Rams Head To California For 75th Western Intercollegiate Monday-Wednesday

Tournament: Western Intercollegiate
Dates: April 11-13, 2022
Host: San Jose State University
Location: Santa Cruz, Calif.
Course: Pasatiempo Golf Club
Course Par/Yardage: Par 70 / 6,615 yds
Host Web Site: http://www.westernintercollegiate.golf
Live Scoring: https://csura.ms/3jbbbov
Tournament Field (14): Colorado State, San José State, Arizona, BYU, California, Hawai'i, Oregon, Pepperdine, San Diego State, Stanford, UC Irvine, USC, Texas, Washington
Next on the Tee: Colorado State returns to play at the nationally-renowned 75th Western Intercollegiate presented by Topgolf and Titleist, Monday-Wednesday, April 11-13. The three-day, 54-hole event, hosted by the San Jose State State University, is being played again at Pasatiempo Golf Club (Par 70 - 6,615 yards) in Santa Cruz, Calif., and will be televised on Golf Channel all three days.

Par Five On The Western Intercollegiate

This will be the fifth time that CSU has played in the annual event with its best finish a tie for sixth in 2019.
Of the 14 programs and 84 players competing, 10 had participants as either a team or individual in the 2021 NCAA Regionals (eight teams, two schools with individuals), with four teams and an individual rep that advanced to the NCAA Championships.
In the field, 12 of the 14 participating teams are ranked in the top 101 nationally according to Golfstat, with eight in the top 60, including No. 6 Washington, No. 8 Pepperdine (2021 National Champion), No. 9 Washington, No. 12 Stanford (2019 National Champion), No. 30 Arizona and No. 38 Oregon (2016 National Champion).
Designed by renowned architect Dr. Alister MacKenzie, Pasatiempo Golf Club ranks amongst the best by Golfweek, Golf Digest, and Golf Magazine. A member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, Dr. MacKenzie also designed Augusta National, home of The Masters.
More than half of the most recent winning Ryder Cup US team played in the Western Intercollegiate (Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth, Colin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler), along with John Rahm of the European side.

CSU History In Western Intercollegiate
3/22-23/2004    10th/15     290-286-296=872 (+32)
4/7-8/2018         8th/15       361-355-349=1065 (+15)
4/15-17/2019      t-6th/13   353-363-349=1065 (+15)
4/12-14/2021      10th/13     366-375-364=1105 (+55)

Lineup for the Western Intercollegiate: The Rams are in the traditional play-six, count-five event this week at Pasatiempo Golf Club. For CSU, the lineup will be, as teams play in pairs:
1.      Davis Bryant & Christoph Bleier
2.     Rasmus Hjelm & Oscar Teiffel
3.     Connor Jones & Gavin Hagstrom

Last Time Out: Colorado State rebounded after a tough opening round with its two best rounds of the year to tie for third at the 2022 Wyoming Cowboy Classic Tuesday. The two-day, 54-hole tournament, hosted by the University of Wyoming, was played at Whirlwind Golf Club's Cattail Course (Par 72 - 7,334 yds) in Chandler, Ariz.
       The Rams were in a tie for 13th after the first round on Monday with a 1-over 289, but the five got it rolling on the second 18 and moved up to a tie for fourth when the round was suspended for darkness. The Rams came back out Tuesday morning and finished off the round at an 11-under 277. CSU then improved on that in the final round with a season low-tying 275, to finish at 23-under 841 in a tie with Nevada. San Diego State took home the team title at 39-under 825, with Long Beach State in second at 26-under 838. CSU and Nevada followed with UNLV rounding out the top five teams in the 25-team field at 18-under 846.
       The 13-under in the final round is a season best for the Rams and the lowest under-par score since CSU shot 17-under in the opening round of the 2019 Saint Mary's Invitational. It is also tied for the third lowest final round, relative to par, since 1999-2000, with the top mark a 16-under 272 at the SCVB Pacific Invitational on Oct. 31, 2012 in head coach Christian Newton's first year at the helm. Additionally, the 23-under total for the 54 holes is the 14th-best under-par in program history, as all five Rams went under par in each of the two final rounds in the event.
       Colorado State picked up a significant number of wins against teams above them in the current rankings, including No. 19 Kansas, No. 53 UC Davis, No. 68 TCU and No. 78 Iowa State. The Rams also earned victories over conference rivals Fresno State, Wyoming, Utah State and UNLV and in-state rival Colorado.
       The Rams were led by junior Connor Jones with his best collegiate 54-hole placing, tying for runner-up at 12-under 204, one shot back of medalist Isaac Rodea of Long Beach State. His 12-under total is tied for ninth in CSU's record book for 54-hole, under-par score, as he earned his third top-10 and fourth top-20 finish of the season.
       Senior Davis Bryant also had a top-15 finish, tying for 11th at 8-under 208. This was his fourth top-20 finish of the year and 17th in 35 CSU career events. Sophomore Rasmus Hjelm tied for 26th with a season-best 2-under 214, shooting a pair of 2-under 70s in the final two rounds, both season lows. Senior Oscar Teiffel was next in a tie for 40th at a season-low even-par 216 that included his two best rounds of the year, a 3-under 69 in the second and a 2-under 70 in the final round. Freshman Christoph Bleier rounded out CSU's effort in a tie for 58th at 2-over 218, but was also solid in the final two rounds, with a 1-under 71 and 3-under 69, respectively.
       "The guys had a great week," Newton commented. "I'm really proud of their effort, especially after a rough start in the first round. Everybody shot under par in the last two rounds which was awesome. Congrats to Connor on his runner-up finish as well. This is the first time we've putted well as a team and the result shows. I'm excited to see what we can do in the next three events to close out the regular season."

