April 26, 2008

Complete Results in PDF Format

TUCSON, Ariz. - The Colorado State men's golf team captured the first Mountain West Conference championship in the program's history on Saturday with a four-stroke win at the Omni Tucson National Golf Course.  The Rams overcame an eight-stroke deficit entering the third round of action, firing the day's best round of 6-under-par 278 on the 7,136-yard, par 71 Catalina Course to claim the title with a 54-hole total of 2-under 850.

"We were eight strokes back going in and I told the guys, `Just go out there, play hard and put up a number,'" said Head Coach Jamie Bermel following the Rams victory.  "We were in good shape, and I knew that if we just put up a solid round, we would have a shot." 

With their Round 3 total 278, Colorado State finished the tournament with a 2-under-par 850, overcoming TCU, BYU and UNLV for the championship. 

Three Rams captured Top 10 finishes, led by sophomore Riley Arp, who posted a career-best finish with a tie for second.  Arp, a native of Fort Collins, fired a 1-under-par 70 on Saturday, carding three birdies in the final round, including the par-4 18th hole to finish the tournament. 

"I walked with Riley the last couple of days and today I told him, `You've got this nailed,'" added Bermel.  "So I walked 18 with Zen (Brown) today, and Riley turned in his best round of the tournament." 

Sophomores Dustin Morris and Bryce Hanstad finished tied for fifth and 10th, respectively, and garnered all-conference honors.  Morris matched his second-round score with a 1-under-par 70 to finish one stroke behind Arp with an even-par 213.  The Crosby, Texas, native carded four birdies in his final round. 

UNLV's Eddie Olson captured the individual title, with a three-round 209 (-4). 

Hanstad, who opened the tournament with a 78, bounced back with a 70 in Round 2 and fired a final-round tournament low with a 67 (-4) to finish at 2-over-par, 215.  Hanstad notched nine birdies over the final 36 holes of the tournament, including five on Saturday.   

Brown - the Rams' top performer entering this season - bounced back from a tough second-round 78, by carding an even-par 71 and closed out the tournament at 8-over-par (221) in a tie for 29th.  Sophomore Sean McNamra finished two strokes ahead of Brown in a tie for 21st with a three-round total of 219 (+6). 

"I'm really proud of the way these guys came out and played today.  It was nice to see them battle the way they did," said Bermel. 

The conference championship is the first in CSU history and marks the second-career conference title for Bermel, who was tabbed as the MWC Coach of the Year for the second time in his career following the Rams' championship run.  Bermel captured the 1997 Missouri Valley Conference championship while at Drake University. 

"It really hasn't sunk in yet.  After I got the Gatorade bath, it really felt different," said Bermel.  "This is a tough conference and with four sophomores and a junior out there competing, they probably didn't know what they were accomplishing."

1    Colorado State  288-284-278--850
T2   Riley Arp          71-71-70--212
T5   Dustin Morris      73-70-70--213
T10  Bryce Hanstad      78-70-67--215
T21  Sean McNamara      72-73-74--219
T29  Zen Brown          72-78-71--221

All-Conference Awards
Golfer of the Year
Aaron Goldberg, Sr., San Diego State

Freshman of the Year
Matt Hoffenberg, San Diego State

Coach of the Year
Jamie Bermel, Colorado State

All-Conference Team
Robbie Fillmore, So., BYU
Bryce Hanstad, So., Colorado State
Dustin Morris, So., Colorado State
Aaron Goldberg, Sr., San Diego State
Matt Hoffenberg, Fr., San Diego State
David Palm, Jr., San Diego State
Seung-su Han, Jr., UNLV
Matt Kinsinger, Sr., UNLV
Eddie Olson, So., UNLV
Franklin Corpening, Sr., TCU