March 23, 2010
The Sun Devils secret (by Matt Cooper of golf365/March of 2010)
Click here for ASU Thunderbird Invitational champions and records
Click here for ASU men's golf statistics from Golfstat
Click here for more information on the ASU Karsten Golf Course
The Arizona State men's golf team, ranked 11th by Golfweek and ninth by Golfstat, plays host on April 2-3 (Friday-Saturday) to the 38th annual ASU Thunderbird Invitational at ASU's Karsten Golf Course (par-71, 7,057 yards). The 15 schools will play 36 holes Friday and a final round on Saturday. ASU has won seven of the past 11 (1999-2001, 2003-2004, 2008-2009) Thunderbird Invitational Tournaments and has won the tournament 14 of the past 21 years. Last year, ASU won the tournament with a 14-under 838 while Sun Devil Stephan Gross shared medalist honors with New Mexico's Steve Saunders at 3-under 210.
LIVE SCORING
Live scoring will be available at www.golfstat.com.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
ASU has won the Thunderbird Invitational 15 times (1984, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009). Nine times Sun Devils have won or shared the the individual title: Mark Sollenberger (1974), Jim Carter (1984), Phil Mickelson (1991 and 1992), Larry Barber (1994), Todd Demsey (1995), Jeff Quinney (1999), Paul Casey (2000), Alejandro Canizares (2004) and Stephan Gross (2009).
TEAMS
The competing schools are host Arizona State (#9 Golfstat/#11 Golfweek), Arizona, BYU, California (#23 Golfstat/#24 Golfweek), Colorado State, UC Irvine, Oregon (#1 Golfstat/#15 Golfweek), Oregon State (#25 Golfweek), San Diego State, Stanford (#3 Golfstat/#2 Golfweek), UCLA (#5 Golfstat/#7 Golfweek), UNLV (#7 Golfstat/#9 Golfweek), USC (#12 Golfstat and Golfweek), Washington (#4 Golfstat/#6 Golfweek) and Washington State. All 10 Pac-10 schools are competing in the Thunderbird, as ASU plays host to the Pac-10 Championship April 26-28 at Karsten as well.
NCAA HISTORY
The Sun Devils have won two NCAA titles, in 1990 under coach and 2002 ASU Hall of Fame inductee Steve Loy, and in 1996 under current head coach and 2008 National Golf Coaches Hall of Fame inductee Randy Lein. What is good to know is that in 1996, the team won the NCAA at the Honors Course in Tennessee. That is the site of the this year's NCAA Championships.
SUN DEVILS PROGRAM CHATTER
In the past 17 seasons (since Randy Lein took over at ASU) 12 different team champions have been crowned and Lein is the only coach to have two individual champions in that time (freshman Alejandro Canizares in 2003 and Todd Demsey in 1993). ASU also has finished in the top six nine times in those 17 years and has qualified for the NCAA Championships in 25 of the past 26 seasons, missing only in 2002, including each of the past seven seasons, tied for the fourth-best mark in the nation in that time.
THE HEAD COACH:
Jesper Kennegard (2), Scott Pinckney, Knut Borsheim and Stephan Gross. He has won Pac-10 Coach-of-the-Year five times (1993, 1995, 1996, 1999 and 2000) while at ASU and twice at USC (1980 and 1986). Lein (pronounced "Line") is a 1975 graduate of Cal State Northridge.
IT ISN'T EASY
ASU has made the NCAA Championship in the past seven seasons and in 16 of 17 seasons under Randy Lein, but it sure isn't getting easier with the 30-team, three-round regional format. Using Golfweek's rankings prior to the 2009 NCAA Championship, nine top 30 teams did not go to Toledo last season, a list that included seventh-ranked Clemson, No. 18 LSU, No. 21 Indiana, No. 23 UNLV, No. 24 NC State, No. 25 San Diego State, No. 28 Ole Miss, No. 29 Colorado State and No. 30 Florida State.
IT ISN'T EASY, PART TWO
Of the 30 teams that made the 2009 NCAA Championships, only 15 played in the 2008 championship: UCLA, Stanford, USC, Oklahoma State, Washington, Georgia, Florida, Texas A&M, Alabama, Arizona State, Illinois, Texas, Wake Forest and Oregon.
