ANOTHER FINALS APPEARANCE: The Arizona State University men's golf team -- ranked fifth in the final rankings by Golfweek and seventh by Golfstat -- finished its 2018-19 season with four team wins, a first-team All-American, a Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and the Coach of the Year, four others earning Pac-12 honors, six individual wins and all five regulars in the lineup earning PING All-West Region honors.
FIRST-TEAM ALL-AMERICAN: Sun Devil junior Chun An Yu, who posted eight top-five finishes in 11 events in 2018-19 including a win at the Thunderbird Collegiate and a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships, earned PING First-Team All-America honors as announced by the GCAA. The 10 first-team selections includes five seniors, as Yu, ranked in the top-10 of the World Golf Amateur rankings, will be one of the top returning collegiate players in 2019-20. He closed a great junior season with a third-place finish at the 2019 NCAA Championships held at Blessings Golf Club (7,550 yards/par-72) in Fayetteville May 24-27. He finished at 3-under 285 (69-74-70-72), as only five players shot below par for the tournament and the third-place finish matched the second-best Sun Devil finish at the NCAA Championships in the past 16 years
Division I PING First-Team All-Americans
Steven Fisk, Georgia Southern, Sr.
Will Gordon, Vanderbilt, Sr.
Cole Hammer, Texas, Fr.
Viktor Hovland, Oklahoma State, Jr.
Collin Morikawa, California, Sr.
Bryson Nimmer, Clemson, Sr.
John Pak, Florida State, So.
Justin Suh, Southern California, Sr.
Matthew Wolff, Oklahoma State, Jr.
Chun An Yu, Arizona State, Jr.
RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS: Entering 2019-20, Chun An Yu is expected to be one of only three returning players from the 10-man PING First-Team All-Americans team, joining Cole Hammer (Texas) and John Pak (Florida State). Of the 30 players to earn PING All-America team honors, 13 of them return with first, second or third-team honors. Peter Kuest (BYU), Andy Ogletree, (Georgia Tech), Trent Phillips (Georgia), Matthias Schmid (Louisville) and Sandy Scott (Texas Tech) all earned second-team honors, while John Augenstein (Vanderbilt), Chandler Eaton (Duke), Austin Eckroat (Oklahoma State), Mac Meissner (SMU), and Luke Schniederjans (Georgia Tech) earned third-team and are expected to return in 2019-20.
You can add @GolfCoachesAssn First-Team All-American to @kevingolfyu resume as he packs his bags for a fun summer that includes the @ArnoldPalmerCup! https://t.co/PVqNYm97HL @AZGOLFassoc @Pac12Network @PapagoGolf @GrayhawkGolf pic.twitter.com/Qzo75Hs9vo
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) May 28, 2019
SUN DEVIL TEAM WINS IN 2018-19
ASU Thunderbird Collegiate/April 12-13, 2019
National Invitational/Mar. 18-19, 2019
Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic/Mar. 11-12, 2019
John Burns Intercollegiate/Feb. 21-23, 2019
Got the team win!
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) March 13, 2019
Got the individual win (great job Mason Andersen)!
Now 102-8-1!
RECAP: https://t.co/OGuMSSplpc pic.twitter.com/ZzDsrX5crl
AT THE NCAAS: Sun Devil third-year head coach Matt Thurmond, led the Sun Devils to its 55th NCAA Championship appearance, fourth-best in the nation. ASU has now made the NCAA Finals in the 15 of the past 18 seasons and 33 of past 36. ASU was without a senior in its NCAA lineup, but now has 12 years of NCAA Championships in its rotation starting next year, including three seniors who have played previous three.
MOST NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCESOKLAHOMA STATE, 72
TEXAS, 65
USC, 58
ARIZONA STATE, 55
Top 20 teams according to Head-to-Head winning percentage in NCAA Division I golf (stroke play) pic.twitter.com/XSwmoG31Ip
— Lance Ringler (@GolfweekRingler) May 30, 2019
FINAL GOLFSTAT RANKINGS: ASU finished the season ranked seventh by Golfstat, as Chun An Yu finished fourth. Others ranked in top 125 were Mason Andesen (52), Alex del Rey (69), Blake Wagoner (80), Won Jun Lee (94) and Cameron Sisk(112).
BIG TIME ASSISTANT: Sun Devil Armen Kirakossian was selected recipient of the 2019 Jan Strickland Outstanding Assistant Coach Award presented by TaylorMade Golf Company as selected by the GCAA. The Strickland Award is presented to the NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA or NJCAA assistant coach that, among other things, has excelled in working with their student-athletes both on the course and in the classroom. Kirakossian is in his second season at Arizona State after serving two years as assistant at Pepperdine. This season the Sun Devils posted four team victories - all in the spring - in addition to five runner-ups. Arizona State posted three team wins in Kirakossian's first campaign. While at Pepperdine he helped the Waves to their best finish at the NCAA Championships and best end-of-season ranking since 2004. Prior to his stint at Pepperdine Kirakossian was the head coach at his alma mater, Texas Pan American.
