Oct. 15, 1997
Arizona State Men's Golf Team Travels to Birmingham for Jerry Pate National Oct. 20-21
ASU travels to ALABAMA: The 1997-1998 Arizona State men's golf team, ranked No. 7 in the MasterCard Oct. 8 rankings, travels to Birmingham, Ala., to compete in the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate on Oct. 20-21. ASU, winners of three straight Pac-10 titles and national champions in 1990 and 1996, also has a current string of 10 straight NCAA top-10 finishes. ASU finished in the top five in 13-of-14 tournaments last year and is the only team to finish in the top five at the NCAAs in each of the past three years. ASU is coached by sixth-year head coach Randy Lein, the 1996 National Coach of the Year.
ABOUT THE JERRY PATE NATIONAL: The Jerry Pate National will run from Oct. 20-21. The tournament begins Monday with 36 holes and concludes on Tuesday with 18 holes. Among others in the field are: Arizona, Alabama, Clemson, preseason No. 1 Oklahoma State, Texas Christian and Texas.
LAST TIME OUT: ASU finished tied for ninth at the Ping Preview on Oct. 20-21, with redshirt freshman Paul Casey leading the way with an even 216. Darren Angel (T-35th) posted a 4-over-par 220 (74-69-77), Jin Park had a 221 (T-39th), with Brad Cannon shooting a 7-over-par 223 (73-72-78). Greg Padilla shot a 13-over-par 229, which tied for 64th. ASU shot a team score of 874 (296-284-294), which was 10-over-par.
JERRY PATE RESULTS: Results from the 54-hole tournament can be obtained by calling the Info Connection at (770) 399-3066. To access the information, dial 732#, followed by the men's golf code of 1257.
RANDY LEIN: Randy Lein has coached 43 tournament victories in 15 seasons, tutored 34 All-Americans at ASU and USC, and begins his sixth year as mentor of ASU's golf program in 1996-97. Lein added the best accolade in all of collegiate golf in 1995-96 -- the NCAA title -- to his collection of coaching honors as the Sun Devils won the 1996 title in Chattanooga, Tenn., with a three-stroke victory over UNLV at the Honors Course.
THE LINEUP: Here is ASU's probable line-up for the Jerry Pate National:
Darren Angel...junior who won Ping Preview in freshman season and finished tied for third at 1996 NCAA Championships.
Greg Padilla...made 11 appearances during 1996-97 season...75.59 stroke average last year...tied for 6th at Tucker Invitational last year.
Brad Cannon...junior from Phoenix....medalist at Duck Invitational last year.
Jin Park...freshman from Fullerton, Calif....tied for 27th at Tucker Inv.
Paul Casey...native of the United Kingdom....tied for 15th at Ping Preview.
ASU Quick FactsASU has posted 10 straight NCAA top-10 finishes, the best current mark in the nation.
ASU is the only school to finish in the top five at the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three seasons.
ASU's NCAA Championships: 1990 and 1996
ASU was a top five finisher in 13-of-14 events last year.
Junior Darren Angel was ranked No. 21 in MasterCard preseason rankings.
ASU has won the Pac-10 title in four of the past five years and in the past three years.
Randy Lein has won Pac-10 Coach of the Year five times, three times at ASU and twice at USC.
UP NEXT...ASU will compete in Rolex Match Play Nov. 2-3 in Miami, Fla.. ASU will play in five fall tournaments this year.
TOURNAMENT DATES SITE RESULT/NOTES
Tucker Invitational 9/19-20 Albuquerque, N.M. T-7th/Jin Park T-27th
Ping Preview 9/29-30 Albuquerque, N.M. T-9th/Paul Casey T-15th
Jerry Pate National 10/20-21 Birmingham, Ala.
Rolex Match Play 11/2-3 Miami, Fla.
Golf World/Palmetto Dunes 11/14-16 Hilton Head, S.C.
Ping/Arizona Inv. 2/2-3 Tucson, Ariz.
Taylor Made/Big Island Inv. 2/12-15 Kona, Hawaii
Golf Digest Inv. 3/13-15 Las Vegas, Nev.
USC/Southwestern Inv. 3/23-24 Los Angeles, Calif.
U.S. Collegiate Inv. 4/3-5 Orlando, Fla.
ASU Thunderbird/SAVANE Invitational
4/18-19 Tempe, Ariz. ASU defending champ
Pac-10 Championships 4/27-29 Berkeley, Calif. ASU 3-time def. champ
NCAA West Regionals 5/14-16 Tempe, Ariz.
NCAA Championships 5/27-30 Albuquerque, N.M. NCAA defending champ