May 30, 2008
Click here final NCAA men's golf championship results
The Arizona State men's golf team finished the NCAA Championships at 52-over 916 (311-293-312) and tied for 17th after the third round of the NCAA Championships hosted by Purdue.
Thirty teams and six individuals competed for NCAA team and individual titles at the Pete Dye redesigned Kampen Course, a 7,450-yard, par 72 venue at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex on the campus of Purdue University.
Teams finished the third round early Saturday and competed for the top 15 spots in order to advance to the fourth and final round on Saturday after which the team and individual champions were crowned.
Live scoring of the entire tournament and live video of the third and fourth rounds can be found on Golfstat.com.
The young Sun Devils, one of just three teams playing three freshmen and the only team in the field without an upperclassmen, were led by sophomore Braxton Marquez who finished at 11-over 227 (78-71-78).
Freshman Jesper Kennegard finished with a 14-over 230 (80-75-75).
Freshman Stephan Gross finished at 16-over 232 (76-78-78).
Freshmen James Byrne finished at 17-over 233 (78-74-81).
Sophomore Knut Borsheim (79-73-83) finished at 19-over 235.
SUN DEVIL NCAA TITLE NOTE
The Sun Devils have won two NCAA titles, in 1990 under then-head coach and 2002 ASU Hall of Fame inductee Steve Loy, and in 1996 under current head coach Randy Lein. In the past 15 years (since Lein took over the ASU duties) ten different team champions have been crowned and Lein is the only coach to have two individual champions in that time (Alejandro Canizares in 2003 and Todd Demsey in 1993). ASU has qualified for the NCAA Championships in 24 of the past 25 seasons, missing only in 2002, including each of the past six seasons, tied for the fourth-best mark in the nation in that time.
YOUNG TEAM
ASU's lineup had three freshmen (Jesper Kennegard, January arrival Stephan Gross and James Byrne), a first-year sophomore (Braxton Marquez who also arrived in January) and the grizzled veteran, Knut Borsheim, who is just a sophomore as well. ASU was the only team at the NCAA championships without a junior or senior in the lineup and one of three teams playing three freshmen (Oregon and Oklahoma State). Nine teams played without a freshman.
IT WASN'T EASY
ASU has now made the NCAA Championship in the past six seasons and in 15 of 16 seasons under Randy Lein, but it sure isn't getting easier with the 27-team, three-round regional format. Using Golfweek's rankings through the regionals, ninth-ranked Georgia Tech, No. 10 Tennessee, No. 11 Florida State, No. 12 Chattanooga, No. 13 South Carolina, No. 15 Duke, No. 21 Michigan State, No. 22 UNLV and No. 25 Texas Tech all missed this year's championships. Sixteen of this year's 30 teams did not make the NCAA Championships last year.
THE HEAD COACH
Randy Lein added the top accolade in collegiate golf in 1995-96 - the NCAA title - to his collection as the Sun Devils won the title in Chattanooga, Tenn., with a three-stroke victory over UNLV at the Honors Course. In his 16th season as ASU's coach, Lein has guided ASU to 41 tournament victories (including a school record six in 1995-96), eight Pac-10 titles, four NCAA West Regional wins and eight top-10 finishes at the NCAAs including the 1996 title. In addition, Lein has tutored NCAA medalists Todd Demsey and Alejandro Canizares and 14 All-Americans (34 occasions): Todd Demsey (3), Chris Hanell (3), Paul Casey (3), Cade Stone, Chris Stutts, Joey Snyder (2), Scott Johnson (2), Darren Angel (2), Jeff Quinney (3), Matt Jones (2), Chez Reavie (3), Alejandro Canizares (4), Niklas Lemke (3) and Benjamin Alvarado Holley (2). He has won Pac-10 Coach-of-the-Year five times (1993, 1995, 1996, 1999 and 2000) while at ASU and twice at USC (1980 and 1986). Lein (pronounced "Line") is a 1975 graduate of Cal State Northridge.
START IT OVER
Back in 2002, ASU head coach Randy Lein saw ASU's 18-year NCAA championship consecutive streak snapped in a season that had injuries and some bad luck. ASU is back in the saddle with six straight appearances, and to show you how competitive the NCAA men's golf champioships is, that streak already is tied for the sixth-best active streak, as Arizona (1987-2007) had a 21-year streak snapped this year after failing to post a .500 record and not make regionals, while Georgia Tech did not qualify out of regional action after making the NCAAs for 10 straight years (1998-2007).
CURRENT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCES
1. Oklahoma State, 1947-2008, 62
2. Georgia, 1998-2008, 11
3. Florida, 2001-2008, 8
T4. Arizona State, 2003-2008, 6
T4. UCLA, 2003-2008, 6
NCAA CHAMPS FROM ASU/PAC-10
ASU has had four NCAA medalists on six occasions: Jim Carter (1983), Phil Mickelson (1989, 1990, 1992), Todd Demsey (1993) and Alejandro Canizares (2003). Other Pac-10 winners include: Frank Tatum Jr. of Stanford (1942), Scott Simpson of USC (1976 and 1977), Ron Commans of USC (1981), Tiger Woods of Stanford (1996), James Lepp of Washington (2005) and Jamie Lovemark of USC (2008).
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCES
ASU has made 15 NCAA Championship appearances in Randy Lein's 16 years (1993-2008), tied for the second-best mark in the nation.
MOST NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCES (1993-2008)
Oklahoma State-16
Arizona State, Arizona, Florida-15
Clemson-14
Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Wake Forest-13
Auburn, New Mexico, Texas, UNLV-12
Georgia-11
UCLA-10
LEIN IN TOP TEN
Randy Lein has finished in the top ten at the NCAA Championship nine times in his 15 years at ASU, behind only Oklahoma State and Clemson (10 each).
NCAA TOP-10 FINISHES (1993-2007)
Rk. School (National Titles), Top 10
T1. Clemson (2003), 10
T1. Oklahoma State (1995, 2000, 2006), 10
T3. ASU (1996), Ga. Tech, 9
T5. Florida (1993, 2001), 8
6. Texas-7
T7. Arizona, UNLV (1998), 6
NCAA CHAMPIONS AS FRESHMAN
2007-Jamie Lovemark, USC
2006-Jonathan Moore, Oklahoma State
2003-Alejandro Canizares, Arizona State
1998-James McLean, Minnesota
1989-Phil Mickelson, Arizona State
1982-Billy Ray Brown, Houston
1974-Curtis Strange, Wake Forest
1971-Ben Crenshaw, Texas
ACADEMICALLY
Forty six players have earned their undergraduate degrees under 16th-year head coach Randy Lein including former All-Americans such as Alejandro Canizares (B.I.S., Landscape Architecture/Sociology in 2006 and 2003 NCAA champion), Todd Demsey (B.A., Psychology in 1995 and 1993 NCAA Champion) and Jeff Quinney (B.S. Finance in 2002 and 2000 U.S. Amateur Champion).