ASU men’s golf head coach Randy Lein has plenty to be proud of heading into the new season, which begins in Chicago this weekend at the Olympia Fields Invitational.

Heading into the 2009-10 season, Lein has taken the Sun Devils to 16 NCAA Championships in his 17-year career as head coach.

Golfweek magazine has the Sun Devils ranked No. 5 in the nation, while Golf World magazine has them ranked sixth.

Four of the five players returned who took the team to the NCAA Championships, where they fell to eventual champion Texas A&M in the quarterfinals.

Some roster changes have been made since Stephan Gross turned pro at the end of the summer. Junior James Byrne will take Gross’ roster spot at the tournament this weekend.

After a six-round qualifier, junior Jesper Kennegard, senior Tristan Bierenbroodspot, junior Cameron Edens and junior Scott Pinckney also made the roster for the tournament.

Lein said he thinks the opening tournament will provide a good challenge for his team.

“I think it’s a good group, and this is a course that the guys are familiar with,” Lein said. “Tristan is the only one who hasn’t played in this tournament, but the other four have.”

Lein said practice has gone well this week and he has high hopes for the tournament.

“This season is kind of like last spring, because we have a lot of depth in terms of players’ abilities and skill,” Lein said. “We know that we’re going to be competing for the national championship in May, and we really just want to have a good initial outing to start the school year.”

Lein said the Olympia Fields Country Club golf course is the best course the team will play on all year.

“We will be playing as close to a U.S. Open as these guys will see,” he said.

Reach the reporter at allison.carlin@asu.edu.