Moving On

CSU men’s head coach Christian Newton retiring from college coaching

By Gary Baines – 7/12/2022

Davis Bryant of Aurora, Connor Jones of Westminster and Gavin Hagstrom of Fort Collins — some of the top amateur golfers in Colorado — and their Colorado State University teammates will have a new head coach starting in the fall season.

Christian Newton, the coach for the CSU men’s golf team for the last decade, announced on Tuesday that he’s retiring from college coaching in August after a near-20-year run.

“It’s definitely bittersweet to be stepping away from collegiate coaching after 20 wonderful years,” Newton said on Twitter Tuesday evening. “A big thank you to wonderful student-athletes and donors that helped us have a successful program. I’m excited for what lies ahead for me and my family.”

Earlier, in a story on CSURams.com, Newton said, “I’m so proud of what we have accomplished here on and off the course. To our donors and especially the Ram Masters’ board, your support has been integral to the program and I can’t thank you enough for your contributions, time and belief in me and the program.

“To the team, this is bittersweet. “You are the reason I was a coach. You epitomize the meaning of a student-athlete. I will miss my time with you dearly, but will faithfully follow you every step of the way and can’t wait to see what the future holds for this program and you individually. My family and I are excited for our next chapter that keeps us in Fort Collins and deeply rooted in this wonderful community.  I am truly proud to be a CSU Ram.”

Newton coached the Rams to 13 team titles and 10 individual victories during he decade at the helm. Seven of the team victories came at CSU’s own Ram Masters Invitational held at Fort Collins Country Club — every year it was conducted from 2014 through ’21. CSU earned berths into NCAA Regionals five times under Newton, the 2018 Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year. He also has served on the Golf Coaches Association National Advisory Board since 2020.

Before joining the Rams, Newton was an assistant coach at Georgia Southern (his alma mater, 2003-05), Alabama (2005-07) and Georgia Tech (2007-12).

Newton’s announcement comes a week after his assistant coach, Parker Edens, accepted the head coaching job at South Dakota State.