CSU Opens Team Slate At Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate

Tournament: Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate Presented by Callaway Golf
Dates: February 19-21, 2021
Host: University of Wyoming
Location: Palm Desert, Calif.
Course: Classic Club
Course Par/Yardage: Par 72 / 7,322 yds
Host Web Site: https://gowyo.com
Live Scoring: http://csura.ms/2Nyke6s
Tournament Field (21): Colorado State, Wyoming, Air Force, Boise State, CSU Northridge, Chartlotte, Colorado, Florida Atlantic, Fresno State, Georgia Tech, Gonzaga, Kansas, Northern Colorado, Oregon, San Diego, Seattle, South Dakota State, Southern Utah, UCLA, UC Riverside, UTEP

Next on the Tee: Colorado State, who finished 2019-20 ranked #16 in Golfweek, #19 according to Golfstat and #20 in the Golf Coaches Poll, is opening its spring team slate on the West Coast, playing in the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate Presented by Callaway Golf, Feb. 19-21. The three-day, 54-hole tournament is being played at Classic Club (Par 72 / 7,322 yards) in Palm Desert, Calif. CSU will play the opening round with Wyoming, UCLA and Charlotte.

Lineup for the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate: The Rams are in the traditional play-five, count-four event this week at Classic Club. For CSU, the lineup will be:
1.      AJ Ott
2.     Cullen Plousha
3.     Davis Bryant
4.     Parathakorn Suyasri
5.     Oscar Teiffel
Ind. Jack Ainscough

Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate (CSU All-Time Results)
10/4-5/2008             1st/19            298-292-287=877 (+13)
2/26-27/2011            t-6th/20       300-294-305=899 (+35)
2/22-24/2019           t-5th/21         290-298-289=877 (+13)
2/21-23/2020           4th/21             295-286-283=864 (E)

The Opening Individual Event: Senior AJ Ott won the first playoff hole and captured his first collegiate title at The Prestige Individual Invitational Feb. 15-17.
       The Rams were looking to shake some rust off in their first collegiate event in almost a year and did so by placing three players in the top seven of the field. Ott entered the final round at 7-under, five shots back of leader Hazen Newman of Oklahoma State. However, Newman slid in the final round and Ott took advantage by tying for low round of the day with a 5-under 67 to finish at 12-under 204 in a tie with Derek Hitchner of Pepperdine. Ott then took the individual victory by winning the first playoff hole. He captured the 30th individual title for CSU since 1999-2000, while his 12-under score ties for the ninth-best all-time score versus par and the 204 is tied for 18th for a 54-hole total. For his efforts, Ott was named Mountain West Golfer of the Week Feb. 18, the second time in his career he has earned the award.
       Junior Cullen Plousha, back from an injury that ended his 2019-20 season after two events, showed that he is ready by tying for third at 9-under 207, closing the event with a 4-under 68 today. Junior Davis Bryant finished in a tie for seventh at 6-under 210, as he also posted all three rounds under par. Junior Parathakorn Suyasri tied for 23rd at even-par 216, while sophomore Oscar Teiffel tied for 27th at 2-over 218. Junior Jack Ainscough was the final Ram at 5-over 221 in a tie for 35th.

Fast Five On the 2019-20 Season:
The Rams won three of their six tournaments played during the year and finished in the top seven of all of them, just the fourth time in program history that CSU has recorded three or more wins in a season.
The team averaged 283.06 strokes per competition round, the lowest next scoring average in history and the 1.61-under par per round is second in school annals.
Davis Bryant, Parathakorn Suyasri and AJ Ott also made their mark on the single-season scoring average, as the trio is now fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, for a single season versus par (minimum of 15 rounds).
Five Rams (Suyasri, Bryant, Ott, Jack Ainscough and Oscar Teiffel) all ended the season ranking in the top 15 in career scoring at CSU, heading into 2020-21.
Head coach Christian Newton now has 11 tournament victories in his eight years as leader of the Rams.