@SUNDEVILMGOLF BEST HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORDS
2018-19: 161-27-2
2014-15: 163-39-2
2015-16: 149-34-3
2017-18: 149-56-1 (note head-to-head records start in 2005-06)
QUICK REVIEW: ASU's season included four team wins, six individual wins, a PING First-Team All-American (Chun An Yu), six second-place finishes and a pair of fourth-place finishes...Matt Thurmond earned 2019 Pac-12 Coach of the Year, Cameron Sisk earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year while Yu and Anderson earned first-team honors...del Rey and Blake Wagoner earned second team All-Pac-12...Wagoner earned first-team Pac-12 All-Academic honors for the second straight year...team finished 16th at the NCAA Championships while Chun An Yu finished third...finished second at the NCAA Stanford Regional and tied for fourth at the Pac-12 Championship...won three straight tournaments with a different Sun Devil winning each event in March and April...won its Thunderbird Collegiate at Papago Golf Course on April 12-13 with a 20-under 832 as junior Chun An Yu shot a 12-under 201...shot 50-under on March 18-19 to win the National Invitational in Tucson as junior Alex del Rey shot 17-under 199...sophomore Mason Andersen won a playoff after shooting a 6-under 210 at the San Diego Lamkin Grips Classic on March 11-12 as ASU shot a 10-under 854 in the win...team won the John Burns Intercollegiate on Feb. 21-13 shooting a 24-under 840...opened the season finishing second at the Maui Jim Invitational and the Marquette Intercollegiate...earning All-Pac-12 honors were Yu and Anderson (first-team), Wagoner and del Rey (second-team) and Wagoner for first-team Pac-12 All-Academic for second straight year..ended the season ranked seventh in the final Golfstat poll.
ALL-PAC-12 HONORS: @SunDevilMGolf had people all over the place for All-Pac-12 honors. Matt Thurmond earned Pac-12 Coach of the Year while Cameron Sisk earned Freshman of the Year. Chun An Yu and Mason Andersen earned first-team honors, while Blake Wagoner and Alex del Rey earned notched second-team. Wagoner earned first-team All-Academic honors for the second straight year, while del Rey and Andersen earned academic honorable mention.
QUIETLY HAD A GOOD SEASON: Lost in the chatter about six individual winners and three straight team titles was the solid season freshman Cameron Sisk had, as his 71.20 stroke average was the best by any Sun Devil freshman, with some pretty good golfers on the list dating to 1985. He earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.
SUN DEVIL FRESHMAN SCORING AVERAGES (1985-2019)
Cameron Sisk, 13, 2018-19, 71.20
Jon Rahm, 15, 2012-13, 71.37
Chun An Yu, 9, 2016-17, 71.61
Alejandro Canizares, 8, 2002-03, 71.65
Mason Andersen, 13, 2017-18, 71.95
Todd Demsey, 15, 1991-92, 72.10
Alex del Rey, 12, 2016-17, 72.14
Phil Mickelson, 14, 1988-89, 72.14
Jesper Kennegard, 12, 2007-08, 72.16
Chan Kim, 8, 2008-09, 72.20
CRAZY STAT: Counting individual tournaments six Sun Devils earned or shared medalist honors in 2018-19. Jino Sohn and James Leow tied for first at the 37-player 2019 Arizona Intercollegiate individual tournament (Jan. 28-29). Alex del Rey won the 84-player National Invitational March 18-19, while freshman Cameron Sisk earned the Sonoran Showdown 20-player event, with both events taking place in Tucson at same time. Sophomore Mason Andersen won a playoff to claim the 91-player field at San Diego's Lamkin Grips Classic on March 11-12, and then Chun An Yu put his name in the 2019 winner's column April 12-13 at ASU's Thunderbird Collegiate.
DON'T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED: Thirty teams earned the right to go to Arkansas, but it isn't easy in the stressful regional world. Golfstat top-30 teams that didn't go to Arkansas were Texas Tech (15), NC State (24), Alabama (28) and UCLA (29). Golfweek's highest three ranked teams missing the trip were Texas Tech (18), Florida State (25) and UCLA (26).
SUN DEVIL FINAL RANKINGS (2000-2019)
GOLFWEEK/GOLFSTAT
2018-19: 5/7
2017-18, 18/22
2016-17, 22/20
2015-16, 12/7
2014-15, 10/11
2013-14, 27/26
2012-13, 37/28
2011-12, 80/81
2010-11, 26/24
2009-10, 15/15
2008-09, 11/7
2007-08, 18/23
2006-07, 18/17
2005-06, 7/6
2004-05, 16/13
2003-04, 5/6
2002-03, 15/9
2001-02, 48/51
2000-01, 5/5
1999-00, 7/4
SUN DEVILS TO WIN PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR (STARTED IN 1999)
Cameron Sisk, 2019
Jon Rahm, 2013
Alejandro Canizares, 2003 (shared w/Cal's Michael Wilson)
SUN DEVILS WHO EARNED PAC-12 MEN'S GOLF COACH OF THE YEAR
Matt Thurmond (2019)
Tim Mickelson (2015)
Randy Lein (2000, 1999 (shared), 1995, 1996, 1993)
Steve Loy (1990, 1989)
George Boutell (1981, 1979)