California Collegiate Athletic Association champion. Student-Athlete Advisory Committee member. Three-time All-CCAA selection. All-CCAA Academic honors. Thirteen career top-10 finishes. Two years of loyalty and commitment while waiting for his "second" senior season. Leader in word and deed. Chris Colla "embodies everything that it is to be a Chico State men's golfer," says Chico State Men's Golf Head Coach Nick Green. The cherry on top came this week when Colla was named PING All-West Region.
 
The Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, native graduated from Chico State in 2021 with a degree in human geography and is currently working toward a master's degree in social sciences. He plans to pursue a career in city planning, urban design, or economics.
 
Colla came on strong at the end of his freshman season, way back in 2016-17, firing a second-round 69 and finishing in a tie for 11^th place at the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational. He's consistently been one of the West Region's top golfers ever since. The following season he placed seventh at the CCAA Championships and won all three of his matches to help propel the Wildcats to the 2018 conference title. 
 
He earned All-CCAA honorable mention that season, followed by First Team All-CCAA honors in 2020 and 2022. What was to be Colla's senior season got off to a sensational start when he won the Sierra Central Wildcat Classic by three shots, shooting 8-under par 67-71-70.  
 
"When he won the home tournament his first senior year that was a very special moment." Green said. "It meant a lot to us that he stuck it out over the last two years. That was huge for our younger team this year. In the fall he did a lot of the heavy lifting as everybody was getting better and learning how to play a little bit. He put on his back quite a few times."
 
Colla led the Wildcats in strokes per round. But it was in the other ways that he led that he may have had the biggest impact on the program. 
 
"We're going to miss him; from the way he plays and how he practices. The guys look up to him as far as the way he carries himself. He doesn't always have to say a lot, but he says it with the way he acts," Green said. "It's great to see him punctuate it by getting selected for the region team. It's just fantastic."
 
2021–22 PING All-West Region
Liam Allder, CSUMB
Devin Andrews, Western Washington
Simon Bjorken, CSUMB
Bailey Bjornson, Simon Fraser
Chris Colla, Chico State
Jack Deaner, CSUMB
Luke Dugger, Holy Names
Seung Ho Yoon, CSU Dominguez Hills
Matthew Moss, CSU San Marcos
Matthew Pennington, CSU San Marcos
Griffin Pace, Sonoma State
Aidan Thain, Western Washington