Ott Heads To NCAA Stillwater Regional May 17-19

Tournament: NCAA Stillwater Regional
Dates: May 17-19, 2021
Host: Oklahoma State University
Location: Stillwater, Okla.
Course: Karsten Creek Golf Club
Course Par/Yardage: Par 72 / 7,449 yds
Host Web Site: http://ncaa.com
Live Scoring: https://csura.ms/33KdHKU
Tournament Field (13): AJ Ott (CSU Ind.), Oklahoma State, Illinois, Auburn, SMU, Notre Dame, Alabama, Baylor, Sam Houston State, Little Rock, Ole Miss, Northwestern, College of Charleston, Middle Tennessee State
Next on the Tee: AJ Ott qualified as an individual and will represent Colorado State at the NCAA Stillwater Regional, May 17-19. The three-day, 54-hole tournament is being played at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.

Advancing from Regionals: The low five teams and the low individual not from those teams at each NCAA Regional site will compete at the NCAA Championships, set for May 28-June 2 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Joining An Elite Group: Ott has become the 14th Ram to play in at least three NCAA Regionals, a list that includes current PGA Tour winner Martin Laird.
Ott's Previous Regional Finishes
2018 (Kissimmee Regional - Kissimmee, Fla.)
t-39.     AJ Ott                                      71-75-70=216 (E)
2019 (Pullman Regional - Pullman, Wash.)
t-17.      AJ Ott                                   70-66-68=204 (-6)

NCAA Regionals (CSU Top Individual Finishes in each)
Yr         Fin.      Name                            Scores (vs. Par)
1996     t-43.     Jeff Fujimoto              75-74-75=224 (+11)
1997     t-58.     Scott Mendelsohn        71-79-74=224 (+8)
1998     5.         Nigel Spence                71-70-72=213 (-3)
1999     t-2.       Nigel Spence                71-71-70=212 (-4)
2000    t-24.     Robby Stephenson       72-69-72=213 (-3)
2001     t-26.     Martin Laird                73-73-74=220 (+4)
2002    t-60.    Martin Laird                 79-71-74=224 (+8)
2003    t-36.     Nolan Martin                77-74-71=222 (+6)
2004    t-26.     Martin Laird                 72-71-77=220 (+4)
2005    t-66.    John Hayes                 74-77-70=221 (+11)
2006    t-46.     Derrick Whiting (Ind.)     72-72-70=214 (-2)
2007    t-18.      Dustin Morris             71-69-66=206 (-10)
2008    t-58.     Riley Arp                     68-74-73=215 (+2)
2009    t-14.      Zen Brown                 78-72-72=222 (+9)
2010     t-8.       Dustin Morris                69-75-71=215 (-1)
            t-8.       Bryce Hanstad              71-72-72=215 (-1)
2011      t-16.     Kory Harrell                  72-73-70=215 (-1)
2012     13.        Cameron Harrell           75-69-73=217 (+1)
2017     t-38.     Jake Staiano (Ind.)        73-74-74=221 (+5)
2018     t-14.      Jake Staiano                 71-68-73=212 (-4)
            t-14.      Max Oelfke                 73-70-69=212 (-4)
2019     t-12.      Jake Staiano               70-64-69=203 (-7)

Ott Named All-Mountain West: Senior AJ Ott has been named All-Mountain West for his play in 2020-21, the league announced today. He is one of 10 selected by the league's coaches to receive the honor.
       "Any time you can make all-conference in the Mountain West is a pretty good honor," head coach Christian Newton said. "The conference is always very deep with really good players. I'm happy for AJ, as this is another accolade for him to add to his awesome career here at CSU."
       Ott leads the Rams in scoring this year, averaging 71.08 strokes per round (-0.54 versus par) in 24 rounds, with 14 of those under par, en route to earning an individual berth in the NCAA Stillwater Regional May 19-21. A 2019-20 All-American, the Fort Collins native picked up his first two individual collegiate wins this season, winning The Prestige Individual Invitational and Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate. In The Prestige, he won a one-hole playoff to earn the title after shooting a career-best 12-under 204 and then followed it up with an 11-under 205 for a two-shot victory at the Wyoming event.
       For his career, Ott has a 72.44 stroke average in 144 rounds played, with his average ranking eighth in CSU annals and his 144 career rounds currently second behind Zen Brown (2005-09) with 147. He has 62 rounds of par or better (seventh at CSU) and 28 in the 60s (sixth at CSU). He has posting seven top-five, 12 top-10 and 21-top 21 finishes in 49 career events, tied for fourth, tied for seventh and sixth, respectively. He will be the 14th CSU player to make three or more regional appearances.
       This is the third time that Ott has been named to the league's top squad, also garnering the award in 2017-18 and 2019-20. He is just the second Ram to be named All-Mountain West three times, joining four-time PGA Tour winner Martin Laird in that elite group, as Laird received the honor in 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04.

