It was almost a storybook finish to Christian Newton’s whirlwind first month as Colorado State University’s men’s golf coach.
Almost.
It could have been an ideal scenario. The Rams were hosting a brand-new tournament, they were rallying in the final round, and they could have given Newton the first team title of his young college head-coaching career.
Alas, CSU and Newton were dealt an agonizingly close second-place finish. In a tournament where the winning team total was 859 strokes, the Rams ended up a mere one shot behind champion Wichita State Tuesday in the inaugural Ram Masters Invitational at Fort Collins Country Club.
“I’m a competitor so anytime we play, regardless of who we play against, we want to win,” said Newton, who was the national assistant coach of the year in 2011 while with Georgia Tech. “It was really tough, but our guys learned a valuable lesson today — that obviously every single shot counts. We’ll take that with us the rest of the year.”
To make it even more agonizing, a CSU player competing only as an individual — not as part of the five-man team — won the individual title on Tuesday. Had redshirt freshman Jordan Wetsch been one of the five players Newton designated for team scoring purposes, the Rams would have claimed the team title.
While it’s certainly unusual for a player competing only as an individual to win a college tournament, it’s not unprecedented.
“I have to live with the decisions I made a week ago about how to put the best five guys out on the course, and I can’t second-guess that,” said Newton (pictured above with some of his CSU players).
“The dynamic is a little different (for players not competing for the team score). The pressure is off a little. But that’s not to take anything away from Jordan; his golf was fantastic as the score shows. That’s not necessarily the norm (for an individual-only player to win a college event), but I saw Harris English (a former University of George player now on the PGA Tour) do it, and he was off and running. Hopefully that’s what it will be like for Jordan.”
CSU shot an 8-over-par 288 in Tuesday’s final round to finish with an 860 total. Only the 859 by Wichita State, which is coached by three-time PGA Tour winner Grier Jones — was better.
The University of Denver (867) placed fourth in the 15-team field, while Northern Colorado (878) was seventh and the Air Force Academy (905) 14th.
Individually, Wetsch carded a 3-under-par 67 Tuesday to post an even-par 210 total. That was two strokes better than DU’s ChunJi Kim (73-71-68–212) and three better than CSU teammate Kirby Pettitt (73-71-69–213). Parker Edens (214, fourth place) and Kory Harrell (215, ninth) also finished in the top 10 for CSU.
Wetsch (pictured at left), who transferred from Wisconsin to CSU in the middle of the 2011-12 school year, won in just his second college tournament ever.
“I didn’t qualify for the team obviously, but I wanted to come out here to win,” Wetsch said. “That’s the goal. (To actually do it), it was a nice surprise.”
For Newton, it’s been a very busy last month, starting with him formally signing on with CSU on Aug. 17. That was about six weeks after longtime Ram coach Jamie Bermel resigned to take the coaching position at the University of Kansas.
“I signed the paperwork on Aug. 17, and they said, ‘Can you be here the 20th?'” Newton said. “I flew back to Atlanta, kissed my 6-month-old and my wife on the cheek and headed right back. I started the first day of school and it’s been a whirlwind ever since. But this is a dream come true for me. Someone said, ‘Aren’t you so busy?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, and I’m loving every minute of it.'”
Coming on board just three weeks before the season started was challenging enough, but with the Rams hosting a new tournament, that made things even more hectic.
“There are so many things to do,” Newton admitted. “So what I’ve done is prioritize. For me the most important things are taking care of this team and getting players for next year’s team. Fortunately, the support staff has been fantastic. Without my assistant coach, Bret Guetz, and a couple of administrators on campus, I’d be drowning. They’ve done a fantastic job of acclimating me to this role.”
Though this is his first college head coaching job and he’s still in his early 30s, Newton has no doubt he’s ready for his new position.
“There is probably a slight learning curve navigating Colorado State and its policies and some of the logistical things, but it’s still a white ball and a little 3 1/2-inch hole,” he said. “That part there’s no learning curve. I’ve been ready for this for a long time. I was just waiting for the right (opportunity).”
Bermel was highly respected for his work at CSU as the Rams went to the NCAA regionals 12 times and to the NCAA finals in 2011. But Newton is determined to make his own mark.
“Obviously Jamie was extremely successful here, but I have to coach with my 10 years of experience and my personality,” Newton said. “I can’t do things the way Jamie did it. The guys will have to be patient with me. There is some change here — probably some good, probably some bad. But there is change.”
The players, for their part, appear ready to grow along with Newton.
“I’m enjoying coach Newton a lot,” said Pettitt, a senior for the Rams. “He doesn’t quite talk as much as Jamie but when he has something to say it’s meaningful. There’s a little bit different philosophy. He believes in hard work, too, but I think he’s a little more laid back and not quite so intense directly. But at the same time, you’ve got to put in the hard work and concentrate and focus.
“I think he’s well respected by our players from top to bottom. I think we’re all excited for the next eight months to see what we can do.
“But I think both (Newton and Bermel) are going to have success.”
Ram Masters Invitational
Sept. 17-18, 2012 at Par-70 Fort Collins CC
2. Colorado State 287-285-288–860
3. Kirby Pettitt 73-71-69–213; 4. Parker Edens 71-72-71–214; 9. Kory Harrell 67-72-76–215; 28. Cameron Harrell 76-70-75–221; 57. Brett Wilson 76-78-73–227. Competing only as individuals: 1. Jordan Wetsch 70-73-67–210; 52. Dominic Kieffer 74-74-78–226; 57. K.C. Chang 76-76-75–227.
4. Denver 287-292-288–867
2. ChunJi Kim 73-71-68–212; 11. Jordan Burgess 69-75-72–216; 16. Oskar Arvidsson 69-75-73–217; 47. Ole Ramsnes 76-74-75–225; 52. Arti Edelman 78-72-76–226. Competing only as individual: 71. Victor Doka 80-76-75–231.
7. Northern Colorado 298-293-287–878
16. Steve Connell 75-69-73–217; 24. Charlie Mroz 72-73-75–220; 31. Ben Krueger 75-78-69–222; 41. Steven Kupcho 80-74-70–224; 67. Conner Barr 76-77-77–230. Competing only as individual: 81. Nick Umholtz 81-79-81–241.
14. Air Force Academy 300-299-306–905
11. Kyle Westmoreland 72-70-74–216; 52. Andrew Hoops 76-76-74–226; 61. Philip Colwell 77-72-79–228; 79. Jack Howard 75-84-80–239; 79. Ryan Kramer 79-81-79–239. Competing only as individuals: 57. Todd Berglund 83-71-73–227; 66. Blake Jones 78-77-74–229.
