CSU Travels To Arizona For National Invitational Tournament March 20-21

Tournament: National Invitational Tournament
Dates: March 20-21, 2021
Host: University of Arizona
Location: Tucson, Ariz.
Course: Omni Tucson National Resort Catalina Course
Course Par/Yardage: Par 72 / 7,167 yds
Host Web Site: http://arizonawildcats.com
Live Scoring: http://csura.ms/3vJ2Xcz
Tournament Field (18): Colorado State, Arizona, Colorado, Houston, Illinois, Iowa State, Miami, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, San Diego, San Diego State, Texas, UNLV, USC, Utah, Wyoming

Next on the Tee: Colorado State is continuing its West Coast play, participating in the National Invitational Tournament, March 20-21. The two-day, 54-hole tournament is being played at Omni Tucson National Resort-Catalina Course in Tucson, Ariz. The Rams will play the first round predominantly with Houston, with the number ones of Utah, Iowa State and Houston.

Lineup for the National Invitational Tournament: The Rams are in the traditional play-five, count-four event this week at Omni Tucson National Resort. For CSU, the lineup will be:
1.     AJ Ott
2.     Parathakorn Suyasri
3.     Davis Bryant
4.     Gunnar Broin
5.     Rasmus Hjelm
Ind. Cullen Plousha

National Invitational Tournament (CSU All-Time Results)
Dates                    Place/Teams      Scores (vs. Par)
3/22-23/2009       8th/15 295-286-299=880 (+16)
3/17-18/2010       6th/14   297-293-283=873 (+9)
3/21-22/2011       8th/15 302-294-292=888 (+32)
2/28-3/2/2015     t-10th/15 300-293-297=890 (+26)
2/28-3/1/2016     6th/14    286-290-283=859 (-5)
2/27-28/2017       7th/16     293-282-289=864 (E)
2/25-26/2018       8th/16    282-283-290=855 (-9)
3/18-19/2019       4th/16 280-281-278=839 (-25)

Last Time Out: Against a very high-level field, Colorado State posted its best round of the tournament and improved two spots to finish fifth at the 2021 Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic Wednesday. The three-day, 54-hole tournament, hosted by University of San Diego and San Diego State University, was played at San Diego Country Club (Par 72 – 7,033 yards) in Chula Vista, Calif.
       The Rams posted their best score of the event, shooting an even-par 288 to finish at 13-over 877 in fifth. Second-round leader UCLA finished at 4-over 868 to win the event by six shots over Nevada at 10-over 874. Washington was third at 11-over 875, with co-host San Diego in fourth at 12-over 876.
       Parathakorn Suyasri was the top Ram at 1-over 217 following a final-round even-par 72, tying for 11th. AJ Ott rallied with the best round of the tournament for CSU, a 3-under 69 and moved up to a tie for 17th at 3-over 219. Davis Bryant tied for 23rd at 5-over 221, while freshmen Gunnar Broin and Rasmus Hjelm, each in the first collegiate event, tied for 55th at 10-over 226. Devon Bling of UCLA won the individual title at 4-under 212, one shot ahead of San Diego's Ryan Bisharat.

Fast Five On the 2020-21 Season:
This is the third team tournament of the season for the Rams.
Senior AJ Ott returned and has taken home his first and second individual titles in his first two events while earning back-to-back Mountain West Golfer of the Week honors. Not only was he named Golfweek National Player of the Week but enters this week as the top-ranked men's golfer in the nation on Golfstat's individual rankings.
The wins by AJ Ott were the 30th and 31st individual titles won by a CSU player in the modern era (since 1991-92).
Five Rams (Suyasri, Bryant, Ott, Jack Ainscough and Oscar Teiffel) are all in the top 15 in career scoring at CSU.
Head coach Christian Newton now has 11 tournament victories in his eight years as leader of the Rams.

