SCOTTSDALE – The greens were firm, the rough was shallow, and smiles were seen throughout Grayhawk Golf Club during the practice session before the beginning of tomorrow's NCAA Men's Golf National Championship.
No. 4/5 Sun Devil Men's Golf arrived shortly after the sun rose, beginning its trek to a potential third National Championship in program history.
Teams will play four consecutive days of stroke-play from Friday-Monday before the top-eight teams advance to match play. The National quarterfinals and semifinals will be held on Tuesday, while the final is scheduled for Wednesday.
SUN DEVIL TEE TIMES
ASU is paired with Stanford and Texas Tech for the first round. Ryggs Johnston will start things off at the first tee at 11:52 a.m. MST. Live scoring can be found here.
11:52 a.m: Ryggs Johnston, ASU l Tyran Snyders, Texas Tech l Karl Vilips, Stanford
12:03 p.m: Luke Potter, ASU l Jack Wall, Texas Tech l Nate Menon, Stanford
12:14 p.m: Michael Mjaaseth, ASU l Matthew Comegys, Texas Tech l Barclay Brown, Stanford
12:25 p.m: Josele Ballester, ASU l Calum Scott, Texas Tech l Michael Thorbjornsen, Stanford
12:36 p.m: Preston Summerhays, ASU l Ludvig Aberg, Texas Tech l Ethan Ng, Stanford
BEEN THERE DONE THAT
The Sun Devils have had nine golfers participate in the last three Individual National Championships. Second-most in the country to Texas Tech and Oklahoma (10).
ASU has averaged the third-lowest finish in stroke play of the National Championship of the 14 programs that have participated in each of the last three seasons.
BEST SUN DEVIL NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS
61/-9, Jon Rahm (May 28, 2013 at Atlanta, GA)
63/-7, Ryggs Johnston (May 29, 2021 at Scottsdale, AZ)
63/-9, Phil Mickelson (June 3, 1992 at Albuquerque, NM)
65/-7, Phil Mickelson (June 4, 1992 at Albuquerque, NM)
66/-4, Phil Mickelson (June 7, 1989 at Edmond, OK)
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Admission and parking to the 2023 NCAA Men's Golf Championship is free. Come out to Grayhawk Golf Club May 26-31 to support Sun Devil Men's Golf.
QUOTES
ASU SOPHOMORE PRESTON SUMMERHAYS
On coming back to Grayhawk for another opportunity at a National Championship:
"It's great to be back out here. College golf is great the entire season, but you're really just working to get right to this point; this is the biggest tournament of the year. You want to win it for your team and for your school. So to be back here, especially with how close we got last year, it's exciting."
On additional motivation behind last year's second place finish:
"It motivates us a lot. And it also gives us a lot of confidence knowing that we got to that spot, we were so close to winning, we just needed a little extra. So you think about it all season, you practice to get back to that spot and get back into contention, just to try to win."
On the condition of the course today:
"It's looking good. I mean, the rough isn't quite as thick as last year. But it'll grow throughout the week. The greens are firm. When they have the tour here, it's one of the hardest places to get up and down. Hitting greens is going to be really valuable. And if you don't, you're going to really struggle to make pars."
On the confidence of the team after shooting a historic 59-under in regionals:
"It gives you a lot of confidence. Regionals is such a big event. High pressure, high intensity. If you don't play good, you're not coming here. So to go out and be in that atmosphere of a lot of pressure and you have to perform. And to go out there and and shoot 59-under, it's it gives us a lot of confidence to know that we can we can hit those shots in those circumstances."
On the keys heading into the National Championship:
"You're just really trying to peak at the right time. So within these last couple of weeks, you're just trying to get your game as dialed as it can be. Just trying to find the little holes in your game and trying to sharpen those up. But it's really about knowing the course you're going to and what you need to do to prepare for that course in that tournament."
