In the game of golf, there’s a saying that goes “If you want to find a man’s true character, play golf with him.”
After a seventh place finish in the Carpet Capital Collegiate down in Rocky Face, Georgia, the Colorado State men’s golf team rebounded with a victory in the eighth annual Ram Masters Invitational.
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#CSURams Capture Sixth Straight Ram Masters Invitational Presented by @pedersentoyota Title — CSU with three players in the top five, including two tying for runner-up honors!
📝: https://t.co/kFqdGb5con#ProudToBe pic.twitter.com/oCRcz5hi5Z
— Colorado State Men’s Golf (@CSUMGolf) September 18, 2019
Starting the season off with a tough tournament down in Georgia filled with high caliber programs paid off for the Rams this week. CSU claimed the trophy with a short lineup, as junior Cullen Plousha did not finish the final round because of a shoulder injury. The maturity to rebound after a slow start Monday and overcome an injury on the final day shows the team’s character.
“Absolutely. It was a great two tournaments to start,” sophomore Davis Bryant said. “We did what we wanted to, improving on last year’s finish in Georgia, then playing well here. We’re excited for Alabama coming up. Everyone is progressing, and you can tell that everyone is learning how to keep it going every day, which is awesome.”
CSU started slow, shooting 285 on their first round Monday morning but bouncing back with an incredible second round to revive their hopes of defending the title. Plousha and sophomores Oscar Teiffel and Bryant all shot 66 in round number two on Monday, which tied or set a career-low for all three golfers, as the Rams finished with a score of 265.
“To me, the impressive part was what Cullen (Plousha) and Oscar (Teiffel) did,” Head Coach Christian Newton said. “They both had really rough mornings, and I wasn’t sure what the afternoon was going to look like, but they turned it around.”
The win on Tuesday marked the sixth straight year that the Rams have captured the title, finishing 9-under par. Senior AJ Ott and Bryant finished tied for second place at 3-under par, while junior Parathakorn Suyasri finished 2-under in a three way tie for third.
“This tournament gave us the confidence for the rest of the year,” Suyasri said. “We played well. It’s not easy to win around here, with all the teams around here. Some of us didn’t have many tournaments during the summer, and Georgia got us back to being more competitive, and that got us ready for this tournament.”
Final Scores:
Team Finishes Ad |
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1 |
Colorado State |
285-265-281=831 (-9) |
2 |
Wyoming |
280-277-288=845 (+5) |
3 |
Cal State Fullerton |
287-280-279=846 (+6) |
4 |
UTEP |
279-281-288=848 (+8) |
5 |
Denver |
283-284-286=853 (+13) |
6 |
Fresno State |
289-280-286=855 (+15) |
7 |
Northern Colorado |
285-288-284=857 (+17) |
8 |
South Dakota |
284-284-292=860 (+20) |
9 |
Utah Valley |
292-282-290=864 (+24) |
10 |
Grand Canyon |
287-295-285=867 (+27) |
11 |
Air Force |
288-290-290=868 (+28) |
12 |
Utah State |
293-291-295=879 (+39) |
13 |
Pacific |
300-281-300=881 (+41) |
14 |
Cal Poly |
296-294-292=882 (+42) |
15 |
Wichita State |
302-294-289=885 (+45) |
16 |
Houston Baptist |
292-294-303=889 (+49) |
17 |
Creighton |
297-304-300=901 (+61) |
Ryan Loberger can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @Lobergerryan.