Rams open spring slate with Denver dual match, Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate

Tournament: Denver Dual Match, February 20, 2018
Host: Colorado State Univ. & Denver Univ.
Location: Classic Club (Par 72 - 7,322 yds) - Palm Desert, Calif.
Tournament Field (2): Colorado State, Denver

Tournament: Wyoming Desert Intercoll., February 22-24, 2018
Host: Wyoming University
Location: Classic Club (Par 72 - 7,322 yds) - Palm Desert, Calif.
Host Web Site: http://www.gowyo.com
Live Scoring: http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=15813
Tournament Field (21): Colorado State, Wyoming, Boise State, Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, Colorado, Denver, Kansas, Little Rock, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Seattle, South Dakota State, Southern Illinois, Southern Utah, TCU, Texas Tech, UC Riverside, UT Arlington, San Diego, Western Carolina

Next on the Tee: The Colorado State men's golf team returns to the course Wed., Feb. 20 for a dual match with Denver University prior to playing in the Wyoming Desert Classic, Fri.-Sun., Feb. 22-24. Both events will be played at Classic Club in Palm Desert, Calif.
       Seven players will make the trip to California with the lineup to be determined through final qualifying. Jack Ainscough, Davis Bryant, AJ Ott, Cullen Plousha, Jake Staiano, Parathakorn Suyasri and Oscar Teiffel will all play for the five team spots, with the other two competing as individuals in the Desert Classic.

Last Time Out: In an event that featured 15 teams ranked in the top 100 according to Golfweek, the Colorado State men's golf team shot one of the best final rounds and finished fifth at the 2018 Saint Mary's Invitational, Nov. 5-7. The three-day, 54-hole tournament, hosted by Saint Mary's College of California, was played at the famed Poppy Hills Golf Club (Par 71 – 6,945 yards) in Pebble Beach, Calif.
       Starting on the back nine, CSU made the turn in a combined 5-under among the eventual counters and came home in even-par to post a 5-under 279 and finish at 1-over 853. No. 10 Southern Cal shot a blistering 19-under 265 in the final round to rally for the team title at 21-under 831. BYU slipped to second eight shots back at 13-under 839 followed by Pepperdine in third at 4-under 848. Arizona finished three shots ahead of the Rams in fourth at 2-under 850.
       Freshman Oscar Teiffel posted his fourth top-20 finish of the year and second in the lineup, tying for 12th at 2-under 211 following a 1-under 70 in the final round. Freshman Davis Bryant also posted a top-20, tying for 15th at 1-under 212 as he recorded a team tournament-best 3-under 68 in today's action. Junior AJ Ott tied for 30th at 3-ovver 16, with sophomore Jack Ainscough shooting a 1-under 70 in the last 18 to tie for 39th at 5-over 218. Senior Jake Staiano rounded out the scoring in a tie for 56th at 10-over 223.
(complete results and recap on page 6)

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.
       This year, the Rams have two victories and three top-five placings in the fall. Their most recent finish at Saint Mary's moved CSU up to No. 47 according to Golfstat and No. 53 nationally by Golfweek. Utilizing Golfstat which is the way teams are determined for NCAA Regional at-large berths, CSU is the top-ranked Division I golf team in the state and second in the Mountain West behind UNLV.
       Within the region, CSU holds a 33-10 head-to-head record with an 8-2 record against Pac-12 schools and 6-3 versus the Mountain West.
       Over the last year-and-a-half, CSU has a 22-21 record against the Pac-12 and 5-0 versus Big Ten schools.

National TV Coverage: The Rams are now gonig to be part of national coverage of college golf during the regular season. Recently, the Golf Channel announced it would show three live hours daily of the Western Intercollegiate, as the tournament shifted from two days to a three-day format on April 15-17. CSU returns to the nationally-renowned event that features 10 of the 13 teams ranked in the top 70 currently. Last year, CSU finished eighth in the 15-team field that had 11 teams advance to NCAA Regionals along with two other schools sending individuals.

