Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
NCAA Colorado Regional Day 3
Men's golf recap: CSU advances to NCAA championship
5/21/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 21, 2011
Complete Results | NCAA Championship Information
By Danielle Marshall
Athletic Media Relations
ERIE, Colo. - After 15 NCAA regional appearances in program history, Colorado State has advanced to the NCAA championship round for the second time since 1999. The Rams finished second at the NCAA Colorado Regional Saturday, shooting a 279 (-9) in the final round.
The top five teams advancing to the championships are No. 1 Oklahoma State (833, -31), CSU (851, -13), Northwestern (855, -9), No. 12 Georgia (857, -7) and No. 24 Arizona State (857, -7). Colorado State played in a regional with nine teams ranked in the top 50 and finished second only to the top team in the nation.
"We played an absolute great round of golf under the toughest conditions, knowing the top five teams advance to the NCAA final," said Head Coach Jamie Bermel. "It was a total team effort. We shot 9-under-par today and didn't use our top man's score - Ryan Peterson. I am so proud of the guys and the effort they gave this week. It was a tough week of golf with the weather and the delays and they played like champions all week. I think coach Guetz did an awesome job getting them prepared this week. He has been on the Rams' team for only about six weeks, but his efforts and his help have definitely paid huge dividends."
Ryan Peterson, Mike Sorenson and Kory Harrell were the top performers for the Rams, each finishing tied for 16th place with a three-round score of 215 (-1). Peterson tallied a 71-74-70, Sorensen recorded a 75-70-70 and Harrell shot a 72-73-70.
After a rough second round, Zahkai Brown redeemed himself with the top performance of the third round for the Rams. He shot a 69 (-3) on the day and finished with a three-round score of 65-82-69 for a total score of 216 (E), tying for 24th place. Kirby Pettitt improved his final round by six strokes shooting a 70 (-2). He finished with a three-round score of 76-76-70 totaling 222 (+6) tying for 56th place.
"Also, I was so impressed with the number of Ram Masters and Ram boosters who came out to watch and supported the guys," commented Bermel. "I know we were playing at CU's home course, but it felt like we were in Fort Collins. I can't thank everyone enough for coming down and watching the guys. It was a huge help to all of us."
The championships will take place May 31 - June 5 at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla. Thirty teams and six individuals will compete in three rounds of play with the top eight teams advancing to a bracket-style playoff.
"We will let this sink in tonight and get back to work on Sunday," said Bermel. "We need to get better by the time we play in the championship and I know the guys will be up for the task. It was an awesome day of golf and makes us all proud to be CSU Rams!"
2 Colorado State 283-289-279--851
T16 Ryan Peterson 71-70-74--215
T16 Mike Sorenson 75-70-70--215
T16 Kory Harrell 72-73-70--215
T24 Zahkai Brown 65-82-69--216
T56 Kirby Pettitt 76-76-70--222
