May 30, 2006
ASU Championship Notes in PDF Format
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ASU HEADS NORTH: The Arizona State University men's golf team competes in the NCAA Championships held May 31-June 3 at Crosswater Golf Club at Sunriver Resort (par-72, 7,630 yards) in Sunriver, Ore., (hosted by the University of Portland). The 30 schools and six individuals will play 18 holes each day. The fifth-seeded Sun Devils will tee with fourth-seeded Florida and sixth-seeded Texas A & M at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. Live scoring will be available at www.golfstat.com. The Sun Devils have won two NCAA titles, in 1990 under then-head coach and 2002 ASU Hall of Fame inductee Steve Loy and in 1996 under current head coach Randy Lein. In the past 13 years (since Lein took over the ASU duties) ten different team champions have been crowned and ASU is the only school to have two individual champions in that time (Alejandro Canizares in 2003 and Todd Demsey in 1993). ASU also has finished in the top six eight times in those 13 years and has qualified for the NCAA Championships in 22 of the past 23 seasons, missing only in 2002.
ALEJANDRO NOTES: Alejandro Canizares, a 2006 finalist for the Byron Nelson Award and 2003 NCAA champion, earned 2006 Co-Pac-10 Player of the Year honors after earning the honor outright in 2005, joining an impressive list of Sun Devils who have won the honor including Scott Watkins (1979 co-player of the year), Dan Forsman (1981 co-player of the year), Billy Mayfair (1987), three-time NCAA champion Phil Mickelson (1990, 1991 and 1992), 1993 NCAA Champion Todd Demsey (1994), three-time Pac-10 champion Paul Casey (2000) and 2000 U.S. Amateur champion Jeff Quinney (2001 co-player of the year). Canizares is the first Pac-10 golfer to earn the honor in back-to-back seasons since Tiger Woods of Stanford in 1995-96. He also earned first-team All-Pac-10 for the third straight year after earning second-team honors and co-Freshman of the Year in his rookie season of 2002-2003. The native of Spain and three-time All-American also got it done in the classroom, as he graduated in 3 1/2 years summa cum laude with a 3.87 grade point average.
Alejandro Canizares Career Statistics Year App Top 10 Rds. Avg. Low 2005-06 12 5 37 71.24 66 2004-05 14 5 43 71.65 65 2003-04 14 8 42 71.38 65 2002-03 8 3 26 71.65 68 Career 48 21 148 71.47 65
RANKINGS: ASU is ranked fifth by Golfstat,, sixth by the GCAA and seventh by Golfweek.
"JACK" Niklas Lemke: Junior Niklas Lemke has finished in the top-10 in the past four tournaments and is 24-under par in that time with a 69.46 stroke average, including six of the 13 rounds in the 60s. He tied for second at the National Invitational Tournament (Mar. 26-28) with a 5-under 211, tied for sixth at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational (April 8-9) with a 3-under 208, was second at the Pac-10 Championships (April 24-26) with a 6-under 278 and was tied for fifth at the NCAA West Regional (May 18-20) with a 10-under 206. Lemke's four straight top-10 finishes is the best since Pat Moore posted four straight in 2006 while Chez Reavie (2001 USGA Public Links champion) posted four straight top-10 finishes in the spring of 2003. Jeff Quinney (2000 U.S. Amateur champion) also matched the feat in the spring of 2001. Matt Jones posted five straight top-five finishes in the spring of 2001 en route to first-team All-America honors.
ASU COACH Randy Lein: Randy Lein has coached 60 tournament victories in his 24 seasons, tutored 50 All-Americans and added the top accolade in collegiate golf in 1995-96 - the NCAA title - to his collection as ASU won the title in Chattanooga, Tenn., with a three-stroke victory over UNLV. In his 14th season as ASU's coach, Lein has guided ASU to 37 tournament victories (including a school record six in 1995-96), seven Pac-10 titles, four NCAA West Regional wins (three of the past nine) and eight top-10 finishes at the NCAAs including the 1996 title. In addition, Lein has tutored NCAA medalists Todd Demsey and Alejandro Canizares and 13 All-Americans (29 occasions): Todd Demsey (3), Chris Hanell (3), Paul Casey (3), Cade Stone, Chris Stutts, Joey Snyder (2), Scott Johnson (2), Darren Angel (2), Jeff Quinney (3), Matt Jones (2), Chez Reavie (3), Alejandro Canizares (3) and Niklas Lemke (1). He has won Pac-10 Coach-of-the-Year five times (1993, 1995, 1996, 1999 and 2000) while at ASU and twice at USC (1980 and 1986). Lein (pronounced "Line") is a 1975 graduate of Cal State Northridge.
