OFFICIAL NCAA REGIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT RELEASE...
The Club at Old Hawthorne in Columbia, Mo., hosts a 2014 NCAA Men’s Golf Regional on May 15-17, and Coach Tim Mickelson's Arizona State Sun Devils are one of 14 teams headed that way. The course is a par-72 layout (7,141 yards) and was opened in 2007.
REGIONAL FORMAT: Six 54-hole regional tournaments will be conducted May 15-17. Thirteen teams and 10 individuals not on those teams will compete at each of three regionals while the other three regionals will have 14 teams and five individuals not on those teams. The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the finals. The finals will be conducted May 23-28 at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kansas. Wichita State is the host institution for the 2014 championships.
SUN DEVIL STROKE AVERAGES/APPEARANCES
Jon Rahm, 70.74/11
Alberto Sanchez, 72.00/6
Austin Quick, 72.14/12
Max Rottluff, 72.41/7
Blake Cannon, 72.50/7
Mathias Schjoelberg, 73.24/7
Broc Johnson, 73.27/12
Nicolo Galletti, 73.00/9
Ki Taek Lee, 73.83/6
SUN DEVIL STROKE AVERAGES/APPEARANCES
Sept. 16-17/Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational/2nd
Sept. 27-28/William H. Tucker/2nd
Oct. 14-15/Alister MacKenzie Invitational/T-4th
Oct. 21-22/Bill Cullum Invitational/3rd
Nov. 4-6/Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational/4th
Feb. 6-8/The Amer Ari Invitational/T-11th
Feb. 17-19/The Prestige at PGA WEST/T-5th
March 7-9/Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters/14th
March 21-23/ASU Thunderbird Invitational/1st
April 7-8/Seattle Univ. Redhawk Invite/3rd
April 12-13/68th Annual Western Intercollegiate/T-6th
April 25-27/Pac-12 Championship/6th
THE TEAMS: There are 14 teams competing May 15-17, and the top five will head to the NCAA Championships. The teams and seeds are: 1. Oklahoma State; 2. Virginia; 3. LSU; 4. Arkansas; 5. Arizona State; 6. Iowa; 7. San Diego State; 8. Missouri; 9. Iowa State; 10. Middle Tennessee State; 11. Ohio State; 12. Denver; 13. Loyola (Md.); 14. Bryant.
ASU IN THE REGIONALS: With the victories by both the team and Jesper Kennegard at the 2009 West Regional, ASU has won or tied for the title in a NCAA Regional six times. ASU tied with Arizona in 1991 and tied with New Mexico in 1998. It won the title outright in 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2009. Sun Devil Paul Casey won the 1998 individual title outright followed by Jeff Quinney (1999), Benjamin Alvarado Holley (2007) and then Jesper Kennegard in 2009. Matt Jones shared medalist honors in 2001.
EAGLE UPDATE FOR RAHM: Jon Rahm now has 21 eagles in his 80-round career. Dating back to 1993-94 when Golfstat started tracking college statistics, only three other Sun Devils posted 15 eagles in their careers. While Rahm has 21 eagles in just 80 rounds, 2003 NCAA champion Alejandro Canizares had 15 eagles in 152 career rounds, while Scott Pinckey (121 rounds) and Niklas Lemke (151 rounds) had 16 eagles in their career.
SOME IMPROVEMENT GOING ON HERE: Tim Mickelson took over a program in the summer of 2011 that was 89-86-3 in head-to-head record in the previous year. In 2011-12, the young squad was 62-96-1, but his past two seasons have resulted in rapid improvement. The 2012-13 team that made the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship was 125-89-1, and this year’s team is 122-49-4. A look at the past nine seasons of head-to-head play for men’s golf, and note this year’s squad is eight wins short of having the most since the 2005-06 team posted 142.
SUN DEVIL MEN’S GOLF HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORDS
2013-14: 122-49-4
2012-13: 125-89-6
2011-12: 62-96-1
2010-11: 89-86-3
2009-10: 115-63-6
2008-09: 129-52-2
2007-08: 115-75-4
2006-07: 112-58-4
2005-06: 142-52-5
ABOUT THAT THUNDERBIRD SCORE BY JON: Jon Rahm's 21-under 192 at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational in March broke the school's 54-hole final score record and the Thunderbird Invitational record, while ASU's 817 was the lowest team score in the history of the tournament.
SUN DEVIL LOWEST 54-HOLE TOURNAMENT FINAL SCORES (1993-94 TO PRESENT)
Jon Rahm, 192/-21 (2014 ASU Thunderbird Invitational)
Jesper Kennegard, 197/-13 (2008 UH Hilo Invitational)
Benjamin Alvarado, 198/-18 (2007 NCAA West Regional in Tempe)
Alejandro Canizares, 200/-16 (2004 ASU Thunderbird Invitational)
Jeff Quinney, 201/-15 (1999 ASU Thunderbird Invitational)