CSU men golfers, winners of 9 of the previous 10 Ram Masters Invites they host, fall just short of adding another RMI title, finishing 2nd; CSU’s Alessandro Trenta runner-up individually, while CO Springs’ Charlie Doyle places 26th in college debut
By Gary Baines – 9/12/2025
FORT COLLINS — The Colorado State University men’s golf team has set such a high standard for itself in its own Ram Masters Invitational that it’s very difficult to live up to year after year.
After all, the Rams came into this season having claimed the team title nine of the last 10 times the RMI has been held, and the event is conducted at one of their home courses, Fort Collins Country Club. So victories are just par for the course, right?
But each year presents a new challenge, with a new roster. And beating the other 15 or so teams in the field without fail is a high bar indeed.
With that as a backdrop, CSU hosted the Ram Masters for the 13th time this week, and for just the fourth time ever, it finished something other than first place. Actually, the Rams placed second on Friday — just like they have in their other non-winning years in this event. In fact, the last two times CSU has finished runner-up in the RMI — 2023 and this year — a Long Beach State team that featured Jack Cantlay, a younger brother of eight-time PGA Tour winner Patrick Cantlay, was the team champion. On Friday, LB prevailed by two strokes after three rounds of the 16-team event.
“The guys are 18-22-year-old kids,” second-year CSU head coach Jack Kennedy said. “They want to win. I’m a competitor; I want to win just as much. But this is a grind. In college golf we’re playing until May. Nobody is going to win a national championship today. We did what we needed to do. We picked up a bunch of (head-to-head) wins. We put ourselves in position to win a golf tournament, so now we have that experience. The two strokes mean a lot on the scoreboard today, but in the (big-picture) future, not a whole lot.”
The Rams didn’t go down without a fight on Friday. They led by one going into the final round and struggled mid-round to fall as many as eight strokes back of Long Beach. But CSU’s four counting players on Friday played the last four holes in 5 under par to cut its deficit to one before eventually finishing two back of Long Beach.
While CSU placed second among the 16 schools at 2 over par for three rounds, the University of Denver was seventh, checking in at 24 over.
With an eagle-birdie stretch, Jake Rodgers helped CSU make a run at the team title on Friday.
“I’m proud of us,” said CSU’s Alessandro Trenta, a senior from Switzerland who finished second individually on Friday out of a field of 91. “I knew with four or five (holes) to go that we were five or six back — and in the team format that’s nothing. I knew if we all played well, we’d have a very good chance of still winning. (Junior teammate Jake Rodgers) played awesome the last five holes. I’m proud of him and everyone on the team.”
Trenta and Rodgers were two of the CSU players who helped lead the rally, both placing in the top seven individually. They were second and seventh, respectively, a year after being fourth and second at the 2024 Ram Masters.
On Friday, Rodgers eagled No. 15 from 4 feet and birdied No. 16 from 2 feet, but missed a ticklish 5-foot par putt on No. 17 and a 6-foot birdie try on No. 18, finishing with a 3-under-par 67 in the final round and 2 under overall. Meanwhile, Trenta also played his final five holes in 2 under par, with his 5-under total falling a stroke behind individual champion Davis McDowell of UC San Diego. (Trenta missed a 20-foot birdie try on his final hole that would have forced a tie.)
“I had some ups and downs, but I was actually more happy about how I behaved after setbacks,” said Trenta, who posted his best individual finish as a Division I golfer after winning twice at Division II Winona State before transferring a little over a year ago. “I was glad I could bounce back after (a double bogey) on 10 with a (6-foot) birdie on 11 — and with a (4-foot) birdie on 14 after a bogey on 13.
“(This course) definitely plays into my game. I’m used to playing courses — in Switzerland — where it’s not just bombing driver on every hole.”
Trenta didn’t produce a top-40 finish in the last two months of last season, but that form changed in a big way this week.
“He struggled toward the end of last season,” Kennedy said. “We had a lot of good talks over the summer about his process and how he was going to change. So to see him come out in the first tournament of the year — under the weather; he’s been sick the last week — and have a chance to win the golf tournament (was great).
“Jake was also under the weather — 100-degree temperature on Thursday — and he gutted out a 36-hole day. Those efforts from your upper classmen trickle down to your younger guys.”
Charlie Doyle of Colorado Springs and CSU made a very nice showing in his college debut, tying for 26th place.
Meanwhile, next-best for CSU this week, team-wise, was a freshman making his college debut, Charlie Doyle of Colorado Springs, a member of the inaugural Team Colorado junior elite squad. Doyle tied for 26th place at 6 over par after closing with a 71. He played his final nine holes in 3 under par.
“Charlie Doyle exceeded expectations,” Kennedy said. “He’s an off-the-charts talent. We’ll get him figured out in terms of his head and acting not like a freshman when it comes to shot selection and course-management stuff. But he’s unreal. I’m still at a loss for words at how good that golf was all week.”
Sophomore Charlie Tucker of Castle Pines, the low amateur in the 2025 Inspirato Colorado Open, tied for 39th with graduate-school transfer Owen Mullen, who previously played for Notre Dame. Mullen returned to tournament golf after a three-year layoff in which he underwent surgery on both of his wrists, the last of which took place in December.
“It’s special to see him out for three years and having him compete at this level,” Kennedy said. “Those are things that bring tears to my eyes.
… Modern medicine is a great thing. He started hitting balls in July and came here in the middle of August. He said ‘I think I can go full go.’ We put him out there for a week and there was no pain. So we’re off and running.”
Trenta fell a shot short of the individual title on Friday.
Despite falling a little short of the team victory on Friday, Kennedy was pleased how things played out for CSU in its season opener.
“We talked earlier in the week as a team that the result was kind of secondary this week,” he said. “We needed to learn a lot about ourselves — who we are as golfers. We have young kids, we have transfers who don’t have a lot of experience. But we just need to learn about ourselves first and foremost. One of the things we want to do is not quit. Every shot is just as important. I thought as a coach — and I just told the guys this — we exceeded expectations. We could have looked at the scoreboard, gotten down on ourselves after hole 10. (Instead), to a man, we kind of put the pedal to the metal and stayed positive. We had great body language, we stuck to the game plan, we didn’t force things. All those things were so good to see.
“Winning is hard. If you spot a good team like Long Beach State 8-10 shots, you make life really hard on yourself. But the process was a win for us today.”
Jack Cantlay, brother of eight-time PGA Tour winner Patrick Cantlay, has helped Long Beach win two team titles at the Ram Masters.
The Rams started the Kennedy coaching era with three consecutive team titles last fall and fell just short of No. 4 on Friday.
Meanwhile, leading DU this week were Ryder Odem (20th place at 4 over par) and Jet Hernandez (22nd place at 5 over).
For all the scores from the Ram Masters Invitational, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com