UNDER LEIN
ASU has finished first (1996), fourth (1995), fifth (1998 and 1999), tied for fifth (1997 and 2009), sixth (1993, 2001 and 2003), tied for ninth (1994), tied for 11th (2005), tied for 17th (2008), tied for 18th (2007), tied for 21st (2004) and tied for 25th (2001) under 18th-year coach Randy Lein in the NCAA Championship.
FAST FACT
ASU is the only school to win both the men's and women's golf titles in the same season (1990).
ASU TEAM TITLES WON UNDER COACH LEIN (1992-PRESENT)
Olympia Fields Invitational, Chicago, Ill. (September 18-20, 2009)
NCAA West Regional, Daly City, Calif. (May 14-16, 2009)
ASU Thunderbird Invitational, Tempe, Ariz. (April 10-11, 2009)
Bill Cullum Invitational, Simi Valley, Calif. (Oct. 27-28, 2008)
UH Hilo Intercollegiate, Waikoloa, Hawaii (February 6-8, 2008)
National Invitational, Tucson, Ariz. (April 2-3, 2007)
ASU Thunderbird Invite, Tempe, Ariz. (April 11-12, 2003)
Tucker Intercollegiate, Albuquerque, N.M. (September 12-13, 2003)
National Invite Tournament, Tucson, Ariz. (March 30-April 1, 2003)
UNLV Championship, Las Vegas, Nev. (March 7-9, 2003)
ASU Thunderbird Invite, Tempe, Ariz. (April 12-13, 2002)
NCAA West Regional, Corvallis, Ore. (May 17-19, 2001)
Pacific-10 Championship, Tempe, Ariz. (April 24-26, 2001)
ASU Thunderbird/Savane Invite, Tempe. Ariz. (April 13-14, 2001)
USC Southwestern Classic, Westlake Village, Calif. (March 5-6, 2001)
ASU Thunderbird/Savane Invite, Tempe, Ariz. (Apr. 15-16, 2000)
Las Vegas Intercollegiate, Las Vegas, Nev. (March 10-12, 2000)
USC Southwestern Classic, Westlake Village, Calif. (February 28-March 1, 2000)
NCAA West Regional, Tucson, Ariz. (May 19-22, 1999)
Pacific-10 Championship, Seattle, Wash. (April 25-28, 1999)
ASU Thunderbird/Savane Invite, Tempe, Ariz. (April 16-18, 1999)
NCAA West Regional, Tempe, Ariz. (May 14-16, 1998)
Pacific-10 Championship, Berkeley, Calif. (April, 26-29, 1998)
USC Southwestern Invite, Los Angeles, Calif. (March 22-24, 1998)
Pacific-10 Championship, Eugene, Ore. (May 5-7, 1997)
ASU Thunderbird/Savane Invite, Tempe, Ariz. (April 19-20, 1997)
NCAA Championship, Chattanooga, Tenn. (May. 29-June 1, 1996)
Pacific-10 Championship, Los Angeles, Calif. (April 29-May 1, 1996)
ASU Thunderbird Invite, Tempe, Ariz. (April 12-13, 1996)
Southwestern Invitational, Los Angeles, Calif. (March 25-26, 1996)
Jerry Pate Invitational, Birmingham, Ala. (October 21-24, 1995)
Ping Preview, Cornelius, Ore. (September 15-17, 1995)
NCAA West Region, Albuquerque, N.M. (May 17-19, 1995)
Pacific-10 Championship, Richland, Wash. (May 1-3, 1995)
Mauna Kea Invitational, Kohala Coast, Hawaii (February 14-16, 1995)
The Perry Maxwell, Ardmore, Okla. (May 14-15, 1994)
U.S. Intercollegiate, Stanford, Calif. (April 23-24, 1994)
ASU Thunderbird Invitational, Tempe, Ariz. (April 15-16, 1994)
Oregon Invitational, Eugene, Ore. (March 7-8, 1994)
Taylor Made/Big Island Intercollegiate, Waikolo, Hawaii (February 19-21, 1994)
Pacific-10 Championship, Santa Barbara, Calif. (April 26-28, 1993)
Southwestern Intercollegiate, Westlake Village, Calif.
Pacific Coast Intercollegiate, Santa Barbara, Calif.