CSU Heads to California For Nationally-Renowned Western Intercollegiate, April 7-8

Tournament: Western Intercollegiate
Date: April 7-8, 2018
Host: San Jose State University
Location: Santa Cruz, Calif.
Course: Pasatiempo Golf Club
Course Par/Yardage: Par 70 / 6,615 yards
Host Web Site: http://www.westernintercollegiate.net/
Live Scoring: http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=14253
Tournament Field (16): Colorado State, San Jose State, Arizona, California, Hawai'i, Oregon, Pepperdine, San Diego State, Stanford, Texas, UC Irvine, North Carolina, Southern Cal, UTEP, Washington

Next on the Tee: The Colorado State men's golf team will continue its 2017-18 season at the 72nd annual Western Intercollegiate Saturday-Sunday, April 7-8, at the Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif. Play starts at 8:30 a.m. each day with 36 holes on April 7 and 18 more on April 8.
   The Western Intercollegiate is rich in history with the former champions list including such notable players as Johnny Miller, Peter Jacobsen, Mark O' Meara, Duffy Waldorf, Bobby Clampett, and golf legend Ken Venturi.

Handicapping the Field: There are 16 teams in the field for the nationally-renowned Western Intercollegiate, with all but one ranked in the top 131 nationally according to Golfweek. Along with the Rams, currently ranked No. 40, are host San Jose State (#108), California (#5), Stanford (#13), Southern Cal (#15), Texas (#18), North Carolina (#22), Pepperdine (#27), Arizona (#34), Oregon (#39), San Diego State (#54), Washington (#74), UTEP (#79), UC Irvine (#131) and Hawai'i (#247).

Lineup for the Western Intercollegiate: The Rams are in the unique play six, count five event this week at the 72nd Western Intercollegiate. For CSU, the lineup will be:
1.   AJ Ott
2.   Jake Staiano
3.   Max Oelfke
4.   Colton Yates
5.   Jack Ainscough
6.   Parathakorn Suyasri

CSU History at the Western Intercollegiate: CSU has been in the event twice in the past 15 years.
   March 28-29, 2005 - The Rams finished in a tie for 12th place with a two-round score of 601 for the rain-shortened event. Junior Kevin McAlpine was the top Colorado State golfer with an eight-over 148 and a tie for 24th place. Senior John Hayes carded a two-round 150 and finished in a tie for 34th.
   March 22-23, 2004 - The Colorado State men's golf team finished play in 10th at the 58th annual Western Intercollegiate. The squad was led by senior Martin Laird who finished tied for fourth place, just four shots off the lead. Laird shot a 1-under 69 in each of the final two rounds to finish with an even-par 210 total. He led all golfers at the tournament in par-four scoring with a 3.9 average.
Individual National Rankings: Colorado State's success on the course is due to the entire lineup, as all five golfers are ranked significantly in the key NCAA Division I metrics. The Rams current rankings are:
Player   Golfweek   Golfstat
AJ Ott   171   187
Max Oelfke   232   231
Jack Ainscough   251   N/A
Colton Yates   317   340
Jake Staiano   327   317
Parathakorn Suyarsi   347   348

On the World Stage: All five Rams that played in the lineup in the fall are ranked among the top 3000 players in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings. The rankings are based on their average performance in selected counting events over the past two calendar years.
Player   WAGR
Jake Staiano   337
Max Oelfke   404
Parathakorn Suyasri   592
Colton Yates   761
AJ Ott   1236*
Jack Ainscough   1761
(*just entered in last month of fall season)

On the CSU Career Chart: The current roster is etching their names on the CSU record book (since 1993-94).

Junior Jake Staiano continues to be among the best to have played at CSU so far in his career. His scoring average of 72.26 in 69 competitive rounds ranks fifth all-time.
Staiano has an all-time win percentage of 72.2 percent, currently sixth in CSU annals and just behind PGA Tour member and former Ram Martin Laird in fourth at 73.2 percent and Nigel Spence in fifth at 72.8 percent. Senior Max Oelfke ranks 14th in the category at 61.7 percent.
Oelfke has shown his ability to post quite a few under-par holes in his career. He is tied for first in career eagles with 21 in 111 rounds played. He also has 369 career birdies (an average of better than three per round), which is tied for 10th.
Staiano also ranks on the eagles made chart with 10, tied for ninth.

Ott Racks Up First Career Top-5 Finish, Starting Strong: 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. In his seven tournaments, he finishes include a tie for 10th, a fourth, tie for 16th and two ties for 20th, surpassing junior Jake Staiano with three top-20s this season. Ott leads the team with a 71.62 strokes per round average (+0.19) and has counted his score towards the team total 92.9 percent of the season (19.5 of 21 rounds).

Putting Together Top-10s This Season: In the early going, CSU is playing extremely solid golf, showing in the rankings. Sophomore AJ Ott has three top-16 placings, while senior Colton Yates and Max Oelfke each have two top-10 finishes so far on the year. Junior Jake Staiano and freshman Parathakorn Suyasri finished fifth and tied for eighth, respectively, at the Ram Masters Invitational, with Staiano having recorded three top-20s in four events. Suyasri also finished in a tie for eighth at Saint Mary's, Yates tying for 14th and Ott tying for 20th. Currently, the Rams have three top-five, 10 top-10 and 20 top-20 individual finishes so far this year.

