OLYMPIA FIELDS, III. – Arizona State men's golf is slated to kick off its 2016 fall campaign, this week Sept. 16-18, at the 11th annual Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational in Chicago, Illinois.
The program last won the event in 2009, when Scott Pinckney posted a top-10 finish helping to lead the Sun Devils to a team title.
Hosted at the famed par-70, 7205-yard Olympia Fields Country Club, the event boasts an exceptional 15 team field including: Alabama, Arizona State, Army, Baylor, Florida State, Illinois, Indiana, UNLV, North Carolina, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Purdue, USC, Texas A&M, Texas.
Olympia Fields Country Club has played host to several premier tournaments including two U.S Opens, three PGA Championships, and most recently the 2015 U.S. Amateur in which Sun Devil great Jon Rahm posted a top-8 finish.
Play is scheduled to begin Friday Sept, 16 at 7:00 a.m. PT. Live scoring will be available via Golfstat.com.
NEW ERA…
On July 25th Athletic Director Ray Anderson announced University of Washington's Matt Thurmond as the 14th head coach of ASU men's golf. Thurmond spent 15 successful seasons at Washington, winning three Pac-12 titles ('05,'09,'10), two Pac-12 Coach of the Year awards ('05,'09), and a Golfweek National Coach of the Year honor in 2009. Players under Thurmond have thrived at Washington, as he coached 25 All-Americans, two NCAA Championship 2nd place finishers (Nick Taylor '10, CT Pan'15) and an Individual NCAA Champion in 20
BUSY SUMMER…
A couple of Sun Devil golfers grabbed headlines this summer with their performances on the pro tour. After finishing up an illustrious college career at ASU last spring, Jon Rahm is off to a fast start in his pro career. In June, Rahm competed in his first PGA event as a pro at the Quicken Loans National and held the lead for the first two rounds before eventually finishing tied for third. Rahm also was part of a trio of Sun Devil legends competing in the U.S. Open this year along with Phil Mickelson, and Paul Casey. As for current Sun Devils, senior Jared Du Toit posted a top 10 finish at the RBC Canadian Open in July, finishing tied for 9th. Du Toit, a British Columbia native, grabbed some media attention as the first Canadian amateur to finish in the top 10 since Doug Bajus in 1954.
THE 2016-17 SUN DEVILS…
The Sun Devils will look to senior Jared Du Toit to assume the number one spot and lead a young Arizona State team. Du Toit had a great year in 2015-16 for ASU after transferring from the University of Idaho and ended the season with five top ten finishes. Another familiar face this season is senior Ki Taek Lee. Taek Lee finished in the top five for the Sun Devils in the Wyoming Southern last season and posted five top 20 finishes during his sophomore campaign in 2014-15. The team will also rely on some newcomers to step up this year including freshman Alejandro Del Rey Gonzalez from Madrid, Spain. Del Rey Gonzalez is a two-time Spanish National Champion (U16 & U18) and will be an immediate contributor for the Sun Devils this season. The rest of the roster is filled out by senior Nicolo Galletti, junior's Ryan Douglass and Tobias Eden, sophomore Jino Sohn, and 3 other freshman Blake Wagoner, Anthony Truong, and Connor Kilpatrick.2015-16 REVIEW: The Arizona State University men's golf team finished ninth at the 2016 NCAA Championships in Eugene to close the 2015-16 season that saw it lay claim to another Ben Hogan award winner. The Sun Devils advanced to their 52nd NCAA Championship appearance, which is fourth-best. ASU has made the NCAA Championship in the 12 of the past 15 seasons and 30 of past 33. It also won its seventh NCAA Regional, tied for second with Clemson for most all-time. Jon Rahm earned several national awards including the Ben Hogan Award for the second time and All-Pac-12 first-team honors, while junior Jarod du Toit and senior Max Rottluff earned second-team All-Pac-12. ASU finished 12th in the final Gulfweed rankings and the
MOST NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCES
OKLAHOMA STATE, 69
TEXAS, 62
USC, 57
ARIZONA STATE, 52
TOP 10: ASU's ninth-place finish in 2016 was its 13th top-10 finish in the past 24 seasons (1993-2016), third-most in the nation behind only Georgia Tech and Oklahoma State who have done it 15 times in that span. Clemson and Texas have 11 top-10 finishes in that same time frame.
