Wait Worth the While for Rams
Men's golf reaches goal of NCAA Championships
Mike Brohard
They put in the work, and then they waited.
Shortly after Colorado State’s men’s golf team had finished play at the NCAA Auburn Regional, a weather delay hit the course, leaving a few holes still to be completed and a team with a mathematical shot to catch the Rams. All they were waiting for was the official word they had snapped the streak.
A 12-year wait to qualify for the NCAA Tournament once again, for the third time in program history. Truth be told, Washington, the team chasing CSU for the fifth and final spot into the field had a lot of work to do in a short time. Reaction to the wait varied.
“I think we were sitting in a pretty good spot. I felt good about it, because 18 and 9 were both tough,” Connor Jones said. “It was more so waiting for Christoph (Bleier) to see if he was going to win the individual title. I think we had a pretty good idea we were going to make it as a team. It would have been a miracle; all of their guys would have to birdie out.
“I wasn’t stressing as much as the other guys. I think Davis (Bryant) and coach were a little more antsy. Eighteen was the hardest hole on the course all week, so I knew five of those guys were not going to birdie that hole.”
Jay Pabin looked at the scenario the same way, noting he’s not a sceptic, more of a realist. Collecting birdies on the hardest holes would not be realistic, so he felt good.
Coaches are built differently. They deal in facts. They also know the tales of the impossible are what make sports magical.
“I’ve seen crazy stuff happen in the game. Until you see that finish by all the teams, that’s when it’s final,” said CSU coach Michael Wilson, in his first year guiding the program. “It was weird, because there were probably only a couple players who needed to play a couple holes for it to be final, so it’s like 15 more minutes of play.”
Still, the Rams had to wait. And the players were right. Washington didn’t pull off a miracle, and as Jones noted, Ohio State’s Maxwell Moldovan posted a bogie on No. 9, sharing the individual title with Bleier.
And the rain which made them wait also put a bit of a damper on the celebratory mood.
“Ordinarily, after a long round in the rush of everything, there’s probably a celebration,” Wilson said. “It wasn’t like that. It was waiting, then it just happened, and it was like, OK, let’s just get to the airport.”
Three days of work had netted the result of achieving a goal set at the beginning of the season, to reach the final weekend of play, starting this week at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. The tournament runs May 26-31, the field being paired down after three days of stroke play.
Grayhawk, which opened in 1994, is hosting the NCAA Championships – men’s and women’s – for the third consecutive year. And the tournament is unlike any other the Rams have played in this season. Instead of the normal three days of stroke play, it extends to six days to declare a team champion. The first three days involve all 30 teams, and at the conclusion of those days, an individual titlist will be declared. The fourth day, also stroke play, will be whittled down to the final 15 teams for one more round. Then on the final two days – both match play – the field shrinks to eight and then four teams on the first day, with the two final teams playing for the title.
My goal wasn’t just to get there, and I think we’ve had that all year. It’s a good feeling to get it done, but at the same time, it’s not all we want to do.Connor Jones
The format changes, but Wilson’s team will not.
“Ultimately, we’re not changing anything in the formula or the process – shot to shot, day to day – but it’s a different tournament, it’s a different format,” Wilson said. “It’s a longer marathon, so you play four rounds, then 36 holes the fifth day and the sixth day is match play followed by the longest practice round in golf.
“I mean, whatever it is, we’re going to compete hard, play hard. We’re happy to be here, so whatever the format is, we’ll figure out a way.”
In the buildup to the event, he has his players focused on remaining hydrated and rested. He wants them fresh in mind, body and spirit.
Naturally, spirits are high among the six players who will travel who have reached a rare destination for the program. The Rams’ first trip to the tournament was back in 1999.
“It’s definitely exciting. Relief,” Pabin said. “You work all year toward a goal and Christoph and Conner played great and got us across the finish line. It was definitely a relief. We were all pretty tired after the day.
“It feels pretty cool. It’s unique. It’s a nice feeling to know we’ll be in the history of CSU men’s golf from now on.”
Bleier, whose medalist honors came after shooting a 7-under 209 over the three days, has led the team the past two weekends, sharing medalist honors at the Mountain West Championships. Jones was not far behind, his 5-under 211 putting him third as an individual.
The team’s first round was great. The second round wasn’t as good, but the Rams remained in the hunt for the team title. The third round saw them fall back a bit and, in the position to hold on, the 16th hole was a boon for the team in the final push, playing it 4-under as a group, highlighted by a Jones’ eagle.
For Jones, the accomplishment is to be noted, but his sense is it wasn’t all the team was out to record. Happy to make the field wasn’t on his goal sheet.
“It was a good feeling. We started to let it slip toward the end, but I think we kind of manifested it all year we were going to be there,” Jones said. “It was a stepping-stone goal; it’s not the end goal. It was a good feeling to get it done. I think kind of from the beginning we knew this team was different than teams we had in the past. It’s a really good feeling, but at the same time, it maybe didn’t feel as good as we thought it would because it’s kind of like a stepping stone. My goal wasn’t just to get there, and I think we’ve had that all year. It’s a good feeling to get it done, but at the same time, it’s not all we want to do.”
Built different is the feeling they’ve all shared, and it directly correlates to Wilson stepping in as the head coach shortly before the start of the season, hired on Aug. 5, 2023, to be exact.
What he instilled was a competitive format for everything, starting with practice. Spots were not guaranteed until late in the season, with qualifying taking place constantly. At this point, the players feel they’ve been through the rigors of a season just among themselves.
It creates callouses for the rough moments. Pabin lauds the play of Bleier and Jones, saying the rest of the squad has to do their part to help the cause, knowing full well they are capable of doing their part. They’ve done it throughout the season.
“We were always in competition, and then we got out to the tournament, and we thought, we’ve been doing this the last eight months so we’re ready,” Pabin said. “I don’t think anybody thought about it. We played a tournament, and we got top five. I think we expected more. We set ourselves up to win the tournament. We fell back, but it was good because the first two days we played so well, and Connor and Christoph carried us through.
“That inspires us, and I think it fires up Davis, Moose (Rasmus Hjelm) and myself. We’re ticked we’re not playing better. We’re looking around like, those guys are doing it. We play with them and compete with them every day. They do the same stuff, so we need to step up and help them out. It motivates us, and we’re just going to let our horses run. We don’t want to get in their way.”
Neither did a wait. Not one for a couple of hours, not one for 12 seasons. All of it, from the first tournament in the fall to the trip to Alabama, was part of the process. While the path to winning will be varied, to the Rams, it carries a familiar feel.
“It’s a different format, but it’s still the same. You wake up every day and its one day of golf at a time,” Jones said. “It’s longer and a different format, but I think we can take how we prepared all year and take it one day at a time and one shot at a time. Hopefully that will go all six days.”
For this current roster of Rams, that’s just how they work.