Last Time Out Highlights at Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic in March 2020:
Colorado State battled one of its toughest fields of the year and finished seventh at the 2020 Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic, March 9-10.
In a field that featured nine teams in Golfstat's top 50 and 17 in the top 100, the #19 Rams shot their best round of the tournament with a 3-under 285 in the final round to finish at 1-over 865. No. 37 Tennessee took home the team title at 8-under 856, four shots better than #3 Arizona State and #28 San Diego State in a tie for second.
Just 11 shots separated first from eighth in the final standings.
(complete results and recap on page 6)

All-Americans and Other Awards in 2019-20:
The Rams reeled in numerous awards for their outstanding work on and off the course in 2019-20.
PING Honorable Mention All-Americans: Davis Bryant and AJ Ott (4th & 5th in CSU history)
GCAA All-West Region: Davis Bryant, AJ Ott, Parathakorn Suyasri
All-Mountain West: Davis Bryant, AJ Ott, Parathakorn Suyasri
GCAA All-America Scholars: Andrew Lafferty, AJ Ott, Parathakorn Suyasri, Oscar Teiffel
Academic All-Mountain West: Jack Ainscough, Andrew Lafferty, AJ Ott, Parathakorn Suyasri, Oscar Teiffel
GCAA All-Academic Team: Colorado State (Eighth consecutive year)

Newton Named to GCAA National Advisory Board
Head coach Christian Newton was named to the Golf Coaches Association of America National Advisory Board, effective July 1, 2020. This is the first time that a CSU coach has been named to this prestigious position.
Newton was elected by his fellow coaches at the GCAA National Convention in December of 2019 and will become the Third Vice President on July 1, 2020.
It is a 10-year commitment, where every two years he will move up the ranks after each Presidents' term is up. He will become the Second Vice President from 2022-24, First Vice President from 2024-26 before becoming President in 2026-28. Following that, he will serve a two-year stint as the Past President from 2028-30.

More Tap-In Putts On CSU in 2019-20:
Last season, the Rams against schools from the various conferences are:
Mountain West – 12-1
Pac-12 – 8-2 (43-32-1 over last three years)
Big Ten – 1-0 (8-0 over last three years)
Southeastern Conference (SEC) – 6-3
Atlantic Coast Conference – 1-1-1
The Rams finished in the top five in four of their six events this year, holding a 78-15-2 head-to-head record.
CSU had one individual win, eight top-five, nine top-10 and 14 top-20 finishes in just six events.
Sophomore Davis Bryant posted par or better scores in 12 of his last 14 rounds as he posted his third top-5 finish of the year and his collegiate career.
Junior AJ Ott posted 11 of his 17 rounds at par or better last year
After a slow start in the opening tournament, junior Parathakorn Suyasri finished in the top five of three of his next five and top-25 in all five tournaments (T-5, 1st, T-3, T-21, T-24)

Making A Mark Nationally: The Rams made their presence known on the national scene the last two years, finishing No. 41 in the nation according to the Golfweek ratings & No. 45 according to Golfstat's ratings in 2017-18 and ranked No. 41 according to Golfstat and No. 43 by Golfweek last season. Utilizing Golfstat, CSU was the top-ranked Division I golf team in the state and second in the Mountain West behind UNLV.
       Within the region in 2018-19, CSU recorded a 84-28-1 head-to-head record with an 18-12-1 record against Pac-12 schools and 26-11 versus the Mountain West, which had five teams in the Regionals for the first time since 2012 (#27 UNLV, #41 CSU, #49 Nevada, #58 San Jose State and #70 New Mexico).
       In 2019-20, the Rams were a stellar 46-5-1 against West region teams and 78-15-2 overall in head-to-head matchups. Against top-25 teams, the Rams finished 7-5-2 overall (.571). Finishing 21st in team scoring versus par this year, CSU ended the season as the top team in the state (by 58 places over Colorado in second and 79 over Denver in third) and Mountain West (nine places ahead of San Diego State) and fourth in the West region.
       This season, the Rams enter their schedule receiving votes in the GCAA Coaches Poll.

