CSU Hosts Ram Masters At Fort Collins CC, Sept. 19-20

Tournament: Ram Masters Invitational
Dates: Sept. 19-20
Host: Colorado State University
Location: Fort Collins, Colo.
Course: Fort Collins Country Club
Course Par/Yardage: Par 70 / 7,234 yards
Host Web Site: CSURams.com
Live Scoring: https://csura.ms/2022RamMasters
Tournament Field (15): Colorado State, Air Force, Cal State Fullerton, Creighton, Denver, Gonzaga, Northern Colorado, Pacific, Sacramento State, South Dakota State, Texas A&M Commerce, UC San Diego, Utah Valley, Wichita State, Wyoming, Colorado (Indys)

Next on the Tee: The Rams come home to host the 10th-annual Ram Masters Invitational, Sept. 19-20. The two-day, 54-hole tournament is being played at Fort Collins Country Club (Par 70 - 7,234 yards) in Fort Collins, Colo.

Lineup for the Ram Masters Invitational: The Rams are in the traditional play-five, count-four event this week at Fort Collins Country Club. For CSU, the lineup will be:
1.      Connor Jones
2.     Rasmus Hjelm
3.     Davis Bryant
4.     Christoph Bleier
5.     Gavin Hagstrom
Ind.   Jay Pabin
Ind.   Matthew Wilkinson
Ind.   Jordan Jennings

CSU History In Ram Masters Invitational
9/17-18/2012        2nd/15         287-285-288=860 (+20)
9/16-17/2013        2nd/15           280-284-284=848 (+8)
9/15-16/2014        1st/15            283-287-285=855 (+15)
9/21-22/2015       1st/15               277-283-279=839 (-1)
9/19-20/2016       1st/18              284-283-277=844 (+4)
9/18-19/2017        1st/19             268-280-275=823 (-17)
9/17-18/2018        1st/17              281-266-289=836 (-4)
9/16-17/2019        1st/17               285-265-281=831 (-9)
9/20-21/2021       1st/16              314-312-275=901 (+61)

Par Five On Ram Masters Invitational

This will be the Rams' 10th time hosting the Ram Masters Invitational
After a pair of runner-up finishes in the first two events, CSU has won the tournament the last seven times it has been played.
Of the 15 teams in the field, three of them were represented in the 2022 NCAA Regionals, two of them with full teams (Colorado State and Denver) and one with an individual (Colorado).
First year head coach Michael Wilson is familiar with the event, having coached Long Beach State here in 2017 and 2018.
Since 1999-2000, CSU holds a 84.1 win percentage against this week's field in 906 matchups (446-80-10).