Last Time Out: Colorado State shot its best round of the tournament in the final 18 and finished sixth at the 2021 Mountain West Championship Saturday. The two-day, 54-hole event is being played at Omni Tucson National Resort Catalina Course (Par 72 – 7,194 yards) in Tucson, Ariz.
       The Rams entered the final round in sixth and remained there after posting a 6-under 282 to finish at even-par 864 for the tournament. New Mexico and Nevada tied for the conference title at 19-under 845 and went to a team playoff, where UNM won with a 2-over team score as compared to Nevada's 3-over. San Diego State and UNLV tied for third at 14-under 850, with Boise State in fifth at 3-under 851.
       Davis Bryant was in the hunt for medalist honors throughout the final round, getting to 9-under overall at one point in the back nine. However, a late stumble had him shoot a 2-under 70 for the day and finish at 6-under 210, one shot out of a four-way playoff for the individual title. AJ Ott tied for 17th at 2-under 214, while Rasmus Hjelm also shot a 2-under 70 and tied for 29th at 3-over 219. Parathakorn Suyasri tied for 34th at 6-over 222, while Oscar Teiffel finished 48th at 12-over 228. San Diego State's Puwit Anupansuebsai won the medalist honor in a four-way playoff with a birdie on the second playoff hole.
       "Davis was so close to taking home the win," head coach Christian Newton said. "He will learn from the experience and will be ready at the next opportunity. It looks like AJ will have a shot to advance to the NCAA Regionals as an individual to continue his stellar career. As a team, we just didn't get it done this week or this spring. I look forward to the challenge starting again next fall."

Fast Five On the 2020-21 Season:

This is the 21st NCAA Regional appearance (team or individual) for CSU, with four consecutive (taking out the pandemic year where the Rams were in line to qualify) under head coach Christian Newton
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 nine years as leader of the Rams.

Last Time at NCAA Regionals in May 2019: Golf is a game of inches and over 54 holes of team play, Colorado State had done enough to get into a tie for fifth at the 2019 NCAA Pullman Regional. However, it was also by a matter of inches that the Rams fell in the team one-hole playoff to South Carolina for the final advancing spot at Palouse Ridge Golf Club (Par 70 – 7,232 yards) in Pullman, Wash., on Wednesday afternoon.
       Starting in the first wave off No. 10, the Rams got it rolling again in the early stages of the day, making the turn in 12-under for the day and at 24-under par. The wind had shifted in the opposite direction from the first two days and the Rams fought it in the final nine and finished at 21-under in a tie with Gamecocks. After the field finished, the two teams headed back out to the ninth hole in two waves. The two teams were tied at even after the first wave, but South Carolina managed a birdie among their final three players and CSU was unable to match, advancing the Gamecocks as the final team in the NCAA Championship field.
       Second-round leader No. 20 Texas A&M maintained its lead and won the event at 33-under 807, two shots better than No. 32 BYU at 31-under 809. No. 5 Oklahoma at 30-under 810 and No. 8 Georgia Tech at 22-under 818 also advanced out of the regional.
       CSU was led by senior Jake Staiano, who posted a 1-under 69 in the final 18 and finished at 7-under 203 in a tie for 12th. Junior AJ Ott was one shot back at 6-under 204 after a 2-under 68 in the last round and tied for 17th. Freshman Davis Bryant had the low final round for the Rams, shooting a 4-under 66 and finishing at 4-under 206, tying for 27th. Freshman Oscar Teiffel tied for 33rd at 2-under 208, while sophomore Parathakorn Suyasri tied for 47th at 2-over 212. BYU's Rhett Rasmussen was the regional medalist, finishing at 15-under 195 for the three rounds.

On the World Stage: Five Rams on the current roster are ranked among the top 1300 players in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings, as of May 12, The rankings are based on their average performance in selected counting events over the past two calendar years.
Player                                     WAGR
AJ Ott                                      148
Parathakorn Suyasri                206
Davis Bryant                             415
Jack Ainscough                        727
Rasmus Hjelm                          1095
Oscar Teiffel                             1205

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 has carried 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)

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 316 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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