CSU golfer Christoph Bleier finishes strong to tie for 8th individually at World Amateur Team Championship
By Gary Baines – 10/21/2023
Christoph Bleier, a standout golfer for Colorado State in 2023, showed his stuff on a world stage this week in Abu Dhabi.
The Austrian, a junior at CSU, shot rounds of 66-67 in the final two rounds to finish tied for eighth individually out of 108 competitors in the men’s World Amateur Team Championship that concluded on Saturday.
Bleier, who sits 105th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, posted scores of 73-71-66-67 for an 11-under-par total, which left him five strokes back of individual winner Kazuma Kobori of New Zealand.
Also joining Bleier in the top 10 in Abu Dhabi was Nick Dunlap, who won the U.S. Amateur two months ago at Cherry Hills Country Club (second place) and Gordon Sargent, the No. 2 amateur in the world rankings (fifth). Sharing eighth place with Bleier, among others, was Christo Lamprecht of South Africa, the top-ranked amateur in the world.
The U.S. team — featuring Dunlap, Sargent and David Ford — won the team title by 11 strokes.
Over the final two rounds of the event, Bleier carded two eagles, 10 birdies and three bogeys to go 11 under par. Bleier’s Austrian team placed 29th in the 36-nation field.
In his last 11 college tournaments dating back to March of 2023, Bleier has recorded seven top-10 finishes, including a win at an NCAA Regional, two seconds in playoffs and two fourth places.
Also in 2023, Bleier won the Austrian International Amateur.
For all the scores from the men’s World Amateur Team Championship, 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. He was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com