Rams travel to Washington for 2019 NCAA Pullman Regional May 13-15

Tournament: NCAA Pullman Regional
Dates: May 13-15
Host: NCAA / Washington State University
Location: Pullman, Wash.
Course: Palouse Ridge Golf Club
Course Par/Yardage: Par 70 / 7,246 yds
Host Web Site: https://wsucougars.com
Live Scoring: http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=18127
Tournament Field (14): Colorado State, BYU, Florida, Georgia Tech, Iona, Kent State, Michigan State, Northern Colorado, Oklahoma, Purdue, South Carolina, Texas A&M, UCLA, Wright State

Next on the Tee: Colorado State is headed to the postseason for the second straight year when it plays in the 2019 NCAA Pullman Regional, May 13-15. The three-day, 54-hole tournament, hosted by Washington State, will be played at the Palouse Ridge Golf Club (Par 70 - 7,246 yards) in Pullman, Wash., with the top five teams getting the bids to the NCAA Championship. This is the 19th regional appearance for the program and the 13th time the Rams will play on the West Coast.

Handicapping the Field: CSU heads to Pullman as a part of a 14-team field, including five conference champions. In the field, by seed, are
1.    Oklahoma
2.    Georgia Tech [Atlantic Coast Conference]
3.    South Carolina
4.    Texas A&M
5.    UCLA
6.    BYU
7.    Colorado State
8.    Florida
9.    Michigan State
10.   Purdue
11.   Kent State [Mid-American Conference]
12.   Northern Colorado [Big Sky Conference]
13.   Wright State [Horizon League]
14.   Iona [Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference]
Italics indicates team in 2018 Regionals, Bold Italics indicates team advanced to National Championship event.

       CSU will play the first round with Florida and Michigan State, as the Rams, Gators and Spartans will go off No. 1 starting at 8:25 a.m. PT/9:25 a.m. MT.

Lineup for the NCAA Regional: The Rams are in the traditional play-five, count-four event this week at the NCAA Regional with subs allowed per round. For CSU, the lineup will be:
1.       Oscar Teiffel
2.      Parathakorn Suyasri
3.      Jake Staiano
4.      Davis Bryant
5.      AJ Ott
Sub. Jack Ainscough

Teiffel Earns Postseason Honors: Colorado State freshman Oscar Teiffel has been named Mountain West men's golf Co-Freshman of the Year and All-Mountain West. The honors were voted on by the 11 head coaches of the Mountain West.
       Teiffel is the second Ram ever to earn the Freshman of the Year award, joining Zahkai Brown in 2008-09. This also marks the third consecutive season that head coach Christian Newton has had at least one CSU golfer earn All-Mountain West recognition.
       A native of Gothenburg, Sweden, Teiffel leads the Rams in scoring average at 71.94 strokes per round (+0.47 versus par) in 32 rounds and 11 tournaments, with 15 rounds of par or better with six rounds in the 60s. He has one individual win, four top 10s and six top-20 finishes, as he was medalist at the Paintbrush Intercollegiate with a 10-under 206 in cold and windy conditions in his first collegiate tournament in the lineup. He shot three under-par rounds in the Paintbrush, going 2-under 70 in the first round before 3-under 69 and 5-under 67 in the second and third rounds, respectively.. Most recently , he placed 10th at the PING Cougar Classic, shooting a 4-under 212 with all three rounds under-par and followed that up with a tie for 12th at the Mountain West Championship at 7-under 209, helping CSU to a runner-up finish. In his first league championship, he shot rounds of 70, 69 and 70.

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 seven top-five placings on the season. They are currently ranked No. 41 according to Golfstat and No. 42 by Golfweek. Utilizing Golfstat, 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 82-27-1 head-to-head record with an 17-12-1 record against Pac-12 schools and 26-11 versus the Mountain West, which has five teams in the Regionals for the first time since 2012 (#34 UNLV, #41 CSU, #51 Nevada, #53 San Jose State and #63 New Mexico).
       Over the last two years, CSU has a 34-30-1 record against the Pac-12 and 5-0 versus Big Ten schools.

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 61.0 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 eight career CSU team tournament titles to Crabtree's five.
       As a team this year, the Rams are ranked #11 in the region in scoring versus par at +0.91 per round.

