Ott Believes it is All About the Company He Keeps
Assistant coach Edens helps keeps senior focused during play
Obviously, AJ Ott played well. He was the one swinging the club and striking the ball last week at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.
He played so well in fact the Fort Collins product earned the one thing he’s been seeking since he stayed at home to play golf for Colorado State – a trip to the NCAA Championships. He did so by posting a 54-hole total of 211, his 5-under making him one of four players in the field to shoot under-par in all three rounds.
Afterward, the enormity of the moment hadn’t sunk in quite yet for Ott. But when he talked about what made it a successful two days, the first thing he mentioned was not how well he putted the ball, or how accurate he was about staying in the fairway. Nothing about his short game being a key asset.
No, the first chance he had to praise something, he went straight to the one person who was with him every step of the way, assistant coach Parker Edens.
“He helped a ton. He’s helped me a lot this spring, and we just bonded a lot,” Ott said. “We’re very similar in our approach to the game. We both like to work hard, and we both just take it seriously, course management … I just think we mesh really well. It’s nice to have somebody to talk to between shots, so that worked out really well.”
This is why head coach Christian Newton hired Edens, his former pupil. Not just those three rounds, but they are a prime example of what Newton envisioned. He didn’t have a checklist of things when searching for a new assistant, just one attribute.
“I knew that would happen,” Newton said of the relationship Edens has built with the entire roster. “For me, it wasn’t about I was hiring Parker because of these particular skill sets, I was hiring him because he’s a good person first, then we would figure out what he and I were good at. I was more interested in hiring a good human being first, then we’d figure out how to delegate.
“I didn’t need a guy who checked three boxes, it was one.”
But Newton also knew Edens would be someone the players could emulate and admire. Edens was a Northern Colorado kid, playing as a prep at Greeley Central. He first went to South Dakota State, then transferred to Fort Collins and played two seasons for Newton, working his way toward becoming one of the best players on the team.
From there, he went to Q-School and played three years of professional golf on The Dakotas and the Web.com tours, winning six events. He was a grinder, through and through. As Newton noted, “he figured it out,” which is what he wanted his players to see firsthand.
Ott, who was a highly sought recruit coming out of high school, considers himself to be a grinder, too. In Edens, he sees someone who shares very similar approaches to the game when it comes to the work required, the mental makeup and shot-hitting ability.
That’s why Ott felt walking those 54 holes with Edens was so important to his success.
“One thing I’ve been trying to work on, and I told him at the beginning of the spring … In golf it is super important, especially on a tough course, to pick where you want to hit it and what shot you want to hit instead of what you don’t want to do,” Ott said. “Last week, I picked the club, and I was calling my shot, almost like in pool. I would verbalize it to me, then he’d confirm if he liked it, and then I just went and hit it. That was really helpful. I think that’s something a lot of good players do in their minds when they’re by themselves, but it’s nice to kind of talk it out loud. It makes it a little more tangible.”
To see the progress and stuff, I owe it to a lot of people who have helped me along the way. It proves that your success and individual success, it isn’t yourself, it’s the people you surround yourself with, your family, my girlfriend. It shows that CSU is capable of building successful teams, and hopefully, our team can be at the national championships next year, as well.AJ Ott
What Edens felt his most important task was at the NCAA Regional was to keep Ott focused, and that didn’t always mean talking about golf.
Yes, they would discuss shot selection and pin placement, go over yardage and think ahead to what shot would be next, but just as often they talked about life.
Future plans for Ott. What the CSU men’s golf team will look like next year. A good joke. The weather. You name it. It will be the same thing this week.
“Just keeping him calm and composed. He’ll be a bit nervous on the big stage, but I can use a lot of my experiences for Q-School and playing big events when I was playing professionally,” Edens said. “There’s really nothing I haven’t seen at this level. I never played in an NCAA Championship, but the pressure of the final stage in Q-School or the last few holes when you’re on the cut line of the second stage of Q-School is pretty nerve-wracking, so I can kind of compare those experiences to this.”
All of it came into play the final round at the regional. Ott came out of the gates with a few bogies in the first four, and Edens was looking for a way to get the senior to relax and settle in. Knowing Ott had a mean bunt drive, he suggested pulling it out on the tee box at No. 5 with a little bit of a downwind. He birdied the hole, then No. 7 to get back on track.
Edens felt No. 5 was a key point for the round, and it played perfectly into what they all had discussed prior. The two coaches work in tandem, helping Ott set up a game plan pre-tournament, even before a round, and Edens helps Ott execute over 18 holes of play. Newton stays busy in different ways, sometimes walking a few holes ahead and coming back to provide information.
The introductions had taken place before Edens was hired. While he was a player at Colorado State, the team would work with AJ’s father, Brad, who was a volunteer assistant with the Rams, and AJ would always be around. When Edens would come back to play with some former teammates, there was AJ.
Now on staff, Edens played some rounds with AJ, and the bond deepened.
The trio will spend a lot of time together as the NCAA Championships take place May 28-June 2 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. Newton doesn’t think Ott needs all that much help, which the resume backs. Ott has played in the top national amateur tournaments, even winning the Southern Am. He has two tournament wins from earlier this season, and he feels navigating a new course is fun, not a roadblock.
All the coaches have to do is provide what’s needed, nothing more.
“The key here is not to do too much. A lot of times, it will be enough,” Newton said. “You can affect him and hurt him too much. It’s knowing when to step in and when to provide information, but AJ, he’s very experienced. He’s been there, done that. You get him to the first tee and he’s off and running. He’s not a player you have to micromanage.”
But for Edens, he’s a player you definitely have to admire. This year, the program renamed the most improved player award to the AJ Ott Award, knowing as talented as he was coming in, nobody has worked harder or raised their level more while part of the program. Ott admits he had a lot of growth to do, and he gives a large amount of credit to Newton, Edens and those who have surrounded him.
“I’m just very thankful I’ve had five years here,” Ott said. “My freshman year was very hard at times, but it was also very good looking back on it, because I was able to get in the lineup and qualify, but I was so immature both mentally and physically. To see the progress and stuff, I owe it to a lot of people who have helped me along the way. It proves that your success and individual success, it isn’t yourself, it’s the people you surround yourself with, your family, my girlfriend. It shows that CSU is capable of building successful teams, and hopefully, our team can be at the national championships next year, as well.”
Finally earning entry to the NCAA Championships has sunk in for Ott, and he’s grateful to all of them. His parents, his sister and his girlfriend, Taylor Steinke, a CSU soccer player, will all be there for his own personal gallery. So too will some former CSU teammates.
Just a glance over at them will help make it feel like home when he’s on the road, and that will help. So will having Edens with him every step of the way.
The final steps of an impressive career. To Edens, there’s no place else Ott should be as he flips the page to the next chapter.
“This is really cool. I don’t think there’s a more fitting way for him to end his career,” Edens said. “A local kid, stayed here, stuck with CSU, and he’s been just so awesome. He got to come back and started this spring so well, but he hit a rough patch and figured it out.
“He’s probably one of the most improved players from his freshman year to the end of his career that we’ve ever seen here, and I just don’t think there’s more of a fitting way to end his career.”
What they seem to like most about each other is how important the CSU men’s program is to each of them. They will remain loyal for the rest of their days, both considering it a very special place and time in their lives.
For Ott, it means more going to the NCAA Championships knowing he will do so representing Colorado State. It is a tournament unlike any other he has played, of that he is aware. But he also knows at the roots, it is another golf tournament, not unlike the countless he has competed in over the years.
Should a moment arise when his mind wanders, he’s not worried, because Edens will be there to walk and talk him through the lapse.