by Jake Cormany, SDA Communications Student InternWe have joined Instagram!
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) July 21, 2017
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The Arizona State men's golf team is about to get their fall season under way, and they have a young talented roster who could be primed for a big push come spring. They will start their season in Minnesota at the Gopher Invitational on September 10-11. Coach Matt Thurmond is extremely excited to start his second year as the Sun Devils head coach.
"Last year was kind of getting a feel for things, you want to come in and establish who you are and what you do," Said Thurmond when asked about his approach from this year to last year. "It was a busy year last year, and this year it will not be easier, but we are so much more prepared and w know more of what we want to do."
Arizona State has had much success as a men's golf program with two NCAA titles (1990 and 1996) and 12 Pac-12 titles, and coach Thurmond expects nothing less than to keep ASU at the top.Strike a pose... pic.twitter.com/WIw2j1ULY8
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) August 25, 2017
"We expect to be the premier program in the country," Thurmond said. "That is what we are working towards every day. I think we will be very good this year, and I expect to get to match play," notes Thurmond. "That is tough to do, to be one of the top eight teams, but that is kind of our benchmark for our success this season."
The ASU golf team is introducing three freshman in Mason Andersen, Paul Chaplet and Koichiro Ishika. Anderson is a local product and played his high school golf at Hamilton High School. The Arizona State freshman has had quite an eventful summer. He qualified for the U.S. Open and only ended up missing the cut by one stroke. Mason also saw success at the end of his summer by making it to the semi-finals in the Arizona Amateur. His new teammate Chaplet has also already gone against the best of the best on the big stage in the golf world. The ASU freshman played in the 2016 Masters, which was quite a feat being he was just 16 at the time.
"Every coach is touting their freshman," Said Thurmond. "We have a good class, but I do not want to put too much pressure on them. My most important thing for them is they get settled in school and with the team, so they can be in a good position to let their talent shine."
When asked about having two freshman who already have major experience he was quite amazed. "It is cool, I have never really thought about it that way, but you want to get the best amateur golfers out there. Mason and Paul are two great examples of that having major experience before they even got to college."
With coming into the season with just three upperclassman, the Sun Devils will be putting a young team on the course. With having three good freshman and also three returning sophomores who saw a lot of playing time last season in Blake Wagoner, Alex del Rey and Chun An Yu.Signed, sealed and ready to deliver birdies we welcome @Paulchaplet and @MasonA2017 https://t.co/2ILZVqwWzB @AZGolfwriter @cruzzer34 pic.twitter.com/0GuCgHKG3O
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) November 15, 2016
Want to read good story about @kevingolfyu ? @jeffmetcalfe wrote about him and @lin_lyle in April https://t.co/DzwprBLV4v Round of 16 next!
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) August 17, 2017
Coach Thurmond likes that they do have a young team, "As a young team we are humble and hungry," Thurmond said. "We just need to focus on getting better and not where we are ranked. We just need to stay humble and stay hungry."
He also is very excited about his returning sophomores, and believes they will be a big part of their success this season.
"They were three freshman who played in the regional and national tournaments last year, and naturally I see a lot of leadership coming from that group. I have always thought the biggest improvements are between your freshman and sophomore year of college… I think those sophomores are going to have an awesome year."
Add into the conversation junior Jino Sohn had a big win this summer at the Southwestern Amateur, a tournament that has one of the better amateur fields, seniors Tobias Eden and Ryan Douglass, and sophomore Anthony Trong who also saw some good playing time in his freshman year, and ASU has a solid core to work with this year.
"One thing that we do that is pretty unique as a program is that everybody will get to play a lot of tournaments this year," Thurmond said. "I am really proud of that and we recruit to that, and this year is cool because our first two tournaments we play the whole team is going."
Good read on @rdouglassgolf_ as he gets ready for 2017-18 season https://t.co/WyJkD6yFFn ... lots of competition for spots this year.
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) July 25, 2017
And with Arizona State University recently awarded the NCAA Championships from 2020 till 2022, the future is very bright for the Sun Devil golf program.
"That was just such a huge deal," Thurmond said. "I tell everybody there are basically two epicenters in the states for golf and that is Orlando and Scottsdale. This is the place for golf, and to validate it with having three straight NCAA Championships, which has never been done before, is awesome."ASU golf wants Valley to become what Omaha is to baseball @greg_macafee @sportscronkite https://t.co/SS2WKySl3z
— Paola Boivin (@PaolaBoivin) June 30, 2017