junior Jake Staiano and freshman Parathakorn Suyasri finished fifth and tied for eighth, respectively, at the Ram Masters Invitational. That gives the Rams three top-five and seven top-10 finishes so far this year.

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.

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 72.12 in 57 competitive rounds ranks second all-time. Senior Colton Yates is now 12th at 72.93 after the second event of the year.

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 so far this season, Newton's teams moved to a 59.1 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 $1,759,706 in earnings and finished 56th in the FedEx Cup. He has made the cut in 18 of 25 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. For his career, he has now surpassed the $15.63 million in winnings. Laird is scheduled to be inducted into the CSU Athletic Hall of Fame later this fall.

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