Last Time at the Western Intercollegiate in 2021: Colorado State finished 10th at the 74th Annual Western Intercollegiate Presented by Topgolf Wednesday. The three-day, 54-hole event, hosted by San Jose State, was played at Pasatiempo Golf Club (Par 70 – 6,615 yards) in Santa Cruz, Calif.
       In this historic tournament that is a unique play-six, count-five event, the Rams started their day off on No. 10 and posted a 14-over 364 to finish at 55-over 1105. No. 7 Pepperdine posted the tournament's best round with a 6-under 344 to finish at 4-under 1046, 11 shots ahead of runner-up Stanford at 7-over 1057. San Diego State was third at 20-over 1070, with Washington at 24-over 1074 and BYU at 27-over 1077 rounding out the top five teams.
       Davis Bryant was the top Ram in the event, shooting a team tournament-best 1-under 69 in the final round to tie for 40th at 9-over 219. AJ Ott tied for 53rd at 11-over 221, with Jack Ainscough one shot back in a tie for 56th at 12-over 222, which included a 1-over 71 in the final 18. Rasmus Hjelm tied for 61st at 14-over 224, while Parathakorn Suyasri tied for 67th at 16-over 226. Gunnar Broin was the final CSU player in 73rd at 19-over 229. Pepperdine's Joe Highsmith took home medalist honors after winning a three-way playoff on the fourth playoff hole.

Military Tribute Bag Continues: In 2021-22, 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 seasons in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
       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 was a Folds of Honor Scholarship recipient at CSU, earning her degree in bio-medical sciences.
       The bag was carried by the top CSU finisher from the previous tournament during the 2019-20 season. AJ Ott carried it the 2020-21 season due to COVID protocols, taking it all the way to the NCAA Championships as an individual. This year, senior Davis Bryant carried the bag during the fall and Connor Jones had it for The Prestige as CSU's top finisher in the team's last fall event. Bryant again used the bag for the last three events, before Jones reclaimed it with his runner up finish at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic.
       In 2019-20, 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.

Bryant, Bleier Earn MW Monthly Awards: Colorado State Davis Bryant and Christoph Bleier have been named Mountain West Golfer and Freshman of the Month, respectively, for September, the league announced today. This is the second conference monthly/weekly award in Bryant's career and the first for Bleier.
       Bryant and Bleier led the Rams to their seventh consecutive Ram Masters Invitational in come-from-behind fashion after weather conditions on the first day led to higher-than-average scores. Bryant tied for runner-up honors in the event for the second time in his career, including a final-round 3-under 67 to help the Rams post a 5-under 275, the only under-par round of the tournament. In his first collegiate event, Bleier also shot a 3-under 67 in the last round to tie Bryant for the low score of the tournament and finish in a tie for sixth in the tournament.

Fast Five On The Rams:

CSU returns play a lineup that includes more than 88 percent of the team rounds this season.
The Rams have had representation in the last four NCAA Regionals competed -- twice by individuals (2017, 2021) and twice with a full team (2018, 2019). The 2020 regionals were not played due to COVID, but CSU was ranked in the top 30 nationally when the season ended early.
The Rams are playing in seven different states for their 11 scheduled tournaments this year, with 10 of them in the Mountain or Pacific time zones. The only trip out of those was the third tournament of the year, when CSU competed in the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate.
Davis Bryant is currently second in career scoring at CSU both in scoring average and versus par.
Head coach Christian Newton now has 13 tournament victories in his nine-plus years as leader of the Rams.

On the World Stage: Two Rams on the current roster are ranked among the top 400 players in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings, as of March 30. The rankings are based on their average performance in selected counting events over the past two calendar years.
Player                                     WAGR
Christoph Bleier                      315
Davis Bryant                           326

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 became 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.

Rams on Tour: Former Colorado State standout Martin Laird, a PGA tour veteran, made a statement 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.
       He made the cut in 14 events, with the win and two other top-25 placings as his top finishes. He earned $1.81 million last season after the 2020 season was halted due to the pandemic. In 2021, his efforts during the regular season earned him a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs for the 11th time in 13 seasons.
       This year, he has made the cut in seven of 11 events and has three top-25 placings.
       For his career, he has surpassed $20.79 million in official PGA Tour winnings and made the cut in almost two-thirds of his 337 PGA Tour starts in his 14-plus years on the top golf tour. Laird was inducted into the CSU Athletic Hall of Fame in the fall of 2017.
                Recent standout Jake Staiano earned a spot on the Korn Ferry Tour this year and made the cut in his first event at the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard in Columbia in mid-February. He moved up the rankings and will have additional guaranteed starts now due to his result.

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