Players Battle Conditions First Day of Ram Masters

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Sep 11

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vs Ram Masters Day 1

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vs Ram Masters Day 2

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Men's Golf

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Men's Golf

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FORT COLLINS, Colo. – All throughout qualifying, the course never played like it did on Monday.

There were no high winds when Colorado State's men's golf team were practicing or doing qualifying rounds at the Fort Collins Country Club. The green were soft, too.

Monday's opening two rounds of the Ram Masters Invitational were a complete 180 for the guys who know the course best, and for the entire 16-team field in attendance.

"It was tough today," Colorado State's Connor Jones said. "It was showing its teeth today. We don't play it like this ever. It was 90 degrees, about 5 mph winds and the greens aren't like this. It's definitely a test."

In the five previous years, there were only 29 team rounds where scores soared above 300. Monday, all 32 team scores broke the barrier. The worst round opening round ever was a 324; four teams exceeded it this day.

The highest score for an opening-round leader previously had been 283. Monday, Northern Colorado led the field after the first 18 on a 26-hole day with a 313.

Monday was about survival for a group of competitors used to comparing themselves to par.

"We talked about it this morning when we saw the forecast," CSU coach Christian Newton said. "It's going to be a hard day, it's going to be a long day, the conditions are going to be really tough and you're going to make some bogies. The team that can deal with it best and not get down on themselves, to be patient, that's the team that's going to come out on top."

Northern Colorado came back with a 309, finishing 29-over par at 622 to lead Pacific by one stroke. The host Rams sit in fifth with a 626, four shots back after rounds of 314 and 312.

Davis Bryant posted the team's best round, a 76 in the first, coming back with a 77 to leave him in a tie for ninth. Teammate Christoph Bleier shot 78-77 (155), with Connor Jones third on their board at 80-78 (158).

The day was perfectly set up for a group therapy session as the team's gathered for dinner, but on the course, they were all on their own. It wasn't the wind, which blew all day, making the whole day chilly and the morning especially so. It wasn't just the greens, which were hard and fast. It was the combination of it all.

"I think you're still trying to play your own game and you're not trying to think about what anybody else is doing," Jones said. "It's just fighting for par on every hole it feels like. You have to be realistic. I had quite a few 8-footers for bogey. You try to get it in as fast as you can, whether it's for par, bogey, double bogey, whatever."

Newton had special praise for Bleier and teammate Jay Pabin, a pair of freshmen playing in their first collegiate tournament. What an introduction is was for them, with Newton saying it may be among the worst conditions they play in as their careers play out.

What made him smile was he didn't see anybody giving up, backing down or showing extreme frustration. They just grinded out a round the best they could.

Oddly enough, Bleier enjoyed it all.

"It was definitely challenging, but it was fun," he said. "Conditions were tough, but I liked it. It was a combination. First off, it's hard to hit greens when the wind is strong, and then it's a lot harder to make up-and-downs when the greens are fast and firm, so overall it was a tough day. If you miss it in the wrong spot, you're done."

Both Bleier and Jones said they hit shots they felt were good, but either the wind or the greens altered their expected outcome. Conversely, they felt they hit poor shots which turned out just fine.

Like any golf round, really. So the goal remained the same. Don't let one bad shot lead to another.

"That's basically what you try to avoid," Bleier said. "If you hit a bad shot and get mentally frustrated, you hit another bad shot. You kinda just need to stick through it. It's tough and it won't change for 36 holes."

Funny thing, natives of the state of fond of saying that if one waits five minutes, the weather will change. It didn't Monday, but the forecast for Tuesday is promising. The temperatures are expected to be back in the 80s and the wind should disappear.

At least that's a couple of elements not to have to worry about. The greens may be another story.

Still, the mental aspect will be key. After a tough two rounds one day, the competitive mind is aiming toward catching up, but they can't allow it to be a Catch-22.

"Obviously you want to play well, make a few birdies, make a few more than you did today," Jones said. "You don't want to go put pressure on yourself you have to shoot 65, that happens just going through each shot and letting it happen."

Northern Colorado's Jack Castiglia holds a 4-shot lead in the individual race, shooting 73-71 for a 4-over 144. A quad of golfers follow him at 8-over 148.

Tuesday's first tee times begin at 8 a.m., with just one round being played.

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