Colorado State men’s golf head coach Christian Newton announced on Wednesday that former Colorado State Ram Parker Edens would be rejoining the team as an assistant coach.
Edens transferred into CSU’s program in 2010 and sat out the 2010-11 season due to transfer rules. Edens joined the Rams as Newton was taking over and found great success under him as a player. Returning to his alma mater, Edens will look to foster the same success, this time alongside Newton on the coaching staff.
Edens is rejoining the program amid a remarkable season for the Rams. Having just gone into the winter break, the Rams find themselves at No. 5 in Golfstat’s national rankings.
“I am ready to get to work,” Edens said. “Christian (Newton) has something really special going here, and I’m excited to dig in and help keep this thing going.”
In his time at CSU, Edens was always at the top of the pack, finishing first and second on the team in stroke averages in his junior and senior seasons. Following his graduation, he spent three years on professional tours, playing mostly in the Dakotas and Web.com (now Korn Ferry).
He got his first taste of coaching when he volunteered to assist the Rams during the 2016 Mountain West Championship, a tournament in which the team would shoot their best course score since 2010.
Edens began coaching under former women’s golf head coach Annie Young in 2017 at the University of Tulsa. Young has praised Edens for his work ethic, as well as his knowledge of the short game and swing mechanics.
Newton echoed the same praises today.
“He is extremely loyal and epitomizes a blue-collar work ethic that is part of our culture; he has had success in college and professional golf,” Newton said. “Those experiences will make him an invaluable resource to our student-athletes. It’s great to have Parker back in Ram Country.”
The Rams don’t tee off again until the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate tournament in late February, but these winter months will be crucial practice time for the program.
Under Newton, the team has only posted one tournament win in the second half of their season, something the Rams will have to do if they want to maintain their high ranking and their odds of earning a regional tournament berth.
Matt Davis can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @MattDavis27.