ASU GOLF HEAD COACH MATT THURMOND:
On last year's second place finish:
"It's not something we talk about. We're not afraid to talk about it. But it's just kind of irrelevant, honestly. That was so long ago. And this has been the longest 360 days of my entire life for sure. So it's a whole new deal. We remembered it, we learned from it. It helps us be a little more prepared but we also have a bunch of new guys that are here. They probably were watching on TV. So it doesn't give us any bonus points. But I'm glad we had that experience, and it'll help us. If we end up finding a way to win this thing. I think we'll look back on last year and say that it really helped us."
On how Josele and Preston can help freshmen Luke Potter and Michael Mjaaseth
"I pulled both Josele (Ballester) and Preston (Summerhays) aside and I said, 'Hey, you remember, a year ago how nervous you were tonight'. And that seems like a long time ago. Michael and Luke are probably feeling everything he felt. And I said don't make a big deal of it. But if there's, if there's any little advice that you could pass on to them quietly in the car, or in the hotel room, feel free to do anything you can to relax those guys. It's tough. I mean, this is a lot of pressure for anybody. Every one of our guys, whether they're freshmen or seniors is going to be unable to eat lunch, they're going to have hands shaking, hard to breathe on that first tee tomorrow. That's just what happens. But as a freshman, it's extra tough. So those are special freshmen, but it's still gonna feel it's gonna feel they're gonna feel all that tomorrow. And I think having some guys like Josele and Preston last year is a good thing."
On how much time the guys are spending together this week:
"Every year each team is different. And you spend so much time together. Golf is an individual sport. And in golf, your score is your score. But there's no way people spend more time together on a team than the golfers do. Just the volume of practice and every meal and every night at the hotel and they live together and drive together ... they are a tight team. And so yeah, it's always sad. The problem is, it's always sad for everybody, but if you find a way to win, now you have this thing that binds you together forever. And that's what you just hope for a team that's this close. They're like brothers and it'd be cool for them to have that bond for the rest of their lives."
No. 4/5 Sun Devil Men's Golf arrived shortly after the sun rose, beginning its trek to a potential third National Championship in program history.
The day before… ??
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) May 25, 2023
A behind the scenes look on practice day at the NCAA Championship ??#ForksUp /// #NCAAGolf pic.twitter.com/5V6aysA8fx
Teams will play four consecutive days of stroke-play from Friday-Monday before the top-eight teams advance to match play. The National quarterfinals and semifinals will be held on Tuesday, while the final is scheduled for Wednesday.
SUN DEVIL TEE TIMES
ASU is paired with Stanford and Texas Tech for the first round. Ryggs Johnston will start things off at the first tee at 11:52 a.m. MST. Live scoring can be found here.
11:52 a.m: Ryggs Johnston, ASU l Tyran Snyders, Texas Tech l Karl Vilips, Stanford
12:03 p.m: Luke Potter, ASU l Jack Wall, Texas Tech l Nate Menon, Stanford
12:14 p.m: Michael Mjaaseth, ASU l Matthew Comegys, Texas Tech l Barclay Brown, Stanford
12:25 p.m: Josele Ballester, ASU l Calum Scott, Texas Tech l Michael Thorbjornsen, Stanford
12:36 p.m: Preston Summerhays, ASU l Ludvig Aberg, Texas Tech l Ethan Ng, Stanford
BEEN THERE DONE THAT
The Sun Devils have had nine golfers participate in the last three Individual National Championships. Second-most in the country to Texas Tech and Oklahoma (10).
ASU has averaged the third-lowest finish in stroke play of the National Championship of the 14 programs that have participated in each of the last three seasons.
