Inside the coolest practice facility in college golf, home of the Arizona State Sun Devils - https://t.co/ZajWvBcH7j
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) April 3, 2020
VIDEO: AN UPDATE AND A THANK YOU FROM COACH THURMOND
Yes, it ended earlier than everyone thought.
But the Sun Devil men's golf program did some great things in the 2019-20 season, and one (well more than one, actually quite a few, and maybe many) had the feeling it was just getting started. So let's look back on the abbreviated 2019-20 season in numerical form.
Before we do that, a big shout out to our three seniors. Chun An Yu, Alex del Rey and Blake Wagoner arrived in the fall of 2016 and led us to 12 tournament wins. Three Sun Devils from three continents posted great numbers and made the NCAA Championships in each of their three seasons. The trio helped lead the squad to a dozen tournament titles.
Our seniors (@a_delrey99 @kevingolfyu and @blakewagoner7 ) led us to 12 team titles
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) March 23, 2020
2020, Cabo Collegiate
2019, '17 Maui Jim
2019 Trinity Forest
2019 John Burns
2019 Lamkin Grips
2019 NIT
2019, '18, '17 ASU TBird Collegiate
2018 Bandon Dunes
2016 Alister MacKenzie pic.twitter.com/osjaESD191
1: As in the first tournament of the year, the team came out of the gates fast, with the team and Cameron Sisk both winning the 2019 Maui Jim Intercollegiate in Scottsdale. The best freshman men's golfer in the Pac-12 last year served notice he wasready for a great sophomore year as Sisk's individual title helped lead to the team title at Mirabel Golf Club in Scottsdale. Sisk, the 2019 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, shot 14-under 196 (64-67-65) to lead ASU to its fifth team title in its past nine tournaments. He posted 18 birdies on the weekend.
"This was just an all-around awesome week for us," said fourth-year Sun Devil head coach Matt Thurmond, last season's Pac-12 Coach of the Year. "There are so many cool things to talk about. Cam (Sisk) was unbeatable. I knew that type of performance would come from him and it's pretty cool to start the season with it. Kevin (Chun An Yu) was his usual awesome self, and if a couple things go his way he's right there with Cam."
Lowest 3-round tournament final total scores in ASU history (Golfstat era, starting in 1993-94)
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) September 15, 2019
192/-21, @JonRahmpga , 2014 ASU Thunderbird
195/-15, @JonRahmpga 2015 ASU Thunderbird
196/-14, Cameron Sisk 2019 Maui Jim Intercollegiate
196/-14, @MaxRottluff 2015 ASU Thunderbird pic.twitter.com/JMSRdPoflN
2: Winning back-to-back team titles is hard in college golf. So is winning three individual titles in three tournaments. Earning medalist honors at a college tournament by five strokes doesn't happen often. All three of those happened for Sun Devil men's golf in Dallas in the second tournament of the season, as Alex del Rey's 16-under 197 (67-64-66) led the way as the Sun Devils won their second straight tournament to start the year with a four-stroke win over host SMU. ASU shot 30-under 822 (279-268-275) which included the best final round to seal its sixth win in its past 10 tournaments. How impressive was del Rey's win? Only one player (Justin Thompson of SMU at 11-under 202) was within five strokes of him, and third place was a full eight strokes back as teammate Cameron Sisk finished at 8-under 205 (71-65-69). ADR was a tournament-best 7-under on the par-4 holes and 8-under on the par-5 holes. He led the tournament with 19 birdies and had 30 pars and one eagle. Three Sun Devils who were in ASU's lineup that won the Sept. 13-15 Maui Jim Intercollegiate weren't in Dallas for the Trinity Forest Invitational. Chun An Yu, Won Jun Lee and James Leow all were getting ready to compete in the Asia-Pacific Amateur at the Sheshan International Golf Club held in Shanghai, China. And thanks to Dr. Crow for the shout out on Twitter.
Job well done, @sundevilmgolf. Victory is sweet. #Excellence #GoDevils https://t.co/byDJvBscEd
— Michael Crow (@michaelcrow) September 25, 2019
3: The team won three tournaments in 2019-20. It won the Maui Jim Intercollegiate (Sept. 13-15, 2019), the Trinity Forest Invitational (Sept. 22-24, 2019) and the Cabo Collegiate (Mar. 1-3, 2020).
3: ASU's final rankings were third (GCAA), sixth (Golfstat) and seventh (Golfweek)
Season-ending Stats for @sundevilmgolf :
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) March 31, 2020
3, 6, 7 (various national rankings)
102-12-3 overall record
Top-ranked Pac-12 team
Three tournament victories (of 8)
Three individual victories
Six players ranked in Top 100
Different starting five in all 8 events
5: Division I PING All-Region honorees were been announced by the GCAA and five Sun Devils earned the honor fo 2019-20: Mason Andersen, Ryggs Johnston, David Puig, Cameron Sisk and Chun An Yu.
6: The Sun Devil golf family lost a great one when Randy Lein passed away in December right after the holidays. We gathered an incredible group and paid tribute. His six straight Pac-10 titles remains one of his greatest accomplishments in a coaching career filled with so many.
