The ASU men’s golf team will be shorthanded in the Pac-12 Preview from Oct. 8-9 without freshman starter Max Rottluff.
Over the weekend, Rottluff was in Antalya, Turkey representing Germany in the 2012 World Amateur Championship. Germany finished third, with the U.S. winning the event.
Rottluff shot one-over in three rounds in the tournament, but won’t be able to make it back in time for the Pac-12 Preview, in North Plains, Ore.
Last season, ASU finished 11th in the Pac-12 championship. The upcoming invitational will be an early indication to see how far the team has improved since last year.
The Pac-12 boasts once again a number of elite teams. California is now the No. 1 team in the country in the Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches’ Poll. UCLA and Washington are both ranked in the top-five of the same poll. USC, Stanford and Oregon are also still ranked.
Sophomore Austin Quick, who has been in-and-out of the starting lineup this season, replaces Rottluff. Quick placed 10th in the Kikkor Golf Husky Individual Invitational.
Freshmen Jon Rahm Rodriguez and Alberto Sanchez are the No. 1 and No. 2 golfers in ASU’s lineup. Rahm led ASU in the prior invitational and has bounced back from an 81 in his first round of the season.
Sophomore Mathias Schjoelberg and junior Spencer Lawson are the other two members in the starting group.
Most schools are at full strength for the invitational, but some have players in the World Amateur Championship as well.
No. 5 Washington’s top player, senior Chris Williams, placed second in the World Amateur and will not make the trip to North Plains. No. 4 UCLA is without senior Pedro Figueiredo for the same reason.
Reach the reporter at justin.janssen@asu.edu
