Men's Golf Travels Down I-25 For Paintbrush Invitational

Tournament: Paintbrush Invitational
Date: October 8-9, 2018
Host: Denver University
Location: Parker, Colo.
Course: Colorado Golf Club
Course Par/Yardage: Par 72 / 7,465 yds (Day 1), 7,513 yds (Day 2)
Host Web Site: http://www.denverpioneers.com
Live Scoring: http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=16270
Tournament Field (12): Colorado State, Denver, Colorado, George Washington, Loyola Marymount, Northern Colorado, Oregon, Pacific, South Dakota, UTEP, Washington State, Wyoming

Next on the Tee: The Colorado State men's golf team will head down I-25 for the 2018 Paintbrush Invitational, Oct. 8-9. The two-day, 54-hole tournament, hosted by Denver University, is being played at Colorado Golf Club.
   Last year's event was snowed out and this year's has a forecast potential of rain to go with very cold weather.

Handicapping the Field: There are 12 teams in the field for the Paintbrush Invitational. In the field along with the Rams are host Denver, Colorado, George Washington, Loyola Marymount, Northern Colorado, Oregon, Pacific, South Dakota, UTEP, Washington State and Wyoming.
   In this week's field, seven teams were represented in postseason competition last year, with four (CSU, Oregon, Colorado and Nothern Colorado) sending teams and three (Denver, Loyola Marymount and UTEP) with individuals.
   .
Lineup for the Paintbrush Invitational: The Rams are in the play-five, count-four event this week at the Paintbrush Invitational. For CSU, the lineup will feature:
1.   Jake Staiano
2.   Davis Bryant
3.   AJ Ott
4.   Oscar Teiffel
5.   Cullen Plousha
Ind.   Jack Ainscough, North Ponghathaikul,
   Andrew Lafferty

On the World Stage: Five Rams on the current roster are ranked among the top 1100 players in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings, as of Oct. 3. The rankings are based on their average performance in selected counting events over the past two calendar years.
Player   WAGR
AJ Ott   299
Jake Staiano   446
Parathakorn Suyasri   740
Davis Bryant    906
Jack Ainscough   1090
Akedanai Ponghathaikul   1417
Oscar Teiffel   2473

Additionally, Suyasri competed in the Asia-Pacific Amateur championship in Singapore, which ended Oct. 7. Suyasri tied for 40th, including a 2-under 68 in the third round.

Last Time Out: The Colorado State men's golf team improved three spots in the final round and finished 10th at the 2018 William H. Tucker Intercollegiate, Sept. 28-29. The two-day, 54-hole tournament, hosted by the University of New Mexico, was played at the UNM Championship Course (Par 72 – 7,555 yards) in Albuquerque, N.M.
   Entering the day in a tie for 13th, CSU put together its best round of the tournament at 6-over 294 to finish at 31-over 895. BYU took the team title at 16-under 848, two shots better than UNLV at 14-under 850. Pepperdine was third at 13-under 851, with Arkansas in fourth at 4-under 860. Host New Mexico rounded out the top five teams at 1-under 863.
   Senior Jake Staiano finished as the top Ram in a tie for 25th at 2-over 218 following a 2-under 70 in the final round, the best 18-hole score in the event for CSU. Freshman Davis Bryant was next at 7-over 223 in a tie for 46th. Junior AJ Ott tied for 63rd at 12-over 228, while sophomore Parathakorn Suyasri shot a 17-over 233, tying for 80th. Sophomore Jack Ainscough was the final team member for CSU in a tie for 91st at 21-over 237.
(complete results and recap on page 5)

Memorial Bag Established: CSU will honor former golfer and late U.S. Army veteran James "Jerry" Jackson with a memorial golf bag, head coach Christian Newton announced today.
   Jackson served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, eventually passing away from lasting effects from exposure to Agent Orange from his service. After his passing, a group established the Friends of Jackson Endowed Scholarship for a golf student-athlete pursuing a degree in the College of Agriculture, as he played golf for the Rams during his collegiate career.
   "It's very important to me that our players understand the sacrifices that were made by our veterans that affords us our day to day liberties," Newton said. "We are all so fortunate to reside in this country. That fact that we can honor a veteran, alum, and former player will make it that much more meaningful."
   The bag will be carried by the top CSU finisher from the previous tournament during the 2018-19 season. Senior Jake Staiano earned the honor after winning the qualifying event for this week's Capital Carpet Collegiate at Georgia Tech, Sept. 7-9.
   Donations can be made to enhance the endowment through the Ram Club by contacting Jay McMillin at 970.491.7346 or jay.mcmillin@colostate.edu.

