TEMPE, Ariz. – Matt Thurmond likes to walk the grounds of the team's future practice space at Papago Golf Course and let his imagination run wild.
"I come out early in the morning when no one is around and I walk around and imagine the shots, the practices we'll have, the players," the Sun Devils men's golf coach said. "It's one of my favorite things to do."
The world-class facility is scheduled for completion in October, but there have been mileposts to mark the stages of construction. The rough shaping took place in March, and the walls and flooring for the building went in that same month. The detailed shapers arrived in April to get the greens and tees just right. Sun Devil golf's most famous alumnus was there to supervise the process that his design company is overseeing.
The facility is not the only reason Thurmond is feeling good about the direction of Sun Devil men's golf, however.
The youth-laden Sun Devils just finished third at the Pac-12 Championships despite an off-performance from sophomore Chun An Yu, ranked No. 40 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. The Devils were led by a sixth-place finish from freshman Koichiro Ishika, a 16th-place finish (tie) from sophomore Alex del Rey and a 27th-place tie between freshman Mason Andersen and junior Jino Sohn.
"Having said that, I think it's a mistake for a head coach to be always talking about the future. We're pretty good right now, too. We're good enough to win and be successful right now. That's the best part. We're starting to play well enough where it isn't about next year."
If the Sun Devils ever lose sight of the process, there is a host of successful alumni around to remind them of ASU's heritage. Five of the PGA Tour's current top 25 money leaders are ASU alumni, including Mickelson, Jon Rahm, Pat Perez, Paul Casey and Chez Reavie.
While Thurmond admits it is difficult to measure the impact that successful alumni have on the program, he has no doubt it is real.
"It's so awesome on a daily and weekly basis to see how our alums are doing and to be able to talk to our recruits and fans and supporters about it," Thurmond said. "It creates such an energy.
"When you add up that we're building an amazing new facility, that we've got a really good young team that is getting better quickly, and that our alums are dominating on the PGA Tour, they all go together and you think, 'ASU is going good and I want to be a part of it.' Everything creates a narrative. It's kind of this convergence of things that reinforces everything we're doing."
"When we were ranked No. 32 after the fall, I always said that's not even close to where we are," Thurmond said. "I've always thought we were a top-10 team and we've been playing like that lately. You can't always overcome what happened at the start of the year but right now, we're playing like a top-10 to top-15 team."
2018 PGA Tour Money Leaders
No. Player Earnings
1. Justin Thomas $5,298,300.00
2. Patrick Reed $3,818,952.00
3. Jason Day $3,757,166.00
4. Bubba Watson $3,690,454.00
5. Phil Mickelson $3,647,601.00
6. Dustin Johnson $3,209,658.00
7. Patton Kizzire $3,177,988.00
8. Justin Rose $3,057,163.00
9. Jon Rahm $2,787,698.00
10. Rickie Fowler $2,701,060.00
11. Tony Finau $2,680,235.00
12. Pat Perez $2,608,341.00
13. Paul Casey $2,569,185.00
14. Bryson DeChambeau $2,519,987.00
15. Luke List $2,477,595.00
16. Patrick Cantlay $2,305,409.00
17. Rory McIlroy $2,261,763.00
18. Andrew Landry $2,228,754.00
19. Marc Leishman $2,211,914.00
20. Alex Noren $2,183,059.00
21. Brian Harman $2,179,726.00
22. Chesson Hadley $2,177,427.00
23. Cameron Smith $2,158,880.00
24. Brendan Steele $2,145,435.00
25. Chez Reavie $2,105,590.00
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"I come out early in the morning when no one is around and I walk around and imagine the shots, the practices we'll have, the players," the Sun Devils men's golf coach said. "It's one of my favorite things to do."
The world-class facility is scheduled for completion in October, but there have been mileposts to mark the stages of construction. The rough shaping took place in March, and the walls and flooring for the building went in that same month. The detailed shapers arrived in April to get the greens and tees just right. Sun Devil golf's most famous alumnus was there to supervise the process that his design company is overseeing.
"This practice facility will give Arizona State a platform to be the best team in the country," Phil Mickelson told Forbes in February.Looking forward to installing @CapConGolf and working with @LandscapesGolf @PapagoGolf for @azangus & #PhilMickelsonDesign. New practice area home of @SunDevilMGolf & @SunDevilWGolf is coming together. ???? Thx @MannyPina_Ewing! pic.twitter.com/75rRj9fhqb
— Ted Fist (@TedFist1) May 4, 2018
The facility is not the only reason Thurmond is feeling good about the direction of Sun Devil men's golf, however.
