May 1, 1998
TEMPE, Az. - It would be easy for Arizona State men's golf coach and five-time Pac-10 Coach of the Year Randy Lein to simply say the 1998 season is a rebuilding one.
Gone from last year's squad are All-Americans Chris Hanell (GOLFWEEK'S National Player of the Year) and Scott Johnson (1997 Pac-10 Medalist and Dave Williams Award Winner). Both were first-team All-Americans and Academic All-Americans, only the seventh and eighth players in NCAA history to accomplish the feat. Ironically, ASU finds itself in a position to improve as a team and prove something to the rest of the country.
The preseason No. 7 ASU Men's Golf team is looking to do more than extend its current streak of three top five national finishes and 10 straight top-10 finishes.
"Our goals for this year are the same as every year," says Lein. "Win the conference championship and be in position to win the national title."
Coming off their 1996 national championship season, the Sun Devils ended fifth in the nation in 1997, but still earned their td their third straight Pac-10 title, a league record. The team's fifth-place showing at the NCAA Championship marked their tenth straight top-10 showing, a current streak unmatched among NCAA teams.
Yes, the players are young and have yet to make heads turn throughout the country. But, Lein sees the team improving by the end of the season and expects a surge through the national championship tournament brackets.
Starting from the top, Darren Angel, 1995-96 All-American, will be the top-ranked ASU golfer. Last season, the junior from Northridge, Calif. had a season-long average of 75.26 and had a top-five finish at the Golf Digest tourney and a top-ten finish. He also tied for 23rd at the UTEP tournament.
Last year he missed five consecutive tournaments and another three later in the season due to tendonitis in his elbow and an illness.
"Darren hits it long, but has excellent touch around the greens," Lein said. "ent touch around the greens," Lein said. "We need him to get back to freshman year scores when he was posting good scores in every round and at every tournament."
Greg Padilla and Brad Cannon are Lein's other two juniors returning with a lot of experience.
"Greg played all of last fall and then came down with a serious sinus infection in March which took him out of most of the spring. It was unfortunate because Greg was playing well enough to help us at nationals. I think by the end of the year Greg will be a very good player. He's very athletic. He's been working very hard on his mechanics and I think he's at a period where he's ready to break through. He has an excellent short game and long game and he is close to being a real good collegiate player -- an All-America type."
Padilla will play in In the fall of 1995 Padilla had his best performance at the Tucker Invitational, placing sixth. The junior from Del Mar, Calif. ranked fifth on the team last season with a 75.59 average. That mark should improve this year.
Brad Cannon, a local product from Phoenix, played in 14 tournaments last year, including the NCAA Championship. As Lein states, it is Cannon's time to become a force in the lineup.
"Brad has some good experience behind him and now it is time for him to become a great player in our league. He had a period of three or four tournaments last year where he played real well. Both Brad and Greg have had the same type of careers so far, they have great rounds or great tournaments but now it is time to not let down. They need to be consistent."
Lein is counting on the threesome of Angel, Cannon and Padilla. What the rest of the lineup looks like will all depend on who is playing well, as there is much competition for sports. Names to look for are true freshmen Jin Park (Fullerton, Calif.) and Jeff Quinney (Eugene, Ore.), and redshirt freshman Paul Casey (Surrey, United Kingdom).
"Jin has been playing competitive golf since he was 11 and I have watched him play since then. He has a lot of tournament experience, has traveled a lot and is used to pressure situations. He was a first-team junior All-American this year which was an acknowledgment of his fine play at the national level. Jin also will have a great chance to earn a starting spot.
"Jeff has an abundance of natural ability and I know will develop into an All-American. he had a successful basketball and golf career in high school and had a lot of success at the junior level with limited play. He should earn a starting spot this year.
"Paul's best asset is that he works at his game so much. He practices long hours and hard. He not only wants to be in the lineup, but he wants to win tournaments and have the team win as well."
Casey finished tied for 15th at the Ping Preview in the fall. "Obviously, we have some guys with experience, but experience only takes you so far and we need to have people playing who are posting good scores. Jeff, Jin and Paul, with their talent and work ethic, are just going to get better and potentially are All-America candidates."
Lein also notes that Tim Mickelson (San Diego, Calif.) could be ready for a breakout year, while sophomore Jonas Runnquist (Kingsbacha, Sweden) also is competing for lineup spots.
"Tim Mickelson has been playing real well. Tim is far more serious about his golf than ever before. If he has any success, he can really become a top golfer. Jonas Runnquist played at the Pac-10 Championships so he has top five potential for this team."
Rounding out the roster are seniors Dan Norton and Bryan Gilder, junior Sam Flam, sophomore Jason Hause and freshman Rhett Graham, Mike Kim and Ryan Whitaker.
"One thing is for sure this year, any person on the roster can step up and play in any week, and that will keep the competition very good in the fall and early spring.
"Our team chemistry is going to be real good and a strength. Our guys know we know need five team scores and the older guys need to be leaders to Jin, Paul and the rest of the underclassmen. Guys like Brad, Darren and Greg have gone from rookie status to leaders in a hurry. We can't sit back and assume our number one or two guys are going to pull the other scores up. We need everyone to keep fighting for lineup spots. If that happens, I look for a lot of improvement and for our spring to be very interesting.