For the third year in a row, the Colorado Golf Association has named a Colorado State University golfer as their annual Les Fowler Player of the Year. Sophomore Davis Bryant earned the honor on Monday, coming off the back of his first open (all ages) amateur win in August.
While this is Bryant’s second year competing collegiately for CSU, 2019 marked the start of his open amateur career. Following an 18th place finish at the Saguaro Amateur in Arizona, Bryant finished 14th in the Southwestern Amateur and ninth in the Colorado Match Play Championships over the summer.
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On Aug. 11, Bryant solidified his spot as the top amateur golfer in the state by winning the CGA Amateur Championship, shooting 65-68-73-70 on an extremely difficult Lakewood Country Club course. Recently, Bryant finished second to University of Texas at El Paso golfer Oskar Ambrosius at the Ram Masters Invitational held here in Fort Collins.
Bryant also finished second among amateurs at the CoBank Colorado Open, only finishing behind current CSU senior A.J. Ott. Ott was CGA’s 2018 honoree for Player of the Year and has dominated since, notching a recent win at the Southern Amateur Championship.
Other CSU alumni who have been honored include Jake Staiano (2019), who recently turned pro, and current PGA golfer Zahkai Brown (2012). Ott and Bryant are also previous winners of CGA’s Junior Golfer of the Year, with Ott winning in 2016 and Bryant in 2017.
Bryant is a local product, born and raised in Aurora. He went to Eaglecrest High School in Centennial, where he was the 2017 CHSAA Class 5A High School State Champion and High School Player of the Year. In his freshman campaign at CSU, he finished fourth on the team in scoring, with an average of 72.19 strokes per round (+0.76 to par), and he shot 210 at the Ram Masters Invitational, helping CSU claim their fifth straight team title in the event.
CSU golfers continue to dominate the local scene, and the program itself has grabbed some big wins recently as a product. Earlier this month, the Rams tied for first in the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate Championship, led by strong performances from Ott, Bryant and junior Parathakorn Suyasri.
The Rams also captured their sixth straight Ram Masters Invitational win in September. The team hopes to continue their success as they head to Pebble Beach for the Saint Mary’s Invitational beginning Nov. 4.
Matt Davis can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @MattDavis27.