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

Individual National Rankings: Colorado State's success on the course is due to the entire lineup, as several golfers are ranked significantly in the key NCAA Division I metrics. The Rams' rankings currently are:
Player                       Golfweek                Golfstat
Oscar Teiffel              111                            144
Davis Bryant              189                          146
Jake Staiano             361                          278
AJ Ott                        358                          404
Parathakorn Suyasri 627                         681
Cullen Plousha          749                         749
Jack Ainscough         850                         833

Putting Together Top-20s This Season: CSU has some very good outings in the early part of the 2018-19 season, showing in the rankings. As a group, the Rams have one win, four top-five, eight top-10 and 14 top-20 individual finishes in five team tournaments and two individual-only events.
       Freshman Oscar Teiffel has one tournament title, 3 top 10s and 4 top-15 placings, while fellow freshman Davis Bryant has one top 10 and four top-20 finishes in the first five events. Junior AJ Ott has two top-10 results, with senior Jake Staiano and sophomore Parathakorn Suyasri each with one top 10, the latter a runner-up finish. Redshirt-freshman Andrew Lafferty and true freshman Akedanai Ponghathaikul each had record a top-20 result this fall.
       In comparison for 2017-18, the Rams had six top-five, 14 top-10 and 27 top-20 individual finishes. Current junior AJ Ott, graduated senior Max Oelfke and current senior Jake Staiano each had four top-16 placings.

Other Fall Highlights: Here's a quick list of highlights from this fall's action for the Rams:
The Rams defended their team title at the Ram Masters Invitational, winning the event for the fifth consecutive year
Colorado State had four players in the top nine individuals at the Ram Masters Invitational
CSU won the Paintbrush Invitational, its second win of the season.
Oscar Teiffel became the first Ram ever to earn medalist honors in his first tournament in the lineup when he won the Paintbrush Invitational
Teiffel's individual tournament win at the Paintbrush Invitational was the 41st for a CSU player since 1996-97, according to Golfstat
Head Coach Christian Newton has had his Rams win at least one tournament title the last five years, tying current Kansas coach and former Ram leader Jamie Bermel for the most consecutive seasons with a team win.
The Paintbrush Invitational win was the second team win of the season, marking the fourth time in the last five years that a Newton-led squad has won two tournaments in a season
The Rams finished the fall with a 52-22 (.703) head-to-head record against a very challenging schedule, far above the minimum .500 record for consideration for the NCAA Regional consideration. Last year, CSU finished at 116-51 (.695).

Ott Named CGA Player of the Year: Colorado State men's golf continues to make its impact on the state's golf scene, as junior AJ Ott has been named the Colorado Golf Association Les Fowler Player of the Year as the state's top amateur golfer, the organization announced. He is the second straight CSU golfer to earn the award as current Ram senior Jake Staiano took home the award last season.
       Ott had a solid amateur season, winning the 118th CGA Match Play event and qualifying for his second straight U.S. Amateur. At the match play event, Ott shot a 6-under 65 to finish second in the qualifying round and then won six straight matches, including one of the most lopsided finishes in the 36-hole final, defeating Ross Macdonald 9 and 8 to earn the victory. In U.S. Amateur qualifying at Fort Collins Country Club, Ott fired rounds of 68-65 to finish second and earn a berth in the national championship.
       Elsewhere this year, Ott placed 19th in the CoBank Colorado Open -- third among amateurs -- and 10th in the CGA Amateur. In college events in 2018, He finished fifth in the Mountain West Conference Championship and ninth in both the Ram Masters Invitational and the Paintbrush Invitational, earning All-Mountain West honors and leading CSU to its first NCAA Regional appearance since 2012.
       The CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year honor is the second statewide POY award for Ott, who was the 2016 Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado's Boys Player of the Year.

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 72.40 in 99 competitive rounds ranks fifth all-time in average and seventh versus par at +0.95.
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 50 of 99 - 50.5 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 70.4 percent, currently seventh 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 13, tying for fifth and just cracked the top 15 in career birdies, now at 14th with 328.

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 Feb. 13. The rankings are based on their average performance in selected counting events over the past two calendar years.
Player                                     WAGR
AJ Ott                                      279
Jake Staiano                            477
Parathakorn Suyasri                623
Davis Bryant                             746
Jack Ainscough                        1082
Akedanai Ponghathaikul          1375
Oscar Teiffel                             1842
       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.

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.
       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 the first week's Capital Carpet Collegiate at Georgia Tech, Sept. 7-9. Four different Rams have carried the bag during the season so far, with Staiano having had it twice and freshman Oscar Teiffel becoming the first player to carry it in back-to-back events when he is on the bag for the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate to start the spring schedule.
       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                    t-32nd
Saint Mary's Invitational                      Oscar Teiffel                     t-12th
Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate          Oscar Teiffel*

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.
       He posted his first top-10 of the 2019 season with a tie for seventh at the Sanderson Farms Championship at the end of October and then tied for 14th at the ISPS Handa Melbourne World Cup of Golf. This season he has made six of eight official cuts. For his career, he has now surpassed $16.92 million in official PGA Tour winnings and made the cut in more than two-thirds of his 269 PGA Tour starts in his 11-plus years on the top golf tour. Laird was inducted into the CSU Athletic Hall of Fame last fall.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results