On the World Stage: Five Rams on the current roster are ranked among the top 700 players in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings, as of February 17. The rankings are based on their average performance in selected counting events over the past two calendar years.
Player                                     WAGR
Parathakorn Suyasri                60
AJ Ott                                      141
Davis Bryant                             351
Jack Ainscough                        563
Oscar Teiffel                             700

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' final 2019-20 rankings were:

Player                       Golfweek                Golfstat
Davis Bryant              53                            39
Parathakorn Suyasri 55                            80
AJ Ott                        60                           124
Jack Ainscough         349                         244
Oscar Teiffel              641                          690
*The top three Rams ranked higher than all other collegiate golfers in the state of Colorado by at least 165 places.

Military Tribute Bag Continues: In 2020-21, CSU is continuing its tradition of honoring those who have served our country through the military. This year, the program is again recognizing U.S. Army veteran Charles W. Williamson III, due to the shortened season in 2019-20.
       Williamson served almost 17 years on active duty before medically retiring as a Sergeant First Class in 2007. He was part of a tank effort in Operation Desert Storm and through his first nine years of service, he was an Armor Crewman and held every position on a tank, including tank commander. During his military career, he also served as a Platoon Sergeant and Head Cadre, the instructor for the Individual Readiness Training for Bosnia rotations. He also served as a recruiter for the Army, retiring as Commander of a six-man recruiting station. From his service, he received numerous awards, bages, ribbons and commendations, including for meritorius service, His daughter Katelyn is a senior at CSU and is a Folds of Honor Scholarship recipient studying bio-medical sciences.
       The bag was carried by the top CSU finisher from the previous tournament during the 2019-20 season. Davis Bryant earned the honor after winning the qualifying event for the first week's Capital Carpet Collegiate at Georgia Tech, Sept. 6-8. Five different Rams carried the bag during the 2018-19 season. However this year, senior AJ Ott will carry the bag the entire season due to CoVID protocols.
       Last year, the military tribute bag debuted, honoring former golfer and late U.S. Army veteran James "Jerry" Jackson. Jackson had 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.

2019-20 Tournament                         Player Carrying                Finish
Carpet Capital Collegiate                    Davis Bryant                     t-18th
Ram Masters Invitational                     AJ Ott                               t-2nd
Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate      AJ Ott                               t-7th
Saint Mary's Invitational                      Parathakorn Suyasri         t-3rd
Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate          Davis Bryant                     t-31st
Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic          Davis Bryant                     t-5th

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 this season, Newton's teams moved to a 62.9 percent winning record in his eight years according to Golfstat. Newton moved ahead of both Jamie Bermel (1994-99 - 62.1 percent) Mark Crabtree (1994-99 - 57.0 percent) and Newton has 11 career CSU team tournament titles to Crabtree's five.
       As a team in 2018-19, the Rams were ranked #5 in the region in scoring versus par at +0.27 per round. This season, the Rams were #7 at -1.61 per round.

Bryant Named CGA Player of the Year: Colorado State men's golf continues to make its impact on the state's golf scene, as sophomore Davis Bryant was named the 2019 Colorado Golf Association Les Fowler Player of the Year as the state's top amateur golfer, the organization announced. He is the third straight CSU golfer to earn the award as former Ram Jake Staiano took home the award in 2017 and current senior AJ Ott won the award in 2018.
       Bryant won the honor in part from his title in winning the CGA Amateur at Lakewood Country Club this past summer in his first time in competing in the championship. He also finished second among the amateurs (to Ott) at the CoBank Colorado Open. In addition, Bryant advanced to the round of 16 at the CGA Match Play and eventually finished atop the CGA Player of the Year standings.

Ram on Tour: Former Colorado State standout Martin Laird, a PGA tour veteran, has made a statement already in the 2021 season with his fourth career victory on tour, a playoff win at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. This was his second in in the event as he also captured the title in 2009.
       So far, he has made the cut in five events, with the win and a tie for 17th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions as his top finishes. He has earned $1.42 million this season after the 2020 season was halted due to the pandemic. In 2019, his efforts during the regular season earned him a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs for the 10th time in 12 seasons.
       For his career, he has surpassed $19.17 million in official PGA Tour winnings and made the cut in almost two-thirds of his 309 PGA Tour starts in his 13-plus 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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