Rams Head to New Mexico for William H. Tucker Intercollegiate

Tournament: William H. Tucker Intercollegiate
Date: September 28-29, 2018
Host: University of New Mexico
Location: Albuquerque, N.M.
Course: UNM Championship Course
Course Par/Yardage: Par 72 / 7,555 yards
Host Web Site: http://www.golobos.com
Live Scoring: http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=16352
Tournament Field (17): Colorado State, New Mexico, Air Force, Arkansas, BYU, Coastal Carolina, Colorado, Denver, Loyola Marymount, Nebraska, New Mexico State, UT-Arlington, Pepperdine, San Diego State, UTEP, UNLV, Wyoming

Next on the Tee: The Colorado State men's golf team will head to New Mexico for the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate, Sept. 28-29. The two-day, 54-hole tournament, hosted by the University of New Mexico, is being played at UNM Championship Course.
   The Rams finished fifth in last year's event.

Handicapping the Field: There are 17 teams in the field for the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate. In the field along with the No. 28 Rams are host New Mexico, Air Force, Arkansas, BYU, Coastal Carolina, Colorado, Denver, Loyola Marymount, Nebraska, New Mexico State, UT-Arlington, Pepperdine, San Diego State, UTEP, UNLV and Wyoming.
   Last year, eight schools in this year's field competed in the NCAA Regionals, with three of them advancing to the NCAA Championship. Additionally, three other schools were represented by individuals at Regionals, making 11 of the 17 teams with a level of postseason participation in 2018.

Lineup for the Tucker Intercollegiate: The Rams are in the play-five, count-four event this week at the Tucker Intercollegiate. For CSU, the lineup will feature:
1.   Davis Bryant
2.   Jake Staiano
3.   Parathakorn Suyasri
4.   AJ Ott
5.   Jack Ainscough

On the World Stage: Five Rams on the current roster are ranked among the top 1050 players in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings, as of Sept. 26. The rankings are based on their average performance in selected counting events over the past two calendar years.
Player   WAGR
AJ Ott   248
Jake Staiano   443
Parathakorn Suyasri   683
Davis Bryant    876
Jack Ainscough   1036
Akedanai Ponghathaikul   1408
Oscar Teiffel   2737

Last Time Out: Colorado State men's golf extended its lead late in the final round to capture the 2018 Ram Masters Invitational presented by Pedersen Toyota, Sept. 17-18. The two-day, 54-hole event, hosted by the Rams, was played at Fort Collins Country Club (Par 70 – 7,218 yards) in Fort Collins, Colo.
    Starting the final round with an 11-shot advantage, the No. 28 Rams maintained at least an eight-shot lead throughout the last 18 holes and eventually finished with a 4-under 836, 14 shots clear of runner-up Illinois State, who opened its season with a victory at Wisconsin's tournament. The Redbirds finished at 10-over 850, four shots better than South Dakota in third at 14-over 854. In-state rivals rounded out the top five teams, as Denver moved up to fourth at 15-over 855 and Northern Colorado placed fifth at 19-over 859.
    CSU had four players finish in the top 10. Sophomore Parathakorn Suyasri recorded his top collegiate finish as the tournament's runner-up, shooting a 4-under 206. Senior Jake Staiano was three shots back at 1-over 209, one shot ahead of freshman Davis Bryant in a tie for sixth at even-par 210 as only eight players finished at par or better. Junior AJ Ott was next for CSU at 1-over 211, tied for ninth, while sophomore Cullen Plousha completed the team scoring at 6-over 16, tied for 31st. Wyoming's Dan Starzinski took home medalist honors with a tournament-record 11-under 199 after a final round 4-under 66.
    Three other Rams posted 54-hole totals as individuals in the tournament. Sophomore Jack Ainscough tied for 22nd at 4-over 214, with redshirt freshman Andrew Lafferty next in a tie for 47th at 10-over 220. Freshman North Ponghathaikul rounded out the finishers at 13-over 223, tied for 62nd.

Note: The 266 in the second round of the tournament is the fourth-lowest 18-hole total in school history.
(complete results and recap on page 5)

Last Year at the Tucker Intercollegiate: Colorado State men's golf defeated several rivals and finished fifth at the 2017 William H. Tucker Intercollegiate, Sept. 22-23. The two-day, 54-hole tournament, hosted by the University of New Mexico, was played at UNM's Championship Course (Par 72 – 7,556 yards) in Albuquerque, N.M.
    Wrapping in their second tournament in just six days, the Rams were able to put together a 4-over 292 in the final 18 holes and placed fifth at 17-over 881. CSU earned wins over several key opponents, including in-state rival Colorado and Mountain West foes New Mexico, on its home course, San Diego State and Nevada. BYU moved up to take the team championship at 9-over 873, four shots better than runner-up Washington at 13-over 877. Arizona was fourth at 14-over 878 with UNLV fourth at 15-over 879, just two shots ahead of the Rams.
    Senior Max Oelfke was the top finisher for the Rams, posting his second top-10 finish of the year by moving up five spots and placing ninth at 1-over 217. Oelfke recorded back-to-back 1-under 71s in the second and third round. Junior Jake Staiano moved up seven places to tie for 11th at 3-over 219, his third straight top 15 to start the year. Sophomore AJ Ott also posted his third consecutive top-20 and gave CSU three players in the top 20 with a tie for 16th, one shot back of Staiano at 4-over 220. Freshman Parathakorn Suyasri tied for 40th at 9-over 225, with senior Colton Yates tying for 72nd at 15-over 231. Arizona's George Cunningham won medalist honors at 8-under 208, three shots ahead of Peter Kuest of BYU at 5-under 211.

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

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 72.22 in 90 competitive rounds ranks third all-time in average and sixth versus par at +0.79.
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 48 of 90 - 53.3 percent). Last season, he has 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 70.7 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 11, tied for 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 six 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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