FIRST-TEAM ALL-AMERICANS (1958-PRESENT)
Oklahoma State, 57
Houston, 30
Florida, 28
Arizona State, 25
2015-16 SUN DEVIL TEAM ROUND-BY-ROUND
Fighting Illini Invitational 285-288-282=855/+15/3rd
The JackRabbit 304-280-281=865/+1/2nd
Alister MacKenzie 277-269-273=819/-33/T2nd
Tavistock Invitational 285-294-290=869/+5/2nd
The Amer Ari Invitational 290-271-281=842/-22/T3rd
The Prestige at PGA West 287-269-288=844/-8/2nd
Southern Highlands 291-288-303=882/+18/T4th
Lamkin Grips SD Classic 287-287-297=871/+7/4th
ASU Thunderbird 277-274-285=836/-16/4th
Western Intercollegiate 357-351-368=1076/+26/8th
Pac-12 Champ. 359-352-364-364=1439/+19/3rd
NCAA Regional 286-296-294=876/+12/1st
NCAA Championship 290-281-286-291=1,148/+28/9th
JARED DU TOIT 2015-16 ROUND-BY-ROUND
Fighting Illini Invitational 73-73-72=218 (+8/T27)
The Jackrabbit 76-69-73=218 (+2/T14)
Alister Mackenzie Invitational 67-68-68=203 (-10/T8)
Tavistock Collegiate 74-77-72=223 (+7/T28)
Amer Ari Invitational 71-67-72=210 (-6/T10)
Prestige at PGA West 68-68-73=209 (-4/7)
Southern Highlands Masters 75-71-75=221 (+5/T19)
Lamkin Grips SD Classic 71-72-72=215 (-1/8)
ASU Thunderbird Invitational 74-67-72=213 (E/T17)
Western Intercollegiate 67-69-74=210 (E/T12)
Pac-12 Championship 69-70-72-77=288 (+4/T19)
NCAA Regional 72-73-75=220 (+4/T5)
NCAA Championship 72-73-71-74=290 (+10/T45)
The program last won the event in 2009, when Scott Pinckney posted a top-10 finish helping to lead the Sun Devils to a team title.
Hosted at the famed par-70, 7205-yard Olympia Fields Country Club, the event boasts an exceptional 15 team field including: Alabama, Arizona State, Army, Baylor, Florida State, Illinois, Indiana, UNLV, North Carolina, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Purdue, USC, Texas A&M, Texas.
Olympia Fields Country Club has played host to several premier tournaments including two U.S Opens, three PGA Championships, and most recently the 2015 U.S. Amateur in which Sun Devil great Jon Rahm posted a top-8 finish.
Play is scheduled to begin Friday Sept, 16 at 7:00 a.m. PT. Live scoring will be available via Golfstat.com.
NEW ERA…
On July 25th Athletic Director Ray Anderson announced University of Washington's Matt Thurmond as the 14th head coach of ASU men's golf. Thurmond spent 15 successful seasons at Washington, winning three Pac-12 titles ('05,'09,'10), two Pac-12 Coach of the Year awards ('05,'09), and a Golfweek National Coach of the Year honor in 2009. Players under Thurmond have thrived at Washington, as he coached 25 All-Americans, two NCAA Championship 2nd place finishers (Nick Taylor '10, CT Pan'15) and an Individual NCAA Champion in 20
BUSY SUMMER…
A couple of Sun Devil golfers grabbed headlines this summer with their performances on the pro tour. After finishing up an illustrious college career at ASU last spring, Jon Rahm is off to a fast start in his pro career. In June, Rahm competed in his first PGA event as a pro at the Quicken Loans National and held the lead for the first two rounds before eventually finishing tied for third. Rahm also was part of a trio of Sun Devil legends competing in the U.S. Open this year along with Phil Mickelson, and Paul Casey. As for current Sun Devils, senior Jared Du Toit posted a top 10 finish at the RBC Canadian Open in July, finishing tied for 9th. Du Toit, a British Columbia native, grabbed some media attention as the first Canadian amateur to finish in the top 10 since Doug Bajus in 1954.
