CSU Heads To Utah For PING BYU Cougar Classic

Tournament: PING BYU Cougar Classic
Dates: April 23-24, 2021
Host: Brigham Young University
Location: Provo, Utah
Course: Riverside Country Club
Course Par/Yardage: Par 71 / 7,319 yds
Host Web Site: http://byucougars.com
Live Scoring: https://csura.ms/3gr8v5Z
Tournament Field (19): Colorado State, BYU, Air Force, Boise State, Denver, Dixie State, Gonzaga, Loyola Marymount, Nevada, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Saint Mary's (CA), San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara, UNLV, Utah, Utah Valley, Wyoming

Next on the Tee: Colorado State will play its last tournament before conference at the PING BYU Cougar Classic. The two-day, 54-hole tournament is being played at Riverside Country Club in Provo, Utah.

Lineup for the PING BYU Cougar Classic: The Rams are in the play-five, count-four event this week at Riverside Country Club. For CSU, the lineup will be:
1.      AJ Ott
2.     Davis Byrant
3.     Parathakorn Suyasri
4.     Rasmus Hjelm
5.     Oscar Teiffel

PING BYU Cougar Classic (CSU All-Time Results)
Dates                     Place/Teams            Scores (vs. Par)
4/21-22/2000           t-6th/15          290-292-290=872 (+8)
4/13-14/2001             t-5th/16           299-293-279=871 (+7)
4/19-20/2002           t-1st/15                  284-285=569 (-7)
4/25-26/2003          1st/12             283-288-286=857 (-7)
4/23-24/2004           1st/15            286-287-272=845 (-19)
4/22-23/2005           3rd/20          284-267-278=829 (-35)
4/14-15/2006            t-6th/16         283-284-275=842 (-22)
4/20-21/2007           3rd/18            285-289-282=856 (-8)
4/24-25/2009          2nd/14           289-285-277=851 (-13)
4/23-24/2010           1st/18             285-284-281=850 (-14)
4/15-16/2011             1st/18             284-288-275=847 (-17)
4/27-28/2012            2nd/9            285-293-277=855 (-9)
4/26-27/2013           8th/9            287-293-296=876 (+12)
4/24-25/2015            1st/11              278-286-289=853 (-11)
4/11-12/2016             4th/10             289-287-287=863 (-1)
4/19-20/2019           3rd/15           277-288-282=847 (-17)

Last Time Out: Colorado State tied for 15th at the ASU Thunderbird Collegiate. The two-day, 54-hole event, hosted by Arizona State University, was played at Papago Golf Course (Par 71 – 7,319 yards) in Phoenix, Ariz.
       Against eight teams ranked in the top 32, the Rams rebounded after a slow first round with their best round of the season in the second round completed this morning, shooting a 7-under 276. However, they were unable to capitalize on it as they continued on into the final round and shot a 12-over 295 to finish at 10-over 862 in a tie with Long Beach State. TCU won the title at 34-under 818, four shots ahead of host Arizona State at 30-under 822. Oklahoma State was third at 29-under 823, with Texas Tech at 28-under 824 and Oregon State at 23-under 829 completing the top five squads.
       Davis Bryant was the top Ram for the second straight event, tying for 38th at 1-under 212, including a team-season best 6-under 65 in the second round. AJ Ott was next in a tie for 56th at 3-over 216, with Parathakorn Suyasri in a tie for 64th at 4-over 217. Rasmus Hjelm posted his low round of the season, a 4-under 67 in the second 18, and ended in a tie for 75th at 6-over 219. Jack Ainscough was the final Ram at 11-over 224, tied for 89th. A trio of golfers tied for medalist at 12-under 201.

Fast Five On the 2020-21 Season:
This is the sixth 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 Cougar Classic in April 2019:
       Colorado State rallied in the final round, tying for the second best score and moved up to finish third at the 2019 PING Cougar Classic, Friday and Saturday, April 19-20. The two-day, 54-hole tournament, hosted by Brigham Young University, was played at Riverside Country Club (Par 72 – 7,142 yards) in Provo, Utah.
       Entering the day in fifth, the No. 46 Rams moved up the leaderboard through solid play from the squad in posting a 6-under 282 to finish at 17-under 847. Host BYU won the team title at 24-under 840, five shots ahead of runner-up Boise State. Northern Colorado was fourth behind the Rams, shooting a 15-under 849, with Denver in fifth at 14-under 850.
       Sophomore Parathakorn Suyasri led the Rams as the tournament's runner-up, shooting a 5-under 67 in the final 18 to post a 9-under 207, eight shots back of champion Peter Kuest of host BYU at 17-under 199. Freshman Davis Bryant placed seventh at 6-under 210, while fellow freshman Oscar Teiffel also had a top-10 finish in a tie for 10th at 4-under 212. Junior AJ Ott tied for 52nd at 5-over 221, while senior Jake Staiano recorded at 7-over 223 to tie for 58th. Playing as an individual, sophomore Jack Ainscough tied for 30th at 1-over 217.

On the World Stage: Five Rams on the current roster are ranked among the top 1100 players in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings, as of April 21, The rankings are based on their average performance in selected counting events over the past two calendar years.
Player                                     WAGR
AJ Ott                                      126
Parathakorn Suyasri                157
Davis Bryant                             437
Jack Ainscough                        744
Oscar Teiffel                             945
Rasmus Hjelm                          1016

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

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 President's 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.

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)

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.

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 eight events, with the win and a tie for 17th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions as his top finishes. He has earned $1.58 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 $19.33 million in official PGA Tour winnings and made the cut in almost two-thirds of his 314 PGA Tour starts, including the most-recent The Masters, 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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