The youth-laden Sun Devils just finished third at the Pac-12 Championships despite an off-performance from sophomore Chun An Yu, ranked No. 40 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. The Devils were led by a sixth-place finish from freshman Koichiro Ishika, a 16th-place finish (tie) from sophomore Alex del Rey and a 27th-place tie between freshman Mason Andersen and junior Jino Sohn.
ASU will be the No. 4 seed at an NCAA regional in Raleigh, North Carolina from Monday to Wednesday, one of six 54-hole regional tournaments to determine the NCAA Championships field. The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the finals at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma from May 25-30.TOP-10 FINISHES @pac12 CHAMPIONSHIPS (2009-18)
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) May 2, 2018
1st, 2016 @JonRahmpga 70-66-68-68=272 (-12)
2nd, 2010 J. Kennegard 63-66-67-73=269 (-15)
5th, 2015 B Johnson 69-72-65-73=279 (-1)
6th, 2018 @KoichiroIshika 69-69-66-69=273 (-11)
6th, 2015 Jon Rahm 70-66-74-68=280 (E) pic.twitter.com/mF1h1OwlX7
"You have to keep getting better and better and it's not a given that you will," Thurmond said of his young team. "You have to keep working at it, but at the rate they're improving, if you extrapolate that out a few months, a couple years, it looks really good.Our seven NCAA regional titles is tied for second most. The group below looks to make it eight.
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) May 2, 2018
1991
1995
1998
1999
2001
2009
2016 pic.twitter.com/eigbXLjp3s
"Having said that, I think it's a mistake for a head coach to be always talking about the future. We're pretty good right now, too. We're good enough to win and be successful right now. That's the best part. We're starting to play well enough where it isn't about next year."
If the Sun Devils ever lose sight of the process, there is a host of successful alumni around to remind them of ASU's heritage. Five of the PGA Tour's current top 25 money leaders are ASU alumni, including Mickelson, Jon Rahm, Pat Perez, Paul Casey and Chez Reavie.
"Phil Mickelson was obviously just out here and Chez and Jon are around a lot," Thurmond said. "Jon has been out of here so short a time that he's still like a college kid and we see him quite a bit at practice. He stays in touch with the boys even outside of me."Let's continue to be efficient on the job this weekend fellas. pic.twitter.com/BH1qjUVaW5
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) May 10, 2018
While Thurmond admits it is difficult to measure the impact that successful alumni have on the program, he has no doubt it is real.
"It's so awesome on a daily and weekly basis to see how our alums are doing and to be able to talk to our recruits and fans and supporters about it," Thurmond said. "It creates such an energy.
"When you add up that we're building an amazing new facility, that we've got a really good young team that is getting better quickly, and that our alums are dominating on the PGA Tour, they all go together and you think, 'ASU is going good and I want to be a part of it.' Everything creates a narrative. It's kind of this convergence of things that reinforces everything we're doing."
Thurmond also said it creates momentum for his team, which has played its best golf in the new year while rising to the No. 20 national ranking."The ultimate training ground"
— Sun Devil Club (@sundevilclub) April 25, 2018
"A golfer will never want to leave"
"Every shot will have a purpose and challenge"
The new home of @SunDevilWGolf & @sundevilmgolf at Papago Golf Course will be incredible pic.twitter.com/u5vI6RN7vO
"When we were ranked No. 32 after the fall, I always said that's not even close to where we are," Thurmond said. "I've always thought we were a top-10 team and we've been playing like that lately. You can't always overcome what happened at the start of the year but right now, we're playing like a top-10 to top-15 team."
2018 PGA Tour Money Leaders
No. Player Earnings
1. Justin Thomas $5,298,300.00
2. Patrick Reed $3,818,952.00
3. Jason Day $3,757,166.00
4. Bubba Watson $3,690,454.00
5. Phil Mickelson $3,647,601.00
6. Dustin Johnson $3,209,658.00
7. Patton Kizzire $3,177,988.00
8. Justin Rose $3,057,163.00
9. Jon Rahm $2,787,698.00
10. Rickie Fowler $2,701,060.00
11. Tony Finau $2,680,235.00
12. Pat Perez $2,608,341.00
13. Paul Casey $2,569,185.00
14. Bryson DeChambeau $2,519,987.00
15. Luke List $2,477,595.00
16. Patrick Cantlay $2,305,409.00
17. Rory McIlroy $2,261,763.00
18. Andrew Landry $2,228,754.00
19. Marc Leishman $2,211,914.00
20. Alex Noren $2,183,059.00
21. Brian Harman $2,179,726.00
22. Chesson Hadley $2,177,427.00
23. Cameron Smith $2,158,880.00
24. Brendan Steele $2,145,435.00
25. Chez Reavie $2,105,590.00
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