Things have not gone according to plan for the ASU men's golf team this season.
With a lineup laden with upperclassmen, coach Randy Lein expected his Sun Devils, who made it to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships last season, to compete for a national championship in 2010.
While reaching the ultimate goal is still a possibility for No. 9 ASU, the team will have to improve its play from a regular season that featured only one top-5 finish during the spring, a third-place showing at the USC Invitational on March 2.
Things reached a low point during ASU's home tournament last month when the Sun Devils finished eighth at the Thunderbird Invitational held at Karsten Golf Course, a performance the team called “embarrassing.”
One golfer, though, has been largely immune to the struggles experienced by the rest of his teammates.
Junior Jesper Kennegard has been one of the nation's best, finishing in the top 10 three times with a 11th- and 12th-place showing also to his credit.
Kennegard won the third tournament of his career on March 14 at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters, holding off a strong field down the back stretch to earn medalist honors.
ASU has not received the play it expected from others, though, including junior Scott Pickney. After three straight top-10 finishes in the fall season, Pickney — touted by the coaching staff and his teammates as the most improved golfer on the team heading into spring — has been unable to put a solid tournament together, finishing out of the top 10 in each spring tournament.
Lein believes Pickney, who the coach said may have applied too much pressure on himself to meet expectations during tournaments this spring, and the rest of the Sun Devils still have the talent to turn things around in the postseason, which starts Monday with the Pac-10 Championships.
After struggling at its annual home tournament, ASU will have another chance and will face a lineup of conference teams who are a “who's who” among the nation's top-25 teams.
The team's tee off at Karsten Golf Course at 7 a.m. with live scoring available at www.golfstat.com.
