Courtesy of Colorado State
Winning doesn’t mean everything, but it sure means a lot in particular situations.
Colorado State men’s golf hosted its first and only home tournament of the season along with 15 other teams from across the country in the Ram Masters Tournament held at the Fort Collins Country Club over two days. Not only did the Rams win, they beat their own tournament record from previous years by a long shot.
The past record for the Ram Masters was under-17 achieved by CSU in 2017 and 2022 which shot up to 22-under by the end of Wednesday, clipping Utah Tech by five strokes over the two days.
“Winning is always fun,” coach Jack Kennedy said. “These guys work so hard behind the scenes. They’re playing in the rain. They’re playing in the wind. They deserve all the credit. We joke as coaches that I deserve all the blame, and they get all the credit because there was really nothing that went wrong.”
The day started with an albatross from sophomore Jake Rodgers on the first hole leading to him being second overall behind Anthony Delisanti from Valparasio, who tied former Ram Connor Jones for the individual tournament record of 13-under.
Rodgers made waves in the tournament by keeping it consistent after the shot that won him one better than an eagle, and it improves his outlook going forward into the season. His opening score led him to a consistent scorecard as he shot 3-under in each round, finishing second overall.
“It’s good for my confidence,” Rodgers said. “It was a 7-iron from 225 and I was aimed like 15 feet. I was just trying to draw it in, get it close and I hit it really good, and it just went in the hole.”
However, winning on home green isn’t something which happened last year with the Rams getting second overall in the 2023-24 season under former coach Michael Wilson, and redemption made the win that much sweeter.
Especially with a new coach, lots of things hang in the balance, but for senior Christoph Bleier it’s all about focusing on what’s next to pull out the win.
“It’s our home event,” Bleier said. “You always want to win your home event because first, it’s fun. All the supporters are out to watch. And second, we have a home-course advantage, so we want to win.”
Speaking of the support, members of CSU women’s golf team and Director of Athletics John Weber came to show their solidarity with the team throughout play as they followed along on the course.
Solidarity with the team remains one of the reasons Kennedy took the job in the first place. With green-and-gold-clad supporters lining the rough, something the team doesn’t get to see often, playing the best they could was compounded.
“The community support in Fort Collins and at CSU is just incredible,” Kennedy said. “The amount of Rams gear that was walking around today makes it feel like a home event and gives our guys a little bit more juice and gets them ready to go. So, it’s great to have that support.”
Along with CSU golf fans, members of the team had assistance on every hole with the other players on the roster in the same pairing as them.
Bleier played along with Alessandro Trenta and Rodgers with Matthew Wilkinson, keeping team spirit even when Kennedy was with other players.
“If you play with teammates you try to support each other,” Bleier said. “Even though you’re playing against them individually you still want the team to win. It was especially fun talking in German because (Trenta) is from Switzerland and I’m from Austria, so we understand each other.”
Finding those moments of comradery continue to build up the program into a winning one. However, that’s not to say the team did not push through setbacks on both days.
Weather became an issue on the first day but, according to Kennedy, it’s nothing the team couldn’t push through and continue performing at the highest level.
“The conditions were tough yesterday,” Kennedy said. “But a 36-hole day isn’t all about golf, it’s about perseverance and playing through a lot of stuff. There was a moment on holes 28 through 34 where we stayed the course and kept ourselves in the golf tournament where we could have given in and been a long way behind today. So those moments are big. And then the final rounds with the last nine holes, when you play good golf, that’s exciting, and they tend to bring home trophies when that happens.”
Bringing home the first trophy of the year sets the team up for the long road ahead as they take on the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational at the Air Force Academy starting Sep. 21 where they take on 24 other teams for 54 holes.
The win only takes them so far, but a new trophy in the case remains as a reminder of what they can do.