ALREADY A NCAA CHAMPION: Alejandro Canizares became just the sixth freshman in NCAA history to win the individual title with his 1-under 287 in 2003 at the Karsten Creek Course in Stillwater, Okla. Canizares came back from six strokes on the final day to win the event over three-day leader Lee Williams of Auburn and shot a 77-70-71-69. It marked the toughest course on the players in 20 years, as his 287 total was the highest by a champion since another Sun Devil, Jim Carter, won the 1983 title with a 287 as well.
NCAA CHAMPS FROM ASU/PAC-10: ASU has had four NCAA medalists on six occasions: Jim Carter (1983), Phil Mickelson (1989, 1990, 1992), Todd Demsey (1993) and Alejandro Canizares (2003). Other Pac-10 winners include: Frank Tatum Jr. of Stanford (1942), Scott Simpson of USC (1976 and 1977), Ron Commans of USC (1981), Tiger Woods of Stanford (1996) and James Lepp of Washington (2005).
FAST FACT: ASU is the only school to win both the men's and women's golf titles in the same season (1990).
UNDER LEIN: ASU has finished first (1996), fourth (1995), fifth (1998 and 1999), tied for fifth (1997), sixth (1993, 2001 and 2003), tied for ninth (1994), tied for 11th (2005), tied for 21st (2004) and tied for 25th (2001) under 14th-year coach Randy Lein in the NCAA Championship.
ASU'S BEST: Senior Alejandro Canizares is looking to bump himself out of the ASU top-10 single-season stroke average list. After 12 tournaments this year, Canizares has a 71.24 stroke average, currently the seventh-best mark in ASU history. His 71.38 stroke average in 2003-2004 is eighth-best in ASU history, while his 71.65 marks in both 2002-03 and 2004-05 are currently tied for 12th-best, behind Niklas Lemke's current 71.48 average this season in a dozen events.
ASU MEN'S GOLF SCORING AVERAGES (1987-2006) Rk. Name, Events Year Stroke Average 1. Paul Casey, 10 1999-2000 69.87 2. Phil Mickelson, 12 1991-92 69.95 3. Phil Mickelson, 11 1990-91 70.08 4. Billy Mayfair, 13 1986-87 70.59 5. Phil Mickelson, 14 1989-90 70.82 6. Chez Reavie, 14 2003-04 71.05 7. Alejandro Canizares, 12 2005-06 71.24 8. Alejandro Canizares, 14 2003-04 71.38 9. Chris Hanell, 13 1996-97 71.44 10. Matt Jones, 12 2000-01 71.46 11. Niklas Lemke, 12 2005-06 71.48 12. Alejandro Canizares, 14 2004-05 71.65 12. Alejandro Canizares, 8 2002-03 71.65
ON THE ASU CHARTS: Alejandro Canizares has captured six tournament championships in his 46-tournament career. Canizares won the 2003 National Invitational in Tucson, the 2003 NCAA Championship in Stillwater, Okla., the 2004 ASU Thunderbird Invitational, the 2005 Big/Ten Pac-10 Challenge at Bandon Dunes, Ore., the 2005 Arizona/Ping Intercollegiate in Tucson and the 2005 Puerto Rico Classic. A look at
Canizares on the ASU career wins list: Rk. Name (Years) Wins 1. Phil Mickelson (1989-92) 16 2. Billy Mayfair (1985-88) 8 3t. Alejandro Canizares (2002-present) 6 3t. Paul Casey (1997-2000) 6 3t. Charlie Gibson (1972-75) 6 6. Todd Demsey (1991-95) 5 7t. Howard Twitty (1970-72) 4 7t. Scott Watkins (1978-79) 4 7t. Dan Croonquist (1976-79) 4 10t. Jeff Quinney (1997-2001) 3 10t. Jim Carter (1981-84) 3 10t. Mark Mattingly (1977-78) 3
RECENT INDIVIDUAL FINISHES: A look at top-10 Sun Devil individual finishes at the NCAA Men's Golf Championships dating to Jim Carter's 1983 NCAA Championship:
Player (Year) Place Year Site Alejandro Canizares (Fr.) 1st 2003 Stillwater, Okla. Todd Demsey (So.) 1st 1993 Lexington, Ky. Phil Mickelson (Sr.) 1st 1992 Albuquerque, N.M. Phil Mickelson (So.) 1st 1990 Tarpon Springs, Fla. Phil Mickelson (Fr.) 1st 1989 Edmond, Okla. Jim Carter (Jr.) 1st 1983 Fresno, Calif. Darren Angel (Fr.) T3rd 1996 Chattanooga, Tenn. Chez Reavie (Fr.) T4th 2001 Durham, N.C. Phil Mickelson (Jr.) T4th 1991 Pebble Beach, Calif. Paul Casey (So.) 4th 1999 Chaska, Minn. Joey Snyder (Jr.) T5th 1995 Columbus, Ohio Darren Angel (Jr.) T7th 1998 Albuquerque, N.M. Todd Demsey (Jr.) T7th 1994 Dallas, Texas Scott Johnson (So.) T8th 1995 Columbus, Ohio Chez Reavie (Jr.) 9th 2003 Stillwater, Okla. Billy Mayfair (Sr.) T9th 1988 Westlake Village, Calif. Scott Johnson (Sr.) T10th 1997 Chicago, Ill. Chris Hanell (Sr.) T10th 1997 Chicago, Ill. Chris Hanell (Fr.) T10th 1994 Dallas, Texas
PAC-10 HONORS: Senior Alejandro Canizares (Manilva, Spain) and junior Niklas Lemke (Linkoping, Sweden) earned first-team All-Pac-10 honors this year, with Canizares taking home Co-Player of the Year with Stanford's Rob Grube. Benjamin Alvarado Holley was one of just two freshmen honored with first- or second-team honors, as the Santiago, Chile, native earned second-team accolades.
