by Shane Sayegh of the Arizona State Cronkite PR Lab. Sayegh will graduate in 2026 with a bachelor’s degree in Sports Journalism.
The popularity of Sun Devil Athletics continues to increase, and nowhere is it better reflected than in the social media world. Three accounts within the athletic department have eclipsed 100,000 Instagram followers, and the most recent to amass the total was the Sun Devil Men’s Golf account. The page surpassed 100,000 followers in February and continues its positive upward momentum.
The Sun Devil Men’s Golf account is successful amongst its competitors. Its Instagram page’s six-digit follower count is the only men’s golf account to achieve the feat. On par with the account, the team has two wins and a top-three finish in a successful 2025-2026 season.
Created in August 2017, the team has shared nearly 3,000 posts and continues to share daily content, a tactic that has been maintained since May 1, 2020. On that day, Sun Devils Men' s Golf coach Matt Thurmond and then assistant coach -- and now UCLA head coach -- Armin Kirakossian started posting. At that time, the account only had 5,000 followers.
The strategic posting, paired with the page’s consistency, helped increase Coach Thurmond’s passion for the platform and for sharing the story of the Sun Devils golf program.
“We've loved the process. We put our heart and soul into it and we're benefiting greatly from it because it's now become a big account that a lot of people really enjoy,” said Thurmond.
To the golf team, the account is more than just an account. The page encapsulates on-course and off-course activities, providing deeper insight into the team behind the scenes. An example of off-course content shared was a post detailing an email exchange between Freshman golfer Boston Bracken and his professor which received over 60,000 likes.
Top NCAA Men's Golf Instagram Accounts
Arizona State, 102K+
Tennessee, 59k+
Texas, 56k+
“I love anything that allows the greater audience to get to know our players,” said Thurmond. “We have this belief that our guys are really special and that if someone could get to know them a little better, they'd love them even more.”
Top Sun Devil Athletics Instagram Accounts
Football, 185K+
Sun Devil Athletics, 151k+
Men's Golf, 102k+
Baseball, 89k+
The content has seen its fair share of success and virality. Reels and carousels have amassed 50,000 and 100,000 likes, respectively. The page’s most successful reel came from 2024, showing off the team’s bunker play out of arguably the world’s toughest bunker in Scotland. This reel gained over 100,000 likes and six million views.
The team’s content has also created trends within the golf social media world. Starting off camera for a display of persistence, the “Dirty 30” challenge inspired other teams and golfers to take on the challenge of sinking 30 putts for 30 consecutive days.
“Everybody around the world was doing this. We kept getting shout-outs from high school teams, college teams, junior golf groups from all over the world that were doing the Dirty 30,” said Thurmond.
In the ever-changing world of recruiting, the account is a key tool, one post at a time. The page’s broad outreach,paired with its post frequency, has given the team an upper hand in its pursuit of future golfers. Alumni often find themselves in the comment section to support a commitment announcement, exemplifying the tight-knit community the program fosters.
Coach Thurmond attributes the account’s success to the personnel who help run the account. Assistant coach Thomas Sutton’s impact on the account has been second to none in Thurmond’s eyes.
“We only had 20,000 followers when Thomas came here and took over the account. He's done an incredible job,” said Thurmond.
The account is a strong representation of the program. Both can be summed up in one word: Teamwork. As the program continues its ascent on social media and the course, its dedication to teamwork will remain constant.