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, as of May 2, are:
Player                        Golfweek                 Golfstat
Davis Bryant               355                          211
Jake Staiano               247                          235
Parathakorn Suyasri    191                            314
Oscar Teiffel               276                          346
AJ Ott                        337                          395
Jack Ainscough         648                          705
*The top five Rams are ranked higher than all but two other collegiate golfers in the state of Colorado.

Freshman Ranking for CSU: The freshman combination of Oscar Teiffel and Davis Bryant are making an impact for CSU. The duo is ranked sixth nationally, according to Golfstat, on their contribution to the team this season.

Putting Together Top-20s This Season: CSU has some very good outings in the 2018-19 season, showing in the rankings. As a group, the Rams have one win, 11 top-five, 18 top-10 and 33 top-20 individual finishes in 11 team tournaments and four individual-only events.
       Freshman Oscar Teiffel has one tournament title, four top 10s and seven top-20 placings, while fellow freshman Davis Bryant has two top 10s and six top-20 finishes in events. Junior AJ Ott has four top-10 results, sophomore Parathakorn Suyasri with two top 10s and five top-20s, including two runner-up finishes and senior Jake Staiano with two top-10 and four top-20s.
       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.

Last Time Out: Colorado State again used four under-par rounds but couldn't hold off a hard-charging New Mexico squad and finished as runner-up at the 2019 Mountain West Men's Golf Championship Sunday. The three-day, 54-hole tournament, hosted by the Mountain West, was played at OMNI Tucson National Resort's Catalina Course (Par 72 - 7,194 yards) in Tucson, Ariz.
       Playing in the final pairings, CSU again had all five Rams shooting par or better, with the four counters all combining for an 8-under 280 and tied the former tournament 54-hole record of 30-under 834. However, it wasn't enough as UNM put together a 14-under 274 on the last day to finish at 33-under 831, three shots ahead of the Rams. Fresno State moved up two spots to finish third at 26-under 838, with defending champion UNLV in fourth at 25-under 839. San Diego State rounded out the top five teams at 24-under 840, as eight teams finished under par in the event.
(complete results and recap on page8)

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 third time in the last five years that a Newton-led squad has won two tournaments in a season.

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 has two players that have etched his name on the CSU record book (since 1993-94) with their performances so far in their careers.
Senior Jake Staiano continues to be among the best to have played at CSU so far in his career. His scoring average of 72.31 in 118 competitive rounds ranks fourth all-time in average and tied for sixth versus par at +0.82.
Sophomore Parathakorn Suyasri is now ninth at 72.49 strokes per round and ninth at +1.03 versus par in 61 rounds played.
Staiano has an all-time win percentage of 70.3 percent, currently sixth in CSU annals.
Staiano also ranks on the eagles made chart with 16, currently fourth, and the top 15 in career birdies, now ninth with 394.
Staiano is one of six players in CSU history to have 50 percent or more of his collegiate rounds played at par or better (currently 60 of 118 - 50.8 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.

On the World Stage: Six Rams on the current roster are ranked among the top 1050 players in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings, as of May 2. The rankings are based on their average performance in selected counting events over the past two calendar years.
Player                                      WAGR
AJ Ott                                       340
Jake Staiano                             548
Oscar Teiffel                             554
Parathakorn Suyasri                   571
Davis Bryant                              765
Jack Ainscough                        1006
       Additionally, Suyasri competed in the Asia-Pacific Amateur championship in Singapore, which ended Oct. 7, 2018. Suyasri tied for 40th, including a 2-under 68 in the third round.

Memorial Bag Established: CSU is honoring 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 is being 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. Five different Rams have carried the bag during the season so far.

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*                     t-52nd
Lamkin San Diego Classic                     Davis Bryant                      t-45th
National Invitational Tournament           Parathakorn Suyasri           t-13th
Western Intercollegiate/PING Cougar    Parathakorn Suyasri           t-26th/2nd
Mountain West Championship              Parathakorn Suyasri           22nd
NCAA Regional                                    AJ Ott

Ram on Tour: Former Colorado State standout Martin Laird, a PGA tour veteran, had a solid 2018 season on the tour, with $1,017,580 in earnings and finishing 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 nine of 15 official cuts and is 125th in the FedExCup. For his career, he has surpassed $17.09 million in official PGA Tour winnings and made the cut in almost two-thirds of his 275 PGA Tour starts in his 12 years on the top golf tour. Laird was inducted into the CSU Athletic Hall of Fame in the fall of 2017.

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