With the completion of three fall tournaments, the 2010 season has gotten off to a rocky start for the ASU men’s golf team.
The Sun Devils notched an 11th place finish at the PING/Golfweek Preview on Tuesday where they combined to shoot a team score of 922 over the three-day event.
Oklahoma State took home the tournament crown for the third consecutive year.
Although ASU improved over its last place finish a week earlier, ASU coach Randy Lein is far from content with his team’s play.
“The fall has not started out as I had envisioned it to, but maybe we’ll close fast,” Lein said. “I am disappointed, but it is a good team. They know how good we are, we just have to, I guess, work harder.”
The Preview was held at the challenging Karsten Creek Golf Course in Stillwater, Okla. In addition to the Sun Devils not playing their best golf, the course proved to be relentless.
“We were hoping to bounce back and have a good showing this week,” Lein said. “I saw a lot of good things, but it’s such a tough golf course that it shows all your weaknesses. Obviously we are not up to our games yet.”
Junior Phil Francis was the highest finisher for ASU. He finished the tournament in a tie for 28th place and posted scores of 77, 73 and 75 in his three rounds of competition.
Senior James Byrne finished close behind Francis in a tie for 30th place. Byrne’s final round score of 74 helped him jump from 36th place into the tie for 30th.
Following day one, Byrne sat in a tie for eighth place, however, he struggled to find similar success as he closed out round two.
“The second round, I played well again, I just finished really poorly,” Byrne said. “I was really disappointed. I think I fell from about fifth or sixth position to about 40th in the space of six holes. From my perspective, those six holes killed my chances in the tournament.”
Senior Scott Pinckney also finished in a tie for eighth place after round one, but he withdrew from the second and third rounds due to a rib injury. Without Pinckney, ASU was forced to field a four-player lineup.
His injury added another obstacle for the Sun Devils to fight in the later rounds.
“You can’t be playing mediocre golf and finish well when you’re playing against the best teams in the country,” Lein said. “Playing with the four men the last two days is a huge handicap, which at this point in time we can’t afford to have.”
Senior Jesper Kennegard rebounded from an opening round 82, to shoot 77 and 75 on the final two days. Kennegard wrapped up the Preview in 55th place.
It was a rough third round for junior Spencer Fletcher, who finished with an 84 and saw seven bogeys and three double bogeys plague his scorecard.
The Sun Devils now have a short break until they tee off again, and Lein remains confident in his golfers’ abilities.
“Yes I’m disappointed,” Lein said. “But I’m not discouraged because I know these guys, how well they can play and what they’re capable of doing.”
Reach the reporter at gregory.dillard@asu.edu