Making A Mark Nationally: The Rams are making their presence known on the national scene this year. With four top-five finishes in the fall, CSU is among teams receiving votes this week in the Golf Coaches Association of America Poll. They are also ranked No. 40 in the nation according to the Golfweek ratings & No. 42 according to Golfstat's ratings.

Fall Accomplishments: The Rams had one of their most successful falls, with several notables:

In the fall schedule, CSU finished in the top five in all four fall events with three third top-threes and one tournament title (Ram Masters Invitational).
In the four tournaments of the fall, CSU defeated 22 teams that were represented either with teams or individuals in the NCAA Regionals last year. Of those, 14 were victories over regional teams with three over squads that advanced to the NCAA Championship.
CSU had six of their 12 team rounds in the fall that all four counting rounds come in at par or better.
The Rams shot 13-under 271 in the final round of the Saint Mary's Invitational, tying the best under-par round of the season (-13), is the second lowest 18-hole score of the year for the squad and ties for the ninth-lowest single round total in school history.
At Saint Mary's, Colorado State defeated 11 teams ranked in the top 103 (at the time of the event) according to Golfweek's rating system, which had the Rams ranked #18 entering the event. The only teams to finish ahead of the Rams were #30 Southern Cal and #14 Stanford.
In winning the Ram Masters Invitational, CSU shot a 12-under 268 in the opening round. That score is tied for the sixth lowest 18-hole total in program history.
Colorado State currently has a head-to-head mark of 74-25 (.747) on the season, far above the minimum .500 record for consideration for a NCAA Regional bid.

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 59.3 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 Newton has six career CSU team tournament titles to Crabtree's five.

Last Time on the Tee: The Colorado State men's golf team moved up one spot in the final round to place seventh at the 2018 Oregon Duck Invitational, March 26-27. The two-day, 54-hole tournament, hosted by the University of Oregon, was played at Eugene Country Club (Par 71 – 7,020 yards) in Eugene, Ore.

Entering the final day in eight, the Rams posted their best score of the tournament, a 6-over 290 to finish at 27-over 879 in seventh. Host Oregon and Liberty tied for the team title at 13-over 865, with Santa Clara and Oregon State tying for third at 17-over 869. Saint Mary's rounded out the top five teams at 23-over 875 in a field with all 16 teams ranked in the top 155 in the nation according to Golfweek.

"It was nice to see the guys fight today," head coach Christian Newton. "We eliminated many of the mistakes from the first day. They played more up to their potential. I think we had the fifth lowest round of the day, which is better."

CSU had three top-25 individual finishers, led by freshman Jack Ainscough and senior Max Oelfke in a tie for 14th at 4-over 217. In his first team event, Ainscough shot the low score for CSU on the final day, a 1-under 70. Sophomore AJ Ott also finished in the top 25, tying for 24th at 8-over 221. Freshman Parathakorn Suyasri was next in a tie for 43rd at 12-over 225, while junior Jake Staiano tied for 66th at 17-over 230. Oregon's Norman Xiong took home medalist honors at 11-under 202, one shot better than Riley Elmes of Loyola Marymount.
(complete recap on page 6)

Staiano Named Top Colorado Amateur: Colorado State junior Jake Staiano has been named the Les Fowler Player of the Year by the Colorado Golf Association, the organization announced Nov. 20.
   "Being named player of the year definitely means a lot," Staiano said in a recent email. "Just to be in the category with some of the best players to come out of Colorado shows a lot about how far I have come in the past few years with my game. I definitely went through some hard times, but to get this award really shows my maturity through it all and how I was able to get through those times."
   Covering the 2017 calendar year, Staiano has been a standout for the Colorado State golf team, earning All-Mountain West honors at the end of the 2016-17 season and advancing to the NCAA Austin Regional as an individual. This fall, Staiano had led the Rams to a top-25 national ranking in all major national polls and ratings with the squad having top-five finishes in all four fall tournaments, including a victory in the Ram Masters Invitational. He is averaging 71.33 strokes per round with nine of 12 rounds at par or better and the top finish a fifth at the Ram Master Invitational.
   Playing as an individual amateur, Staiano was in the hunt for the title this year in the biggest tournament held annually in the state, the CoBank Colorado Open. He shared the lead after three holes of the final round, which is no small feat considering only two players (Gary Longfellow and Brian Guetz) have won the Colorado Open as amateurs. He ended up finishing eighth at 15-under-par for 72 holes, taking low-amateur honors by seven strokes. It was the best overall showing by an amateur at the Colorado Open since Cameron Harrell placed fifth in 2014.
   Elsewhere, Staiano qualified for the U.S. Amateur for the second time and advanced to Sectionals at U.S. Open qualifying. In the biggest CGA championships, Staiano placed second at the CGA Amateur and fell in the semifinals of the CGA Match Play to eventual champion Chris Korte.

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.

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 Luxembourg Amateur titles in his summer play. Additionally, Suyasri qualified for and made the cut at the Asian Tour's Thailand Open.

Ram on Tour: Former Colorado State standout Martin Laird, a PGA tour veteran, has had a solid 2018 season so far on the tour, currently with $517,380 in earnings and currently 100th in the FedEx Cup. He has made the cut in five of nine events played with two top 10s and three top 25s, with the best finish a tie for ninth at back-to-back tournaments in the Waste Management Phoenix Open at 13-under (Feb. 4) and Genesis Open at 7-under (Feb. 18). 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 $16.15 million in winnings and made the cut in more than two-thirds of his PGA Tour starts in his 10-plus years on the top golf tour. Laird was inducted into the CSU Athletic Hall of Fame this past fall.

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