Last Time Out: With all five players under par in the final round including winner Connor Jones and runner-up Davis Bryant, Colorado State dominated the final round of the 53rd-annual Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational and earned a decisive 25-stroke victory, Sept. 11. The three-day, 54-hole tournament, hosted by the U.S. Air Force Academy, was played at the Eisenhower Blue Course (Par 72 – 7,541 yards) in USAFA, Colo.
      Under near perfect conditions, the Rams entered the final day with just a five-shot lead but quickly pulled away from the remaining 23 teams behind a complete team effort. CSU shot 17-under 271, in the last round and finished at 30-under 834, 25 shots ahead of runner-up Colorado. This was CSU's fourth win and 11th top-five finish in 13 appearances in the tournament. Mountain West rival San Jose State and New Mexico State tied for third at 3-under 861, with New Mexico State completing the top five teams at 4-over 868.
      The team score was just three shots off the tournament record, three shots better than the team's previous 54-hole total in the event in winning in 2008, including the final round the best by four shots over the second round in 2017. CSU's 17-under total in the final 18 tied for the sixth lowest versus par since 1993-94, while the 834 was tied for 13th. This was also the program's 41st team title and first under first-year head coach Michael Wilson.
      The individual title battle became a two-player race on the back nine as Jones, a senior, and Bryant, a fifth-year, battled down to the wire. Jones held a two-shot lead into the final three holes, but his birdie on No. 16 was the difference as Bryant birdied the final two holes to make it a 1-2 finish for CSU. Jones finished with a team-best final-round 6-under 66 and earned a one-shot win at a career-best 13-under 203, one shot ahead of Bryant who shot a 3-under 69 in the last round for a career-low 12-under 204. For Jones, it was his third collegiate win, second in a full-field event and 36th in CSU program history, while Bryant earned his 20th top-20 placing in 40 college tournaments. Garrison Smith of New Mexico State was three shots back at 9-under 207 in third. Jones 203 is tied for the 10th-lowest 54-hole total in program history, while the 13-under 203 is tied for the seventh versus par.
      "It was great to start the year off in a such a dominant fashion as team," Jones said. "We could be really good this year, so it's only right we start the year off this way.
      "From an individual standpoint, Davis and I have a great relationship and have grown close over the past year," Jones continued. "He's a great friend and a great competitor. He always pushes me to be my best because I know he will always be ready to play when tournament time comes. I'm glad I got him this time because he gets the best of me more than anyone I've ever played with and I can't wait for all the battles we will have in the future. I know there will be a lot of them."
      Sophomore Christoph Bleier recorded his third straight par-or-better round with a 2-under 70 to tie for 13th at 2-under 214. Playing in his first collegiate event, freshman Matthew Wilkinson continued to adjust quickly to college competition and again improved on his previous score, going three shots lower than Saturday with a 3-under 68 that put him at 1-under 215 for the tournament and a tie for 19th. Sophomore Rasmus Hjelm shot his best round of the tournament with a 4-under 68, including going 6-under over the final 13 holes, to move up 28 spots and tie for 31st at 2-over 218.
      In the individual-only event on the Silver course, sophomore Jay Pabin shot a career-low 5-under 67 in the final round and finished as runner up at a career-best 8-under 208 (by 12 shots), three shots behind winner Davis Heslington of Utah Tech. Sophomore Gavin Hagstrom had a final-round 3-under 69, a career low, and placed fourth at 6-under 210, a career-best total by nine shots. Redshirt-freshman Jordan Jennings had his first collegiate under-par round with a 1-1under 71 to tie for 32nd at 9-over 225.

New Coaching Staff: Colorado State has a new coaching staff for the 2022-23 season, as Michael Wilson has taken over as head coach and Chris Babcock joined his as his assistant.

Duo Named All-Mountain West: Colorado State men's golf received significant 2021-22 postseason recognition, with senior Davis Bryant and junior Connor Jones being named All-Mountain West, the league announced today. The selections were made by the conference's head coaches and bring CSU's total to 29 All-Mountain West honorees since the league was formed in 1999.
      The duo were two of the key components in the leading the Rams to a runner-up finish in the Mountain West Championship and the program's 20th bid to the NCAA Regionals, the third under head coach Christian Newton. Both players won an individual title during the season, helped CSU to a pair of team tournament crowns and led the late-season surge that moved the program up more than 30 spots to earn the last at-large berth.

Last Time at the Ram Masters in 2021: Tuesday was all about climbing.
      For Colorado State's men's golf team that meant literally and figuratively as they stormed through the third round of the Ram Masters Invitational to come from four strokes back at the start of the day to win the tournament they host by eight strokes with a round of 5-under par 275.
      Davis Bryant and Christoph Bleier, the Rams' final pairing, each carded rounds of 3-under 67 to pace the effort on a day which was in complete contrast to the two rounds played the day prior. The sun was out, there was no wind outside of a gentle breeze and the greens were much more receptive. Monday, not a single golfer could even shoot par and every one of the 32 team rounds finished above 300.
      Tuesday, three golfers shot below par, all three of those rounds belonging to Ram as Connor Jones finished with a 2-under 68. As a team, they were 11 strokes better in the round than Pacific, which finished second in the field.
      Wins feel great, even better when you're hosting.
      "They did really good. It's honestly one of my prouder moments," CSU coach Christian Newton said. "I couldn't ask for anything more. Yesterday was such a hard day, and they were so worn out. I told them before the end of the day, we think something special is going to happen tomorrow, just come out with the right mindset."
      A little rain and a bit of watering for the greens took away the final obstacle from the day prior, leaving the course open for better scoring. The Rams took advantage, with Oscar Teiffel's 3-over 73 rounding out CSU's team scorecard.
     Bryant finished in a tie for second on the individual board with a three-day total of 10-over 220, a score matched by Leonardo Rigamonti of Pacific, trailing individual champion Jack Castiglia of Northern Colorado who finished at 216.
      Bleier was tied for sixth at 222, while Jones finished 11th with a tournament total of 226.