REGIONAL STREAK: Counting its appearance in the 18 years a NCAA Regional has been staged (1989-2006), ASU has made 23 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, the sixth-longest active streak in the nation. ASU has now advanced to the NCAA Championships 22 of the past 23 seasons (1984-2006), missing only in 2002, and in 41 of the past 43 seasons (1964-2006), missing prior to 2002 in 1983.
Longest Active NCAA Tournament Appearance School, Years NCAA Streak Oklahoma State, 1947-06 60 USC, 1971-06 36 Texas, 1978-06 29 Oklahoma, 1981-06 26 Clemson, 1982-06 25 Arizona State, 1984-06 23 Georgia Tech, 1985-06 22 *Note: List includes NCAA Championship prior to 1989 and reaching at least NCAA Regionals from 1989-present.
ACADEMICALLY: ASU's spring of 2006 men's golf graduates Alejandro Canizares (B.I.S., Landscape Architecture/Sociology) and Charly Simon, (B.A., Psychology) became the 41st and 42nd Sun Devils to earn undergraduate degrees under 14th-year head coach Randy Lein. Canizares, the 2003 NCAA champion, joins top amateur tournament winners Todd Demsey (B.A., psychology in 1995 and 1993 NCAA Champion) and Jeff Quinney (B.S. Finance in 2002 and 2000 U.S. Amateur Champion) as top names on the list.
CHAMPS FROM THE PAC-10: ASU (1996) and Cal (2004) are the only Pac-10 teams to win the NCAA championship in the past 11 years. Other Pac-10 teams to win the NCAA Men's Golf Championship are: Stanford (1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1953 and 1994), UCLA (1988) and Arizona (1992).
IMPRESSIVE: Randy Lein has recruited a NCAA champion (Alejandro Canizares), a U.S. Amateur champion (Jeff Quinney), a U.S. Public Links champion (Chez Reavie), an Arizona Amateur champion (Jesse Mueller) and a British Amateur champion (Paul Casey) to ASU.
IN THE TOP 10: Lein's nine top-10 NCAA finishes in his 13 years is tied with Clemson and Oklahoma State for the most in that span. In that time, there have been 10 different NCAA team champions, while ASU is the only school to have two NCAA medalists in his 13 years. ASU also has finished in the top six eight times under Randy Lein.
NCAA CHAMPIONS IN THE PAST 13 YEARS (1993-2005/RANDY LEIN AT ASU) Team (NCAA Titles) TOP 10 TOP 5 Arizona State (1996) 9 5 Clemson (2003) 9 5 Oklahoma State (1995, 2000) 9 7 UNLV (1998) 7 2 Florida (1993, 2001) 6 3 Stanford (1994) 3 3 Pepperdine (1997) 3 1 Georgia (1999, 2005) 3 3 California (2004) 2 1 Minnesota (2002) 1 1
NCAA CHAMPIONS AS FRESHMAN 2003-Alejandro Canizares, Arizona State 1998-James McLean, Minnesota 1989-Phil Mickelson, Arizona State 1982-Billy Ray Brown, Houston 1974-Curtis Strange, Wake Forest 1971-Ben Crenshaw, Texas
NCAA CHAMPIONS: A look at the schools that have produced the most NCAA men's golf individual champions and the year the most recent champion took home the title:
School NCAA Ind. Champs Last Champion Year Yale 13 Tom Aycock 1929 Harvard 8 J.W. Hubbell 1916 Houston 8 Billy Ray Brown 1982 Oklahoma State 7 Charles Howell 2000 Princeton 7 G.T. Dunlap 1931 Arizona State 6 Alejandro Canizares 2003 Texas 6 Justin Leonard 1994