Last Time at NIT in March 2019:
       Colorado State tied for the second-best final round and moved up two spots to finish fourth at the 2019 National Invitational Tournament March 18-19.
       Playing in a field of 16 teams in which 12 were represented in NCAA postseason competition last year, the No. 52 Rams shot their best round of the tournament with a 10-under 278 to move up to fourth at 25-under 839. No. 4 Arizona State held its lead through 36 holes with a 17-under 271 in the final round to finish at 50-under 814, 21 shots ahead of No. 7 Southern Cal in second at 29-under 835. No. 5 Oklahoma placed third, just three shots ahead of CSU at 28-under 836. No. 42 Iowa State rounded out the top five teams at 24-under 840.
       All five Rams finished under par for the tournament, led by the trio of sophomore Parathakorn Suyasri, senior Jake Staiano and freshman Oscar Teiffel in a tie for 13th at 6-under 210. Suyasri had the best round of the day for CSU with a 5-under 67, including seven birdies and an eagle on the eighth hole, his fifth hole of the day in the shotgun start. Junior AJ Ott fired a 4-under 68 on the day with six birdies and two bogeys en route to a tie for 26th at 3-under 213. Freshman Davis Bryant also finished at 1-under 215 for the tournament, tying for 37th.

All-Americans and Other Awards in 2019-20:
The Rams reeled in numerous awards for their outstanding work on and off the course in 2019-20.
PING Honorable Mention All-Americans: Davis Bryant and AJ Ott (4th & 5th in CSU history)
GCAA All-West Region: Davis Bryant, AJ Ott, Parathakorn Suyasri
All-Mountain West: Davis Bryant, AJ Ott, Parathakorn Suyasri
GCAA All-America Scholars: Andrew Lafferty, AJ Ott, Parathakorn Suyasri, Oscar Teiffel
Academic All-Mountain West: Jack Ainscough, Andrew Lafferty, AJ Ott, Parathakorn Suyasri, Oscar Teiffel
GCAA All-Academic Team: Colorado State (Eighth consecutive year)

Newton Named to GCAA National Advisory Board
Head coach Christian Newton was named to the Golf Coaches Association of America National Advisory Board, effective July 1, 2020. This is the first time that a CSU coach has been named to this prestigious position.
Newton was elected by his fellow coaches at the GCAA National Convention in December of 2019 and will become the Third Vice President on July 1, 2020.
It is a 10-year commitment, where every two years he will move up the ranks after each Presidents' term is up. He will become the Second Vice President from 2022-24, First Vice President from 2024-26 before becoming President in 2026-28. Following that, he will serve a two-year stint as the Past President from 2028-30.

More Tap-In Putts On CSU in 2019-20:
Last season, the Rams against schools from the various conferences are:
Mountain West – 12-1
Pac-12 – 8-2 (43-32-1 over last three years)
Big Ten – 1-0 (8-0 over last three years)
Southeastern Conference (SEC) – 6-3
Atlantic Coast Conference – 1-1-1
The Rams finished in the top five in four of their six events this year, holding a 78-15-2 head-to-head record.
CSU had one individual win, eight top-five, nine top-10 and 14 top-20 finishes in just six events.
Sophomore Davis Bryant posted par or better scores in 12 of his last 14 rounds as he posted his third top-5 finish of the year and his collegiate career.
Junior AJ Ott posted 11 of his 17 rounds at par or better last year
After a slow start in the opening tournament, junior Parathakorn Suyasri finished in the top five of three of his next five and top-25 in all five tournaments (T-5, 1st, T-3, T-21, T-24)

Making A Mark Nationally: The Rams made their presence known on the national scene the last two years, finishing No. 41 in the nation according to the Golfweek ratings & No. 45 according to Golfstat's ratings in 2017-18 and ranked No. 41 according to Golfstat and No. 43 by Golfweek last season. Utilizing Golfstat, CSU was the top-ranked Division I golf team in the state and second in the Mountain West behind UNLV.
       Within the region in 2018-19, CSU recorded a 84-28-1 head-to-head record with an 18-12-1 record against Pac-12 schools and 26-11 versus the Mountain West, which had five teams in the Regionals for the first time since 2012 (#27 UNLV, #41 CSU, #49 Nevada, #58 San Jose State and #70 New Mexico).
       In 2019-20, the Rams were a stellar 46-5-1 against West region teams and 78-15-2 overall in head-to-head matchups. Against top-25 teams, the Rams finished 7-5-2 overall (.571). Finishing 21st in team scoring versus par this year, CSU ended the season as the top team in the state (by 58 places over Colorado in second and 79 over Denver in third) and Mountain West (nine places ahead of San Diego State) and fourth in the West region.
       This season, the Rams enter their schedule receiving votes in the GCAA Coaches Poll.