THE 2016-17 SUN DEVILS…
The Sun Devils will look to senior Jared Du Toit to assume the number one spot and lead a young Arizona State team. Du Toit had a great year in 2015-16 for ASU after transferring from the University of Idaho and ended the season with five top ten finishes. Another familiar face this season is senior Ki Taek Lee. Taek Lee finished in the top five for the Sun Devils in the Wyoming Southern last season and posted five top 20 finishes during his sophomore campaign in 2014-15. The team will also rely on some newcomers to step up this year including freshman Alejandro Del Rey Gonzalez from Madrid, Spain. Del Rey Gonzalez is a two-time Spanish National Champion (U16 & U18) and will be an immediate contributor for the Sun Devils this season. The rest of the roster is filled out by senior Nicolo Galletti, junior's Ryan Douglass and Tobias Eden, sophomore Jino Sohn, and 3 other freshman Blake Wagoner, Anthony Truong, and Connor Kilpatrick.2015-16 REVIEW: The Arizona State University men's golf team finished ninth at the 2016 NCAA Championships in Eugene to close the 2015-16 season that saw it lay claim to another Ben Hogan award winner. The Sun Devils advanced to their 52nd NCAA Championship appearance, which is fourth-best. ASU has made the NCAA Championship in the 12 of the past 15 seasons and 30 of past 33. It also won its seventh NCAA Regional, tied for second with Clemson for most all-time. Jon Rahm earned several national awards including the Ben Hogan Award for the second time and All-Pac-12 first-team honors, while junior Jarod du Toit and senior Max Rottluff earned second-team All-Pac-12. ASU finished 12th in the final Gulfweed rankings and the
MOST NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCES
OKLAHOMA STATE, 69
TEXAS, 62
USC, 57
ARIZONA STATE, 52
TOP 10: ASU's ninth-place finish in 2016 was its 13th top-10 finish in the past 24 seasons (1993-2016), third-most in the nation behind only Georgia Tech and Oklahoma State who have done it 15 times in that span. Clemson and Texas have 11 top-10 finishes in that same time frame.
FIRST-TEAM ALL-AMERICANS (1958-PRESENT)
Oklahoma State, 57
Houston, 30
Florida, 28
Arizona State, 25
2015-16 SUN DEVIL TEAM ROUND-BY-ROUND
Fighting Illini Invitational 285-288-282=855/+15/3rd
The JackRabbit 304-280-281=865/+1/2nd
Alister MacKenzie 277-269-273=819/-33/T2nd
Tavistock Invitational 285-294-290=869/+5/2nd
The Amer Ari Invitational 290-271-281=842/-22/T3rd
The Prestige at PGA West 287-269-288=844/-8/2nd
Southern Highlands 291-288-303=882/+18/T4th
Lamkin Grips SD Classic 287-287-297=871/+7/4th
ASU Thunderbird 277-274-285=836/-16/4th
Western Intercollegiate 357-351-368=1076/+26/8th
Pac-12 Champ. 359-352-364-364=1439/+19/3rd
NCAA Regional 286-296-294=876/+12/1st
NCAA Championship 290-281-286-291=1,148/+28/9th
JARED DU TOIT 2015-16 ROUND-BY-ROUND
Fighting Illini Invitational 73-73-72=218 (+8/T27)
The Jackrabbit 76-69-73=218 (+2/T14)
Alister Mackenzie Invitational 67-68-68=203 (-10/T8)
Tavistock Collegiate 74-77-72=223 (+7/T28)
Amer Ari Invitational 71-67-72=210 (-6/T10)
Prestige at PGA West 68-68-73=209 (-4/7)
Southern Highlands Masters 75-71-75=221 (+5/T19)
Lamkin Grips SD Classic 71-72-72=215 (-1/8)
ASU Thunderbird Invitational 74-67-72=213 (E/T17)
Western Intercollegiate 67-69-74=210 (E/T12)
Pac-12 Championship 69-70-72-77=288 (+4/T19)
NCAA Regional 72-73-75=220 (+4/T5)
NCAA Championship 72-73-71-74=290 (+10/T45)