BEST SUN DEVIL NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS
61/-9, Jon Rahm (May 28, 2013 at Atlanta, GA)
63/-7, Ryggs Johnston (May 29, 2021 at Scottsdale, AZ)
63/-9, Phil Mickelson (June 3, 1992 at Albuquerque, NM)
65/-7, Phil Mickelson (June 4, 1992 at Albuquerque, NM)
66/-4, Phil Mickelson (June 7, 1989 at Edmond, OK)
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Admission and parking to the 2023 NCAA Men's Golf Championship is free. Come out to Grayhawk Golf Club May 26-31 to support Sun Devil Men's Golf.
QUOTES
ASU SOPHOMORE PRESTON SUMMERHAYS
On coming back to Grayhawk for another opportunity at a National Championship:
"It's great to be back out here. College golf is great the entire season, but you're really just working to get right to this point; this is the biggest tournament of the year. You want to win it for your team and for your school. So to be back here, especially with how close we got last year, it's exciting."
On additional motivation behind last year's second place finish:
"It motivates us a lot. And it also gives us a lot of confidence knowing that we got to that spot, we were so close to winning, we just needed a little extra. So you think about it all season, you practice to get back to that spot and get back into contention, just to try to win."
On the condition of the course today:
"It's looking good. I mean, the rough isn't quite as thick as last year. But it'll grow throughout the week. The greens are firm. When they have the tour here, it's one of the hardest places to get up and down. Hitting greens is going to be really valuable. And if you don't, you're going to really struggle to make pars."
On the confidence of the team after shooting a historic 59-under in regionals:
"It gives you a lot of confidence. Regionals is such a big event. High pressure, high intensity. If you don't play good, you're not coming here. So to go out and be in that atmosphere of a lot of pressure and you have to perform. And to go out there and and shoot 59-under, it's it gives us a lot of confidence to know that we can we can hit those shots in those circumstances."
On the keys heading into the National Championship:
"You're just really trying to peak at the right time. So within these last couple of weeks, you're just trying to get your game as dialed as it can be. Just trying to find the little holes in your game and trying to sharpen those up. But it's really about knowing the course you're going to and what you need to do to prepare for that course in that tournament."
ASU GOLF HEAD COACH MATT THURMOND:
On last year's second place finish:
"It's not something we talk about. We're not afraid to talk about it. But it's just kind of irrelevant, honestly. That was so long ago. And this has been the longest 360 days of my entire life for sure. So it's a whole new deal. We remembered it, we learned from it. It helps us be a little more prepared but we also have a bunch of new guys that are here. They probably were watching on TV. So it doesn't give us any bonus points. But I'm glad we had that experience, and it'll help us. If we end up finding a way to win this thing. I think we'll look back on last year and say that it really helped us."
On how Josele and Preston can help freshmen Luke Potter and Michael Mjaaseth
"I pulled both Josele (Ballester) and Preston (Summerhays) aside and I said, 'Hey, you remember, a year ago how nervous you were tonight'. And that seems like a long time ago. Michael and Luke are probably feeling everything he felt. And I said don't make a big deal of it. But if there's, if there's any little advice that you could pass on to them quietly in the car, or in the hotel room, feel free to do anything you can to relax those guys. It's tough. I mean, this is a lot of pressure for anybody. Every one of our guys, whether they're freshmen or seniors is going to be unable to eat lunch, they're going to have hands shaking, hard to breathe on that first tee tomorrow. That's just what happens. But as a freshman, it's extra tough. So those are special freshmen, but it's still gonna feel it's gonna feel they're gonna feel all that tomorrow. And I think having some guys like Josele and Preston last year is a good thing."
On how much time the guys are spending together this week:
"Every year each team is different. And you spend so much time together. Golf is an individual sport. And in golf, your score is your score. But there's no way people spend more time together on a team than the golfers do. Just the volume of practice and every meal and every night at the hotel and they live together and drive together ... they are a tight team. And so yeah, it's always sad. The problem is, it's always sad for everybody, but if you find a way to win, now you have this thing that binds you together forever. And that's what you just hope for a team that's this close. They're like brothers and it'd be cool for them to have that bond for the rest of their lives."