Tournament   Player Carrying   Finish
Carpet Capital Collegiate   Jake Staiano   t-27th
Ram Masters Invitational   Davis Bryant   t-6th
William H. Tucker Intercollegiate   Parathakorn Suyasri   t-80th
Paintbrush Invitational   Jake Staiano

Individual National Rankings: Colorado State's success on the course is due to the entire lineup, as all five golfers in the NCAA Regional lineup were ranked significantly in the key NCAA Division I metrics. The Rams' rankings at the end of last season were:
Player   Golfweek   Golfstat
AJ Ott   174   188
Max Oelfke   181   194
Jake Staiano   262   296
Jack Ainscough   336   398
Parathakorn Suyasri   372   494

Newton MW Coach of the Year; Ott, Oelfke Honored: Coming off its second straight runner-up finish in the Mountain West and highest ranking in six years, the Colorado State men's golf program earned a trio of postseason awards as head coach Christian Newton was named MW Coach of the Year while sophomore AJ Ott and senior Max Oelfke were named to All-Mountain West today. The honors were determined in a vote by the league's coaches.
   In earning his first league honor, Newton led CSU to its current ranking of No. 39 according to Golfweek and No. 44 according to Golfstat, as well as back-to-back runner-up finishes in the Mountain West Championship, the top back-to-back combined placings in program history. The program is also assured of its first NCAA Regionals berth as a team since 2012 under his leadership. He is just the fourth CSU coach to ever earn the honor, as Jamie Bermel garnered the award three times, and first since 2009-10.
   Ott led the Rams in scoring average this season, averaging 71.63 strokes in 30 rounds played, an improvement of almost four strokes a round over his freshman year. He posted a pair of top-five and three top-10 finishes on the year, highlighted by a fourth in the Ram Masters Invitational and a tie for fifth at the recent Mountain West Championship. He had 14 rounds of par or better, with a career-best 6-under 66 in the first round of the MW event, and placed in the top 26 in eight of 10 tournaments played this season. Having started the year not ranked in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, Ott has jumped all the way to 290th in the world from his play this year. He also is currently sixth on CSU's single-season chart with his 71.63 scoring average.
    Oelfke was second for CSU in scoring right behind at 71.80 strokes per round, including a pair of top-five placings and three top 10s. The senior's top finishes were a second at the season-opening Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational and a tie for fifth with Ott and fellow Ram Jake Staiano at the Mountain West Championship. For the year, he had 17 rounds of par or better and finished in the top 21 in six events, including top-15s in the nationally-renowned Oregon Duck Invitational and Western Intercollegiate this spring. His average has him 11th on CSU's single-season scoring list entering the postseason.
   The duo are the 20th and 21st Rams to be honored since the league started in 1999-2000. Additionally, this gives CSU three players that have been recognized on the squad as junior Jake Staiano was a selection last season.

On the CSU Career Chart: The current roster etched their names on the CSU record book (since 1993-94) with their performances last season along with one of the graduates.

Senior Jake Staiano continues to be among the best to have played at CSU so far in his career. His scoring average of 72.24 in 93 competitive rounds ranks third all-time in average and sixth versus par at +0.80.
He is one of six players in CSU history to have 50 percent or more of his collegiate rounds played at par or better (currently 51 of 93 - 54.8 percent). Last season, he had 20 of his 33 rounds at par or better, (60.6 percent) just cracking the top 15 in school history.
Staiano has an all-time win percentage of 71.4 percent, currently sixth in CSU annals, while recent graduate Max Oelfke ranked 13th in the category at 63.5 percent.
Staiano also ranks on the eagles made chart with 12, ranking eighth.

Making A Mark Nationally: The Rams made their presence known on the national scene last year. With four top-five finishes in the fall and solid placings in the top spring events, CSU finished the season ranked No. 41 in the nation according to the Golfweek ratings & No. 45 according to Golfstat's ratings.

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 59.5 percent winning record in his six years according to Golfstat. Newton moved ahead of Mark Crabtree (1994-99) on the list at 57.0 percent and Newton has seven career CSU team tournament titles to Crabtree's five.

Ram on Tour: Former Colorado State standout Martin Laird, a PGA tour veteran, had a solid 2018 season on the tour, currently with $1,017,580 in earnings and currently 115th in the FedEx Cup. He made the cut in 14 of 22 events played with three top 10s and seven top 25s, with the best finish a tie for seventh at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with a 17-under 271. In 2018, his efforts during the regular season earned him a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs for the ninth time. For his career, he has now surpassed $16.65 million in winnings and made the cut in two-thirds of his 261 PGA Tour starts in his 11 years on the top golf tour. Laird was inducted into the CSU Athletic Hall of Fame last fall.

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