Knut Borsheim often hears the same questions from his friends outside the team.

“What was the city like? What kind of things did you see?”

The queries, of course, come after Borsheim, a senior on the ASU men’s golf team, returns from a tournament in some big city on the map.

“Normally we go to a tournament and it’s all golf, you don’t see anything else,” Borsheim said. “People ask me, ‘So, you see all these places?’ I say, ‘No, I see the golf course. That’s it.’”

This tournament, though, is different.

Today the No. 3 Sun Devils will kick off the spring portion of their season in Kona, Hawaii at the Hilo Big Island Invitational.

The team arrived in the land of big waves and tropical sunsets on Friday, and while practice sessions, team meetings, and course walkthroughs have been part of itinerary, the Sun Devils have had a chance to experience some of the beauty paradise has to offer.

“It’s by far my favorite tournament,” Borsheim said last Wednesday, two days before the team was set to depart for Hawaii. “We try to do some other stuff besides just play golf. It’s kind of a little break for the guys to have time to do things like go to the beach.”

But for the Sun Devils, paradise must be earned.

In order for members of the team to obtain a much-coveted ticket to the Hawaiian tournament, they must take care of business in the classroom.

“With Hawaii, part of going, because we miss a week of school, is based on grades,” ASU coach Randy Lein said last week. “You have to have a minimum of a 3.0 [grade-point average] to get yourself in that position.”

Luckily for ASU, the team’s top players have qualified academically and have made the voyage to the island.

Juniors Scott Pinckney, Jesper Kennegard and James Byrne and seniors Borsheim and Tristan Bierenbroodspot will make up the roster for the Sun Devils, who will have plenty of competition as they begin their trek toward a national championship.

Twelve of the nation’s top 20 teams, per the GolfWorld/Nike Coach’s Poll, are competing in the tournament, including No. 1 Oklahoma State and No. 2 Stanford.

In addition to Stanford and ASU, the Pac-10 will also be represented in Hawaii by No. 6 Washington, No. 14 USC, No. 16 Oregon State, No. 18 UCLA and Oregon, giving Lein an early barometer of how his team stacks up against the heated competition within the conference.

“It’s a strong event with Oklahoma State [No.1], Standford [No. 2] and us, third in the coach’s poll,” Lein said. “USC is going to be there, Oregon State has their best team in maybe ever. … Oregon is very good, probably their best team in at least 10 years, Washington is ranked in the top 10, so the conference is going to be tough.”

Live scoring of the event can be found at www.golfstat.com

Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu