The nature of the competition yielded a loose environment, which is perhaps why it also allowed for some impressive results.
During an intersquad match last weekend, ASU senior golfer Braxton Marquez and junior Jesper Kennegard posted career-low rounds at the Gainey Ranch Golf Course in Scottsdale.
Kennegard scored an eagle and 10 birdies on his way to posting a 12-under 60, three strokes better than his previous career best of 9-under.
Had Kennegard’s round come in an official competition, it would have bested the 10-under par that former Sun Devil and current PGA Tour member Paul Casey shot at the 1999 Pac-10 Championship.
Marquez tallied two eagles and eight birdies to notch a 10-under 62. The senior’s previous career high was also 9-under.
ASU coach Randy Lein said there were also two 63s and a 64 posted by ASU golfers during the intersquad round.
“After two tournaments where the average was 75 against some pretty good players, they came across a course that was fairly short and was running fast with pre-seeding conditions,” Lein said.
Kennegard, who came on strong during ASU’s postseason run during the spring, has taken it upon himself to step into a leadership role for the team, Lein said.
“He’s very mature and he has a very good understanding of the big picture,” said Lein, who is in his 18th season at the helm for the Sun Devils. “He’s been our team leader. He felt he needed to step up and it was his time to play like we all know he can play — and he did.”
After a stellar freshman campaign in which he earned honorable mention All-America honors, Kennegard stumbled briefly out of the gates last season, but he was one of the most consistent performers for ASU during its run to the NCAA quarterfinals.
“He had a couple bad rounds early, but if you throw out a couple of those scores, he would’ve been very close to what he did as a freshman,” Lein said.
Coming off an impressive showing at last spring’s NCAA Championships, ASU is currently ranked No. 2 in the country in Golfweek behind top-ranked Oklahoma State.
The Pac-10 is loaded with talent, as four of the nation’s top 10 teams (No. 2 ASU, No. 3 Washington, No. 4 Stanford and No. 8 Oregon State) reside in the conference.
Lein knows as the fall or “non-traditional” season carries into the spring, there will be plenty of competition standing in ASU’s path to a conference title.
“It’s going to be tough,” he said.
Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu.
