The Ram Masters Invitational, hosted by the Colorado State men’s golf team, has only been held three times, but already it’s becoming known for its oddities.
For example:
— In Monday’s second round at Fort Collins Country Club, three players made holes-in-one — all at the same hole (the 195-yard ninth), and all within less than an hour of one another.
Freshman Drew McCullough of Wyoming, Shane Fontenot of McNeese State and Pierre Tillement of George Washington pulled off the feat. The ace came in particularly handy for McCullough, who went on to claim the individual title — by one stroke — on Tuesday.
— Three players from the 2013 5A state championship-winning Regis Jesuit team competed in the Ram Masters Invite: Jake Kelley (11th overall) and Chris Korte (36th) for the University of Denver, and individual state champ Spencer Painton (24th) for the University of Kansas.
And, for the record, three other true freshmen from Colorado high schools also played in the event: Glenn Workman for Wyoming (50th), Todd Millard for Air Force (66th) and Sam Marley for Northern Colorado (73rd).
— In 2013, the last three head coaches for CSU were on hand for the event — current coach Christian Newton, along with Jamie Bermel (now with Kansas) and Mark Crabtree (now with Louisville).
— In both of the first two Ram Masters Invitationals, in another odds-defying coincidence, CSU finished second as a team — by a single stroke on each occasion. And last year, one of the Ram players incurred a penalty on the final hole, accounting for the one-stroke difference between second place and a playoff for first.
But on Tuesday, the golf gods finally smiled on CSU as it claimed the team title in the Ram Masters Invitational. Colorado State prevailed by four over Bermel’s Kansas squad, and by seven over the 2013 champion University of Denver, now coached by Erik Billinger.
“Absolutely it is extra sweet,” said Newton, CSU’s third-year coach who notched his first team victory as a college head coach. “The guys just did a fantastic job. It was a struggle early on (Tuesday). I think they were a little tight early on and we might have lost the lead at one time. It was really good to have those guys get nervous and then pick themselves back up and finish up really good. I’m really proud of them. They did a great job.
“It’s the first (team) win for me as a head coach, so this one will definitely be real special to me. It doesn’t matter what (happens in the future), I won’t forget this one.”
CSU put six players in the top 24, including one of its three golfers competing strictly as individuals. Cameron Harrell (at left, with Newton), who shared the Ram Masters individual title last year, led the way again with a 2-over-par 212 total, good for fourth place. It marked the sixth top-10 performance of Harrell’s college career. Max Oelfke (215) was ninth, Dominic Kieffer and Patrick Winther (217) tied for 13th, Alec Bone (218) was 17th and Jimmy Makloski (219) checked in at 24th. (At top, Harrell admires the tournament trophy as Makloski shares a laugh.)
Though Kansas finished four back of CSU, the Jayhawks had a chance to catch the Rams down the stretch. But KU played the final hole in a combined 7 over par in round 3 (including a player who was disqualified on Tuesday). CSU was likewise far from stellar on No. 18, but went 2 over there.
As for DU, it held the lead late in the front nine Tuesday, but the Pioneers struggled in the middle of the round and couldn’t keep pace with CSU. Petter Mikalsen (213) led DU with a fifth-place individual finish, while Kelley (left) was 11th in his college debut.
“We had a ton of momentum because we got off to a hot start,” Billinger said. “But one of the guys (Adam Ruben) made a double bogey on 7 and we kind of lost momentum. I think the whole team kind of felt that, and we never got it back. Obviously, we always want to win, so we’re a little disappointed right now. But CSU kept the foot on the gas pedal. Hats off to them. They played great on their home course.”
The tournament was the first for Billinger (below) as a head coach.
“It’s fun obviously to get the competitive juices flowing,” he said. “I’m blessed to be able to be the coach and I couldn’t be more excited about it.”
But maybe things just evened out a bit after DU edged CSU in the Ram Masters a year ago.
“This tournament, I knew we just couldn’t lose again,” Harrell said. “One shot, two years in a row … So I knew we were going to win this one. We had to at least win this one.”
For Harrell, a senior, it was his first team victory in a multi-team event as a Ram. CSU last claimed such a team title in April 2011 at the Cougar Classic.
“Our four (counting rounds today) were 1 over, 1 over, 1 over and 2 over. I was really proud of that,” Harrell said. “We all hung in there and grinded it out and finally won. It feels good to have my first one ever (team-wise).”
The other two Colorado-based teams competing in the Ram Masters Invitational — Air Force and Northern Colorado — tied for 11th place in the 15-team field.
Ram Masters Invitational
Sept. 15-16, 2014 (final) at Fort Collins CC
1. (out of 15 teams) Colorado State men 283-287-285–855
4. Cameron Harrell 71-69-72–212; 13. Dominic Kieffer 68-78-71–217; 13. Patrick Winther 71-75-71–217; 17. Alec Bone 73-69-76–218; 24. Jimmy Makloski 74-74-71–219. Competing only as individuals: 9. Max Oelfke 73-71-73–215; 58. Trey Kidd 82-74-73–229; 60. Logan Iverson 75-79-76–230.
3. Denver 289-286-287–862
5. Petter Mikalsen 71-72-70–213; 11. Jake Kelley 71-71-74–216; 17. Victor Doka 76-71-71–218; 30. Adam Ruben 75-72-74–221; 36. Chris Korte 72-78-72–222. Competing only as individual: 73. Johan Werge 76-78-83–237.
11. Air Force 302-294-304–900
17. Sunwoo Choi 74-69-75–218; 45. Brenden Bone 75-74-75–224; 57. J.D. Kiesewetter 75-77-77–229; 63. Dane Hankamer 80-75-77–233; 65. Blake Edwards 78-76-79–233. Competing only as individual: 66. Todd Millard 78-79-77–234.
11. Northern Colorado 300-304-296–900
30. Jack Cummings 71-77-73–221; 36. Conner Barr 75-77-72–222; 50. Andrew Romano 79-72-76–227; 69. Julian Woodfork 75-80-80–235; 73. Sam Marley 82-78-77–237.
Also
24. Spencer Painton, Kansas 71-75-73–219
50. Glenn Workman, Wyoming 77-77-73–227
