Men’s, women’s golf face tough competition over break

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Collegian | Gregory James

Colorado State women’s golf player Fancy Arphamongkol tees off at the Colonel Wollenberg Ptarmigan Ram Classic, Oct. 19, 2021. The golf invitational was the Colorado State women’s golf team’s first and only home meet of the season. Colorado State notched a third place finish overall.

Ruby Kayser

Bailey Shepherd, Sports Reporter
March 20, 2022

Another spring break has come and gone for the students and athletes of Colorado State University. While many students have been using this time to unwind, student-athletes have not stopped competing, and that includes the men’s and women’s golf teams. Over the break, the two teams made separate trips to Arizona, where the women’s golf team recorded the 11th-place finish at the 2022 Clover Cup, while the men picked up a 12th-place team finish at the men’s golf National Invitational Tournament. 

The women’s team kicked off their break with a trip to Mesa, Arizona, to compete in the 2022 Clover Cup. The tournament took place at Longbow Golf Club March 11-13. The women put up three consistent rounds, combining for a team total of 302 in round one, 293 in round two and a solid closing round of 294 in round three, which saw the Rams leapfrog Florida Atlantic University and the University of Notre Dame to take home 11th place. 

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The top individual performer for the women Rams was freshman Lacey Uchida, who has put together a string of impressive performances in her inaugural season, and this tournament was no different. Uchida struggled along with the rest of the team in round one, in which she posted a 76 to leave her four over par after the first 18. She got better as the tournament went on, as she posted a 74 in round two. She capped off the tournament with a CSU season-best-tying performance with 69 in round three, which included an eagle shot on hole eight. Her incredible outing saw her jump up 19 spots on the leaderboard on the final day to finish tied for 27th in a strong field of competitors. 

Teammate Andrea Bergsdottir had a strong outing and finished one shot behind Uchida to tie for 32nd. The women should be happy with that performance, especially when considering the strength of the competition. It’ll be exciting to see how these young players build on their performances. 

As for the men, they faced their stiffest competition of the season as they traveled to Tucson, Arizona, March 18-19 to participate in the National Invitational Tournament at Omni Tucson National Resort. The Rams tied for 12th with a final score of 292-289-283=864 in a field of teams that included the No. 1-ranked University of Oklahoma. 

Davis Bryant and Christoph Bleier were the top performers for the men, sharing ownership of the 34th spot on the individual leaderboard. They found themselves in that spot after two very different experiences, however. Bleier dropped 12 spots after posting his worst score of the tournament with a 72 in round three. Bryant surged up on the leaderboard in round three thanks to a team-best score of 66. 

Hopefully the Rams learned a lot from competing against two very tough fields and achieving “best of the rest” finishes. The men’s next competition will be in the Wyoming Cowboy Classic April 4-5 hosted by the University of Wyoming. The women’s next chance to compete will come in the Chattanooga Classic March 27-29 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. 

Reach Bailey Shepherd at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @B_Sheps.