AJ Ott To Play In NCAA Championship May 28-31

Tournament: NCAA Championship
Dates: May 28-31, 2021
Host: NCAA/Arizona State University
Location: Scottsdale, Ariz.
Course: Grayhawk Golf Club Raptor Course
Course Par/Yardage: Par 72 / 7,449 yds
Host Web Site: https://live-ncaa-golf.ws.asu.edu
Live Scoring: https://csura.ms/3unNVH2
Tournament Field (30 teams, 6 individuals): AJ Ott (CSU Ind.)

Next on the Tee: AJ Ott qualified as the top individual on a non-advancing team out of the NCAA Stillwater Regional and will represent Colorado State at the NCAA Championship, May 28-31. The four-day, 72-hole tournament is being played at Grayhawk Golf Club's Raptor Course in Scottsdale, Ariz.

How It Works: The first 54 holes are played to determine the top 15 teams along with the top nine individuals not on an advancing team for final 18 holes of stroke-play competition. Monday, the final round of stroke-play competition to determine the top eight teams determined for match play competition and the 72-hole individual champion crowned.

Previous NCAA Championship Participation: Ott's appearance in the NCAA Championship will mark the fourth time the Rams have been represented in the final collegiate event of the year.

1998 -- Albuquerque, N.M. (UNM Championship Course) (Teams/Players cut after second round)
t-48.     Nigel Spence                                71-72=143 (-1)

1999 -- Minneapolis, Minn. (Hazeltine Golf Club)  (Teams/Players cut after second round)
t-24.     Colorado State                      309-309=618 (+42)
t-54.     Darrin Overson                           80-73=153 (+9)
t-81.      Nigel Spence                              75-80=155 (+11)
t-101.     Mike Kitowski                             78-79=157 (+13)
t-111.      Geoff Nuwash                             81-77=158 (+14)
t-142.    Robby Stephenson                     76-87=163 (+19)

2011 -- Stillwater, Okla. (Karsten Creek Golf Club) (Teams/Players cut after third round)
30.       Colorado State                307-322-308=937 (+73)
t-88.     Zahkai Brown                        78-77-74=229 (+13)
t-106.    Ryan Peterson                       77-81-74=232 (+16)
t-125.    Kory Harrell                          73-82-82=237 (+21)
138.      Kirby Pettitt                         79-83-80=242 (+26)
t-141.     Mike Sorenson                     82-82-80=244 (+28)

Joining An Elite Group: Ott has become the 14th Ram to play in at least three NCAA Regionals, a list that includes current PGA Tour winner Martin Laird.

Ott's Regional Finishes
2018 (Kissimmee Regional - Kissimmee, Fla.)
t-39.     AJ Ott                                      71-75-70=216 (E)
2019 (Pullman Regional - Pullman, Wash.)
t-17.      AJ Ott                                   70-66-68=204 (-6)
2021 (Stillwater Regional - Stillwater, Okla.)
t-3.       AJ Ott                                      70-70-71=211 (-5)

NCAA Regionals (CSU Top Individual Finishes in each)
Yr         Fin.      Name                            Scores (vs. Par)
1996     t-43.     Jeff Fujimoto              75-74-75=224 (+11)
1997     t-58.     Scott Mendelsohn        71-79-74=224 (+8)
1998     5.         Nigel Spence                71-70-72=213 (-3)
1999     t-2.       Nigel Spence                71-71-70=212 (-4)
2000    t-24.     Robby Stephenson       72-69-72=213 (-3)
2001     t-26.     Martin Laird                73-73-74=220 (+4)
2002    t-60.    Martin Laird                 79-71-74=224 (+8)
2003    t-36.     Nolan Martin                77-74-71=222 (+6)
2004    t-26.     Martin Laird                 72-71-77=220 (+4)
2005    t-66.    John Hayes                 74-77-70=221 (+11)
2006    t-46.     Derrick Whiting (Ind.)     72-72-70=214 (-2)
2007    t-18.      Dustin Morris             71-69-66=206 (-10)
2008    t-58.     Riley Arp                     68-74-73=215 (+2)
2009    t-14.      Zen Brown                 78-72-72=222 (+9)
2010     t-8.       Dustin Morris                69-75-71=215 (-1)
            t-8.       Bryce Hanstad              71-72-72=215 (-1)
2011      t-16.     Kory Harrell                  72-73-70=215 (-1)
2012     13.        Cameron Harrell           75-69-73=217 (+1)
2017     t-38.     Jake Staiano (Ind.)        73-74-74=221 (+5)
2018     t-14.      Jake Staiano                 71-68-73=212 (-4)
            t-14.      Max Oelfke                 73-70-69=212 (-4)
2019     t-12.      Jake Staiano               70-64-69=203 (-7)
2021     t-3.       AJ Ott                          70-70-71=211 (-5)

