Every NCAA athletic program has goals, whether it is to improve your record, win a conference title, or simply make the postseason. For the ASU men’s golf team, the goal in 2010 is clear: win the national championship.
The 2010 Sun Devils feature a talented roster with seven upperclassmen that look to lead the way throughout the season.
“This year is an unusual year for us because we are so top heavy, in other words we have a lot of seniors on the team,” ASU assistant coach Mickey Yokoi said. “We shouldn’t have that excuse of being a freshman and making freshman mistakes because these guys have played a lot of golf, a lot of international golf, a lot of big tournaments.”
The returning Sun Devils put ASU in contention not only in the Pac-10 conference, but nationally as well.
“We’re bringing back so many great players,” junior Spencer Fletcher said. “We know we can put ourselves in position to win the national championship.”
This past summer was a successful one for ASU golf as several members of the team had standout summers.
Senior Scott Pinckney added to his impressive resume with a victory at the 107th Trans-Mississippi Championship.
Senior James Byrne competed in the British Amateur this past summer and soared into the match play finals. Byrne was also recently selected to compete for Scotland in the World Amateur this fall.
“We always knew we were going to have a good team this year,” Yokoi said. “But all of a sudden the way some of these kids played this summer, I think this is going to be a really, really good team.”
While talent on the ASU roster is abundant, the Sun Devils hope to put all the individual abilities together into a championship team.
“We definitely need to focus on being a team, not just five golfers,” Fletcher said. “Everyone is so solid. We got to find a way to put the scores up there and bring out the potential.”
Yokoi believes that the experience and talent of the upperclassmen will pay off throughout the season.
“I think because we have so many seniors on the team, not only that they are seniors, but that they have a lot of experience,” Yokoi said. “Coming down the stretch, the bigger the tournament, hopefully that experience is going to pay off for us.”
ASU faces a fall schedule full of challenges. The Sun Devils will be traveling to Japan, Illinois, Oklahoma, and California to compete this fall.
“If everyone plays like we can, we can be in contention to win every tournament,” Fletcher said.
The journey to accomplish that goal is well underway for the Sun Devils, who open the 2010 season this weekend in Tokyo, Japan. ASU traveled to Japan this past Monday and kicks off play in the Topy Cup this weekend.
With the start of the season only days away, the Sun Devils are aiming to get off to a strong start and build momentum heading into the fall schedule.
“If we can have some good tournaments at the very beginning,” Yokoi said. “I think a lot of these teams around the country are going to realize that we are going to be the team to beat this year.”
Reach the reporter at gregory.dillard@asu.edu
