The ASU men’s golf team returned from Hawaii with mixed emotions after tying for seventh in the Amer Ari Invitational.
The Sun Devils were looking to win their first tournament of the spring season but fell short as Oklahoma State, the best team in the nation according to the Golf World/Nike Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, won the tournament, shooting 34 strokes under par in the process.
ASU was disappointed in its trip as the team expected to finish at least in the top three. The Devils did finish ahead of both Stanford and Washington, which are ranked in the top 20.
The team flirted with first place all weekend, but an unexpected turn of events caused it to drop off.
“We were actually tied with Oklahoma State for the lead at 24-under then we had a pretty stiff wind come up pretty quickly,” ASU coach Randy Lein said. “We kind of had an unlucky break because the holes we finished at that time were right into the wind.”
The team went on to finish its final round 1-over–par, which doomed any chance at reaching its top-three goal. All the teams in the top three, Oklahoma State, Texas and UCLA, finished at least 9-under for the round.
Individually, senior Jesper Kennegard led the Sun Devils, tying for 6th place with a 10-under-par tournament score. Kennegard was also in the mix until the end, as the winners only finished three shots ahead of him.
Also high on the individual scoreboard was senior Scott Pinckney, who did not play for the team but made the trip as a reserve. Pinckney tied with Kennegard, and actually tied for his best round on the final day when he shot a 4-under-par 68.
One of the biggest surprises had to be the play of senior Oscar Zetterwall, who was making his debut for ASU. Zetterwall played well during the first two days, shooting 5-under-par, but fell back after a costly triple bogey on the par-4 16th hole of his final round.
“I hadn’t really seen him play tournament competitive golf,” Lein said. “He did very well. I think he felt comfortable within the team, competing, and he’s just going to get better.”
One of the players who had the toughest final round was senior James Byrne, who shot an 8-over-par 80 on the last day of competition, including four double bogeys.
“We were right where we wanted to be then we just kind of let it get away in the last few holes,” Lein said. “[Sunday] we just didn’t get anything going.”
The Sun Devils are looking to improve their finish in the next tournament, Battle at the Beach in Newport, Calif., which starts on Feb. 13.
Reach the reporter at jjmckelv@asu.edu