On the World Stage: Five Rams on the current roster are ranked among the top 1000 players in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings, as of March 17, The rankings are based on their average performance in selected counting events over the past two calendar years.
Player                                      WAGR
AJ Ott                                      80
Parathakorn Suyasri                96
Davis Bryant                           405
Jack Ainscough                       710
Oscar Teiffel                           971

Individual National Rankings: Colorado State's success on the course is due to the entire lineup, as several golfers are ranked significantly in the key NCAA Division I metrics. The Rams' final 2019-20 rankings were:

Player                       Golfweek                Golfstat
Davis Bryant             53                            39
Parathakorn Suyasri 55                            80
AJ Ott                       60                            124
Jack Ainscough        349                          244
Oscar Teiffel             641                          690
*The top three Rams ranked higher than all other collegiate golfers in the state of Colorado by at least 165 places.

Military Tribute Bag Continues: In 2020-21, CSU is continuing its tradition of honoring those who have served our country through the military. This year, the program is again recognizing U.S. Army veteran Charles W. Williamson III, due to the shortened season in 2019-20.
       Williamson served almost 17 years on active duty before medically retiring as a Sergeant First Class in 2007. He was part of a tank effort in Operation Desert Storm and through his first nine years of service, he was an Armor Crewman and held every position on a tank, including tank commander. During his military career, he also served as a Platoon Sergeant and Head Cadre, the instructor for the Individual Readiness Training for Bosnia rotations. He also served as a recruiter for the Army, retiring as Commander of a six-man recruiting station. From his service, he received numerous awards, bages, ribbons and commendations, including for meritorius service, His daughter Katelyn is a senior at CSU and is a Folds of Honor Scholarship recipient studying bio-medical sciences.
       The bag was carried by the top CSU finisher from the previous tournament during the 2019-20 season. Davis Bryant earned the honor after winning the qualifying event for the first week's Capital Carpet Collegiate at Georgia Tech, Sept. 6-8. Five different Rams carried the bag during the 2018-19 season. However this year, senior AJ Ott will carry the bag the entire season due to CoVID protocols.
       Last year, the military tribute bag debuted, honoring former golfer and late U.S. Army veteran James "Jerry" Jackson. Jackson had served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, eventually passing away from lasting effects from exposure to Agent Orange from his service.

2019-20 Tournament                         Player Carrying                Finish
Carpet Capital Collegiate                   Davis Bryant                    t-18th
Ram Masters Invitational                   AJ Ott                              t-2nd
Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate    AJ Ott                              t-7th
Saint Mary's Invitational                    Parathakorn Suyasri        t-3rd
Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate        Davis Bryant                    t-31st
Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic         Davis Bryant                    t-5th

Showing the Growth: Under head coach Christian Newton, CSU continues to show growth on the national stage, as the Rams play a high-level schedule each year. With the performance this season, Newton's teams moved to a 62.9 percent winning record in his eight years according to Golfstat. Newton moved ahead of both Jamie Bermel (1994-99 - 62.1 percent) Mark Crabtree (1994-99 - 57.0 percent) and Newton has 11 career CSU team tournament titles to Crabtree's five.
       As a team in 2018-19, the Rams were ranked #5 in the region in scoring versus par at +0.27 per round. This season, the Rams were #7 at -1.61 per round.

Bryant Named CGA Player of the Year: Colorado State men's golf continues to make its impact on the state's golf scene, as sophomore Davis Bryant was named the 2019 Colorado Golf Association Les Fowler Player of the Year as the state's top amateur golfer, the organization announced. He is the third straight CSU golfer to earn the award as former Ram Jake Staiano took home the award in 2017 and current senior AJ Ott won the award in 2018.
       Bryant won the honor in part from his title in winning the CGA Amateur at Lakewood Country Club this past summer in his first time in competing in the championship. He also finished second among the amateurs (to Ott) at the CoBank Colorado Open. In addition, Bryant advanced to the round of 16 at the CGA Match Play and eventually finished atop the CGA Player of the Year standings.

Ram on Tour: Former Colorado State standout Martin Laird, a PGA tour veteran, has made a statement already in the 2021 season with his fourth career victory on tour, a playoff win at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. This was his second in in the event as he also captured the title in 2009.
       So far, he has made the cut in five events, with the win and a tie for 17th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions as his top finishes. He has earned $1.42 million this season after the 2020 season was halted due to the pandemic. In 2019, his efforts during the regular season earned him a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs for the 10th time in 12 seasons.
       For his career, he has surpassed $19.23 million in official PGA Tour winnings and made the cut in almost two-thirds of his 312 PGA Tour starts in his 13-plus years on the top golf tour. Laird was inducted into the CSU Athletic Hall of Fame in the fall of 2017.

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