Newton's Plan Started With One Purpose, but Served Another
Men's golf team heads to Mountain West Championships with confidence
Christian Newton had a strategic reason for adding the Ping BYU Cougar Classic to the schedule.
Yes, it was going to mean a lot of golf for his team. Actually, an unusually busy slate for the end of the year, entering his Colorado State men’s golf team into four tournaments in less than month. It was ambitious, but a calculated move.
Unfortunately, it didn’t get a chance to serve the intended purpose.
The original reason was to help give his Rams a jolt in the rankings after a sub-par performance had dropped them out of consideration for an at-large team bid to the NCAA Regionals. When two more less-than-stellar performances followed, the point became mute.
That doesn’t mean the trip to Provo, Utah didn’t serve a valuable purpose.
“It did. We didn’t play very good the next two events, so that cooked our goose as far as rankings, but it gave us a positive springboard going into the conference championships,” Newton said. “We’ve played really good at BYU in the past; I think the team has won the event six times in the history. We’ve always been pretty good, so it’s someplace we can be comfortable and get back on the right foot.”
The three rounds the Rams played rank two, three and four on the season list, the 281-282-282 following just the 276 at the ASU Thunderbird Collegiate the tournament prior. The team placed fifth, coming in at 19-under.
Yeah, they’re feeling pretty good as the Mountain West Championships approach Friday and Saturday, three rounds played those two days at the Omni Tucson National Resort in Tucson, Ariz. Historically, it is a course where the Rams have played well, a layout which has hosted Senior PGA Tour events.
“I think it wasn’t the most important in terms of rankings, because it wouldn’t get us to regionals, but I think it was good to give us some momentum and show we can play pretty good golf and everyone on the team can play pretty good golf,” Oscar Teiffel said. “If we go to the Mountain West and play good golf, we have a chance to carry on in the postseason.”
Which was the goal from the outset. The Rams have placed second at the Mountain West Championships three tournaments running, so Newton’s squad has been one on an upward arc. Last year was going to be their year, as they were a highly regarded team in the rankings. Then the pandemic hit. But the return of AJ Ott for an extra year kept all the expectations in place, but the pandemic still didn’t help matters.
Not everybody was here the whole year; Teiffel, for one, didn’t arrive until January. And when the results weren’t coming as expected, Newton and his players felt like they started to press, then a little more each successive week.
“I think we were excited because our team is so deep, anyone on our team can play in our lineup at any time. There was a little bit of that,” Ott said. “There was also just a little bit of everybody has been out of normal college golf. It’s easy when you play in really good fields against really good teams to kind of press and just force it a little too much, put pressure on yourself.
“BYU was really positive. Everyone kind of got back on track a little bit. I think everybody has felt it a little bit. I experienced a little bit of that myself at about four events, pressing it against a really good field.”
Ott is the outlier. His play this season has him in a really good position for an individual at-large bid to regionals thanks to winning back-to-back tournaments earlier in the season, but the goal has always been to make the trip as a team. And as the play has improved, Newton had noticed another change.
His team is having some fun again.
I saw guys starting to hit better shots, started to make some putts and birdies. Those are all positive things. The light switch just doesn’t go on, it takes a process to get it back.Christian Newton
At BYU, Teiffel and Rasmus Hjelm were paired together, so they spent the entire day speaking Swedish to each other on the course. They also know Newton understands the language a touch.
“Mostly, we threw off coach, maybe. I don’t think he really followed along very well,” Teiffel said. “I don’t think I’ve spoken that much Swedish in a couple of months. We started playing at 8 a.m. and we finished at 8 p.m., so it was 12 hours of pretty much between every shot talking Swedish.
“He gets in sometimes. He has a rough idea sometimes of what we’re talking about. He’s been around a few Swedish players before, so we know what we’re not supposed to say.”
Then there was Monday’s practice round when a few members of the team took liberties with Gavin Hagstrom’s clubs.
He couldn’t find his putter, or his driver, but they were nice enough to give him hints.
They stared with the date; it was the 25th. And what’s the most popular day on the 25th? Christmas. What would you be doing on Christmas Day?
It took Hagstrom a bit to get there, but the day involves a tree, and there were plenty to be found around the chipping green.
He finally found them.
“Two things I saw is I saw guys enjoy themselves a little more, which is a start,” Newton said. “It’s not fun to play bad, and it wasn’t like there was any big secret as to why we were playing bad, we just weren’t executing. It’s very simple. I saw guys starting to hit better shots, started to make some putts and birdies. Those are all positive things. The light switch just doesn’t go on, it takes a process to get it back.”
The mission is all very clear to the Rams. They have to go to the Mountain West Championships and steal a bid – essentially what happens during March Madness. They know it can happen, too.
Two years ago, the bid was theirs until New Mexico came along and played lights out at the tournament. As a team, they know what they have to do, but Newson isn’t pressing the facts. Instead, he wants them focusing on playing the way they know they can.
To play loose. To have some fun. To build off the confidence gained at BYU.
“We’ve been there so many times, and everyone on our team has played well there, so that’s good,” Ott said. “We know the course really well. I think our team has been in pressure situations before, so as long as you can refer back to those moments when things aren’t going great, I honestly believe our team doesn’t have to have our best stuff to win. We just have to play solid and be positive the whole tournament. That will pay off.
“In golf, you’re never going to be anything close to perfect, so as long as you can manage your misses and stay positive, good things can happen.”
The last time Colorado State won the conference tournament was in 2010, when Ryan Peterson also captured the individual title. The Rams also topped the field as a team in 2008, and in 2002, Martin Laird won the individual title.
In the most recent seasons, the Rams have been pushing toward those end goals again, but they might have pushed a bit too much this year on the whole. Then again, the best-laid plans don’t always go step-by-step.
There are detours. Going to BYU was intended for one purpose, but served a completely different – and just as important – role.
Three good rounds.
Which is what will be required at the Mountain West Championships.