Fast Five On AJ Ott:

Ott returned for the fifth year of eligibility granted by the NCAA and took home his first and second individual titles in his first two events while earning back-to-back Mountain West Golfer of the Week honors and Golfweek National Player of the Week.
The wins by AJ Ott were the 30th and 31st individual titles won by a CSU player in the modern era (since 1991-92).
Ott's final season average (71.00) ranks third on CSU's all-time chart behind the PGA Tour's Martin Laird (70.25) and Nolan Martin (70.62), both of which occurred in 2003-04.
After averaging 75.15 strokes per round (+3.61 versus par) as a freshman, Ott has averaged less than one stroke over par the following four seasons to move into eighth on CSU's all-time list at 72.39 strokes per round (+0.94 versus par). In his last four years, he is a total of 19-over in 114 competitive rounds, an average of +0.17 versus par, which would rank second on CSU's all-time list.
In the past week, Ott will be recognized permanently within the program as the Most Improved Player Award at CSU was renamed to the AJ Ott Most Improved Player Award.

Ott Named All-Mountain West: Senior AJ Ott has been named All-Mountain West for his play in 2020-21, the league announced. He is one of 10 selected by the league's coaches to receive the honor.
       "Any time you can make all-conference in the Mountain West is a pretty good honor," head coach Christian Newton said. "The conference is always very deep with really good players. I'm happy for AJ, as this is another accolade for him to add to his awesome career here at CSU."
       Ott led the Rams in scoring this year prior to postseason play, averaging 71.08 strokes per round (-0.54 versus par) in 24 rounds, with 14 of those under par, en route to earning an individual berth in the NCAA Stillwater Regional May 19-21. A 2019-20 All-American, the Fort Collins native picked up his first two individual collegiate wins this season, winning The Prestige Individual Invitational and Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate. In The Prestige, he won a one-hole playoff to earn the title after shooting a career-best 12-under 204 and then followed it up with an 11-under 205 for a two-shot victory at the Wyoming event.
       For his career, Ott has a 72.44 stroke average in 147 rounds played, with his average ranking eighth in CSU annals and his 144 career rounds currently second behind Zen Brown (2005-09) with 147. He has 62 rounds of par or better (seventh at CSU) and 28 in the 60s (sixth at CSU). He has posting seven top-five, 12 top-10 and 21-top 21 finishes in 49 career events, tied for fourth, tied for seventh and sixth, respectively. He will be the 14th CSU player to make three or more regional appearances.
       This is the third time that Ott has been named to the league's top squad, also garnering the award in 2017-18 and 2019-20. He is just the second Ram to be named All-Mountain West three times, joining four-time PGA Tour winner Martin Laird in that elite group, as Laird received the honor in 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04.

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 has carried the bag the entire season due to COVID protocols and will carry it at the NCAA Championships.
       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

Fast Five On the 2020-21 Season:

This was the 21st NCAA Regional appearance (team or individual) for CSU, with four consecutive (taking out the pandemic year where the Rams were in line to qualify) under head coach Christian Newton
Senior AJ Ott returned and has taken home his first and second individual titles in his first two events while earning back-to-back Mountain West Golfer of the Week honors. Not only was he named Golfweek National Player of the Week but enters this week as the top-ranked men's golfer in the nation on Golfstat's individual rankings.
The wins by AJ Ott were the 30th and 31st individual titles won by a CSU player in the modern era (since 1991-92).
Five Rams (Suyasri, Bryant, Ott, Jack Ainscough and Oscar Teiffel) are all in the top 15 in career scoring at CSU.
Head coach Christian Newton now has 11 tournament victories in his nine years as leader of the Rams.

On the World Stage: Five Rams on the current roster are ranked among the top 1300 players in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings, as of May 19, The rankings are based on their average performance in selected counting events over the past two calendar years.
Player                                     WAGR
AJ Ott                                      145
Parathakorn Suyasri                209
Davis Bryant                             409
Jack Ainscough                        719
Rasmus Hjelm                          1099
Oscar Teiffel                             1218

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 President's 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.

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)

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 11 events, with the win and a tie for 17th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions as his top finishes. He has earned $1.70 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 $19.46 million in official PGA Tour winnings and made the cut in almost two-thirds of his 318 PGA Tour starts, including the most-recent The Masters, 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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