Summer of Success:

Davis Bryant - Won the prestigious 2022 Southwestern Amateur title after the season at Desert Mountain Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., while also advancing to the match-play quarterfinals of the nationally-renowned North-South Amateur and finishing runner-up in the Colorado Golf Association Amateur.
Connor Jones - Won the 2022 Colorado Golf Association (CGA) Match Play Championship and CGA Amateur.
Gavin Hagstrom - Advanced to the semifinals of the Colorado Golf Assocation Match Play Championship and qualified for the 2022 U.S. Amateur in Paramus, N.J.
Matthew Wilkinson - Won the 2022 Colorado Golf Association (CGA) State Junior Championship and was honored by the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame as a "future famer"
Christoph Bleier - Represented Austria in the World Amateur Team Championship, helping Austria to a tie for eighth and tying for 46th out of 213 players individually.

Fast Four On The Rams:

The Rams have had representation in the last five NCAA Regionals competed -- twice by individuals (2017, 2021) and twice with a full team (2018, 2019, 2022). The 2020 regionals were not played due to COVID, but CSU was ranked in the top 30 nationally when the season ended early.
The Rams will spend their entire regular season in the Mountain and West time zones, playing in four different states. CSU will have three tournaments to open in Colorado, four in California, one in Oregon and two in Arizona, including the Mountain West Championship.
Davis Bryant is currently second in career scoring at CSU in scoring average and versus par.
Head coach Michael Wilson is in his first year at CSU but not as a head coach, having built the Long Beach State program up over the previous five years, inclduing NCAA Regional representation in each of the last two years.

On the World Stage: Four Rams on the current roster are ranked among the top 850 players in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings, as of Sept. 14. The rankings are based on their average performance in selected counting events over the past two calendar years.
Player                                   WAGR     (April 27 rank)
Davis Bryant                          181           327 (+146)
Connor Jones                       233          988 (+755)
Christoph Bleier                    250          369 (+119)
Rasmus Hjelm                       840          766 (-74)

Rams on Tour: Former Colorado State standout Martin Laird, a PGA tour veteran, just wrapped up his 15th full season on the tour.
      In his 2021-22 season, he made the cut in 14 of 22 events and had a season-best third-place finish as part of five top-25 placings, finishing with more than $1.09 million in winnings. His efforts during the regular season earned him a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs for the 12th time in 14 seasons.
      He made a statement in the 2021 season with his fourth career victory on tour, a playoff win at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. That was his second in in the event as he also captured the title in 2009. He made the cut in 14 events, with the win and two other top-25 placings as his top finishes. He earned $1.81 million last season after the 2020 season was halted due to the pandemic.
      For his career, he has surpassed $20.65 million in official PGA Tour winnings and made the cut in almost two-thirds of his 339 PGA Tour starts in his 14-plus years on the top golf tour. Laird was inducted into the CSU Athletic Hall of Fame in the fall of 2017.
               Recent standout Jake Staiano earned a spot on the Korn Ferry Tour this past year and made the cut in his first event at the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard in Columbia in mid-February 2022. His top finish was a tie for 43rd at the AdventHealth Championship.

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