Rams Rally Final Day of Rams Masters

From the mountain backdrops and clear blue skies of Fort Collins, Colo., there can't be a better view, except for 54 holes played over two days.

Colorado State opened the first weekend of their fall schedule at the 14th annual Rams Masters Invitational, held at the Fort Collins Country Club.

"It's always fun to open up at home. Fort Collins Country Club is a really special place for us, our guys are out here quite a bit," coach Jack Kennedy said. "The staff treats us like we're members, which is great. Then getting to compete at a Division I tournament at a high level on a course like this is really special."

With 36 holes being played on day one, the Rams finished out another 18 to take fifth place, shooting 2-under par on the final day. Sitting above UC Davis and Tulsa by six strokes, the Rams were able to fight their way up from the tentative seventh-place standing Friday.

Using the familiar surroundings to their advantage, the Rams made a way to leapfrog teams in the field.

"We know the course so well, and we've been prepping out here for weeks in advance. We did a lot of qualifying here, and having played the tournament in the past, we kind of know what to expect, where the pins are going to be, just how much harder it's going to be to play in tournament conditions compared to what we see on a daily basis," Owen Mullen said. "It was so firm and fast, and you've got to be really patient and disciplined about missing it in the right spots. You just can't force it out here, which I know that's where we can kind of outlast people."

As it turns out, a good night's sleep was all the Rams needed. Coming off two over-par rounds, CSU knew they needed to up their game if they wanted to place in the top.

Colorado State was just one of three teams to shoot under par during the final round.

"Today we just cleaned up the little mistakes we made yesterday. It was all little stuff we just beat ourselves with. Three putting, bogeying par fives, having a wedge in our hand, not making birdies or pars," Kennedy said. "Today we just cleaned most of that stuff up, about 90% of it. That's why we gave ourselves a chance to be competitive late in the round, it was nice to see as a coach improvement from day one to day two."

Round one proved to be a challenge for the Rams, but not for individual Florentin Meller.

Playing 11 holes at par and finishing at 5-under, Meller showed he could perform on his own, establishing his bid for a place in the team lineup for the next tournament.

Despite having a rough third round finishing 5-over, Meller opened the Masters with the intensity the Rams brought into the third.

"It was a good start, We definitely have to get rid of our small mistakes and just improve it," Meller said. "I feel like the team is in a good spot right now. We're just going to keep working."

Picking who would represent the Rams was a hard challenge for Kennedy, who said there's lots of depth on the team, both in age and experience.

As a graduate student, Mullen has the flow of college golf down, playing a consistent three rounds.

Mullen saw his best round early in the weekend, hitting six birdies to finish at 2-under par, struggling more in the second round, and finishing strong at even to wrap up the weekend.

However his struggle in the second round may be attributed to an unlucky break – literally – breaking his driver.

"On my 17th hole yesterday, I hit a weird ball flight. I didn't think much of it and then I got to my 18th hole, hit it again, and the ball dove out of the air. I looked down and the driver face was totally broken," Mullen said. "I have a backup driver, but I never really bring it with me. I was leaving my apartment yesterday morning and got in my car then decided to go back into my apartment and grab the extra driver. So I had it with me in the car."

Intuition came to Mullen's side, granting him a way to finish out the weekend strong.

Matching the flow from yesterday, Charlie Tucker finished the third round at 2-under, closing the tournament a 1-over.

"For me it was very similar, so I'm very happy to see the other guys doing well. I think even though however many back we were to start the day, we were all very confident we had a low one in us. Each one of us individually has shot good scores here, so there's no reason we couldn't all do it at the same time today," Mullen said. "I was by myself yesterday, but I got to play with Charlie Tucker today. We're really good friends, and it was a good vibe out there. He was nails down the stretch, and it was fun to watch."

Tucker rounded out the weekend personally in seventh place, tied with Mullen.

As the first tournament of the year, this is just the beginning for the Rams, with many more 36-18 tournaments to go. Stroke after stroke, and putt after putt, the Rams look to continue this momentum into the rest of the fall season.

"Nobody wins the national championship in September. We've got 12 more tournaments to play, something like 2,500 more strokes to go," Kennedy said. "It's just the first start. We're not gonna get too high and too low about it. We're gonna build off the good stuff and try to forget about the bad."

Forget about the bad is what they must do as they prepare to leave for California on Saturday, ready to refuel, reset, and recharge and do it all again.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Florentin Meller

Owen Mullen

Charlie Tucker

Players Mentioned

Florentin Meller

Owen Mullen

Charlie Tucker

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Colorado State University Athletics