Our tribute from his Celebration of Life to Randy Lein https://t.co/SRRkxXh6xQ
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) February 5, 2020
Thanks to @Paul_Casey @goodwalkspoiled @MattThurmond for sharing memories of what made the @pac12 Coach of the Century and @GolfCoachesAssn Hall of Famer so special
7: Mason Andersen became the seventh Sun Devil to earn Pac-12 Golfer of the Month when he earned the honor for February.
Got the most work out of the shortest month of the year.
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) March 4, 2020
Congrats to February's @pac12 Golfer of the Month, Mason Andersen! https://t.co/0GM4KGUWOa
SUN DEVILS AS PAC-12 MEN'S GOLFER OF THE MONTH
February of 2020: Mason Andersen
March of 2019: Alex del Rey
February of 2017: Jared du Toit
April of 2016: Jon Rahm
May of 2009: Jesper Kennegard
September of 2006: Niklas Lemke
February of 2005: Alejandro Canizares
12: The Sun Devils have now won a dozen tournaments under fourth-year head coach Matt Thurmond. It has won tournaments in Hawaii, Mexico, Texas, Arizona (6), California (2) and Oregon.
SUN DEVIL TEAM WINS UNDER MATT THURMOND (12)
Cabo Collegiate/March 1-3, 2020
Trinity Forest Invitational/Sept. 22-24, 2019
Maui Jim Intercollegiate/Sept. 13-15, 2019
ASU Thunderbird Collegiate/April 12-13, 2019
National Invitational Tournament/Mar. 18-19, 2019
Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic/Mar. 11-12, 2019
John Burns Intercollegiate/Feb. 21-23, 2019
ASU Thunderbird Invitational/April 14-15, 2018
Bandon Dunes Intercollegiate/March 11-13, 2018
Maui Jim Intercollegiate/September 22-24, 2017
ASU Thunderbird Invitational/March 18-19, 2017
Alister MacKenzie Invitational/Oct. 10-11, 2016
30: James Leow won the men's individual tournament at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games on Friday (Dec. 6), bringing home Singapore's first gold in the category in 30 years.Same goals next year. Trophies. Titles. Competing hard and ending strong with ?@GrayhawkGolf? as the finish line. Thank you Sun Devils for your support! pic.twitter.com/OhuseQ3NHZ
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) March 17, 2020
Leow hit a seven under par 65 in the final round of the tournament at the Luisita Golf and Country Club. His overall 13 under par score of 203 placed him top of the leaderboard by 1 stroke at the end of competition in a field of 38.Way go to @JamesLeowKA !!! pic.twitter.com/SBjawZRdAQ
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) December 7, 2019
68: Down a few strokes, the Arizona State men's golf team -- playing without senior All-American Chun An Yu, as he was getting ready to compete in the Arnold Palmer Invitational March 5-8 -- didn't let a chance to win one of the best tournaments in men's college golf slip away. The Sun Devils got 3-under-68s from freshman David Puig, sophomore Cameron Sisk and freshman Ryggs Johnston and jumped 36-hole leader Arizona in tough wind to take an 8-stroke victory at 20-under-par 832 (281-277-274) at the Cabo Collegiate.
Great win at the @CaboCollegiate this week. We've always really wanted to win this event. All five guys finished between 8th and 14th. It was an all around great week for @sundevilmgolf in Cabo! ???? pic.twitter.com/84LI1DfkBB
— Matt Thurmond (@MattThurmond) March 4, 2020
Their third-round total of 274 was 10-under-par. Arizona State and Texas A&M were the only teams to break par in the windiest conditions of the three-day event.
70.40: Chun An You finished his career with a 70.40 stroke average, the second-best in Sun Devil history behind only Jon Rahm.
--70.40 career scoring average second best by Sun Devil in the @Golfstat era (@JonRahmpga leads that chart)
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) March 20, 2020
--3 collegiate titles
--2019 First-Team All-American#ForksUp to a great member of our #SunDevilFamily @kevingolfyu https://t.co/6XncpdENDI pic.twitter.com/jfwE4tW83L
Same goals next year. Trophies. Titles. Competing hard and ending strong with ?@GrayhawkGolf? as the finish line. Thank you Sun Devils for your support! pic.twitter.com/OhuseQ3NHZ
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) March 17, 2020
Good and getting better. Cameron Sisk will begin junior season in 2020-21 with 3rd-best ASU scoring average in @Golfstat era
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) March 25, 2020
-@JonRahmpga 70.21/165 rounds, 2012-16
-@kevingolfyu 70.40/116 rounds, 2016-20
-Cameron Sisk 70.92/61 rounds, 2018-20
More: https://t.co/v8O5RtR7dG pic.twitter.com/MQz8nLUvFJ
Golf claps for @a_delrey99 on a great four years!
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) March 26, 2020
-4 collegiate tournament wins
-26 eagles
-514 birdies
-2018 Eisenhower Trophy Winner
-71.42 stroke average
His career: https://t.co/qlTydmqOeL pic.twitter.com/Ss8wHWXoHf