New look Arizona State men's golf team headed to regional play in Las Vegas
Arizona State men's golf coach Matt Thurmond is a bit amused at the narrative surrounding this year's version of the Sun Devils.
Among what he says he's heard . . .
They lost most of the players from a team that was the NCAA runner-up a year ago.
They haven't won many tournaments.
They're just not as good.
The Sun Devils will get a chance to prove otherwise with the postseason here. Next up for ASU is the 54-hole Regional which starts on Monday and runs through Wednesday at Bear's Best Vegas in Las Vegas. ASU needs to finish in the top five to advance to the national championships to be held locally at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale for a third straight year.
Thurmond, rounding out his fifth year in Tempe, is quick in jumping on the numbers that reveal his team, which ranked No. 4 nationally, should not be quickly discounted.
No. 3 Illinois has won seven tournaments. ASU has won only one, that being the Thunderbird Invitational, but it has nine top-three finishes in its 11 tournaments this season. That includes a second-place showing at the Pac-12 tournament behind Stanford, which was playing on its home course.
NCAA golf considers tournament finishes with a head-to-head against each team in the field. In using that formula Thurmond said ASU has 53 wins over top 25 teams. That is 11 more than the next best team, which is Vanderbilt, currently the top-ranked team in the country by both Golfstat and Golfweek.
Thurmond says if you consider individual rankings, his players this year are rated higher than the ones he had last year and those are also cumulatively higher than any other team he has had.
So, yes, the Sun Devils should be as formidable a challenger as they traditionally have been.
"We've had a very good season, just been a little under the radar," Thurmond said. "We have played a really tough schedule so it isn't a big deal that we only won one tournament. Look at some of the other numbers and they'll tell you we're right there."
Thurmond admits this is undoubtedly the most stressful tournament his team will play in — more so than the national event because it needs a top-five finish to get to play in the national championship. The fact that ASU is the national tournament host brings extra pressure because having a national championship without the host team would be anti-climactic.
Last week the ASU women were in the same predicament and fell from second to seventh on the last round of their regional and failed to qualify.
"The whole trajectory of your season rests on this one tournament. It's a crazy amount of pressure," Thurmond. "We're all competitors so its what we live for but it's nerve-wracking nonetheless."
Women's side: Meet the 30 teams and the 6 individuals who advanced to the 2023 NCAA Div. I Women's Golf National Championship
The Sun Devils graduated three members of last year's team, which lost the Match Play final against Texas 3-2. That trio consisted of Cameron Sisk, Mason Anderson and James Leow. In addition, David Puig opted to forgo his senior season to compete on the LIV Tour. Thurmond said Puig is still finishing up his degree at ASU and often is practicing with the team in between tournaments, so he still has a presence.
This year's lineup consists of lone senior Ryggs Johnston, sophomores Preston Summerhays and Jose Luis Ballester and freshmen Michael Mjaaseth and Luke Potter.
Johnston has had an up-and-down career. As a sophomore in 2021, he was the top finisher at nationals with a third place, highlighted by a round of 7-under 63 that stands as the second-best round by a Sun Devil in NCAA Championship history.
But as a junior last season the Libby, Montana native struggled and was not in the regular rotation. He has rebounded this season and looks more like the player that dominated two years ago.
"He's very hungry, determined and highly motivated," Thurmond said of Johnston.
Mjaaseth, who hails from Norway, was named Pac-12 Freshman of the year, becoming the fourth straight Sun Devil to be so honored following Sisk (2019), Puig (2021) and Summerhays (2022). Past ASU players earning that honor also include current Masters champion Jon Rahm (2013).
Summerhays, Ballester and Mjaaseth were first-team all-conference selections, while Potter and Johnston were second-team honorees.
Thurmond says he doesn't know much about the course on which his team will be playing and none of his players have seen it either. They will arrive in Las Vegas on Saturday and get a practice round on Sunday.
NCAA Men's Golf Las Vegas Regional
Site: Bear's Best Las Vegas
The field: Arizona State (top seed), Stanford, Virginia, Oklahoma State, Northwestern, East Tennessee State, Cincinnati, San Francisco, UNC Greensboro, Long Beach State, Oregon State, Davidson, Kansas City, and Lehigh.
Format: 54 holes, three 18-hole rounds
What's at stake: Each of the six regionals will feature either 13 (10 individuals) or 14 teams (five individuals) teams and six individuals, with a total of 30 teams (five from each regional) advancing to the National Championships to be played May 26-31 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale which will be hosting the event for a third straight year.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State men's golf on its way to NCAA regional play in Vegas
