In its final tournament, the ASU men’s golf team appears to be the favorite for the first time this season.
Throughout the fall season the Sun Devils have played a couple of difficult fields but in the Cullum Invitational anything less than a top three finish will be a disappointment, ASU coach Tim Mickelson said.
Despite being the favorite, the team needs to improve its overall record, which stands at 18-26 according to golfweek.com. In order to qualify for the postseason the team needs to be at .500 per NCAA regulations.
“We are going to see how (the players) can perform under pressure because they know that they are basically the best or second best ranked team at this tournament,” Mickelson said. “They know that if they don’t perform, we are in dire trouble of making the postseason because of the .500 rule.”
Scoring consistently has been the problem thus far for a team that is very inexperienced and features six freshmen and one senior. The limiting of double and triple bogeys has become a priority.
“Mentally it is much harder to recover from a double bogey than a bogey,” Mickelson said. “It might only be one shot on the scorecard but mentally something changes when you make a double bogey. So don’t try to be a hero and make a par when it could turn into a double bogey.”
Fortunately the team has been able to practice on its own course again. The ASU Kartsen Golf Course closed down due to re-sodding so the team was unable to play full rounds on it.
Since it re-opened in early October the team has been practicing on one part of its game in particular.
“Friday’s practice was all about chipping and putting so that we can save shots around the green,” Mickelson said. “The golf course is looking gorgeous, so the people that are playing it right now are being treated to a course that looks great.”
As far as the course they will be playing on in Simi Valley, Calif., Mickelson said it wouldn’t be much harder than the team’s last tournament. At The Prestige, low scores were everywhere with the winner, freshman Cheng-Tsung Pan of Washington, breaking a school record.
The main difference between the two courses is there won’t be much room for error in this week’s tournament. The Wood Ranch Golf Club has out of bounds areas close to its fairways. To combat this Mickelson said he would look at hitting a 3-wood or even 3-iron off the tee.
The tournament is named after longtime Cal State- Northridge head coach Bill Cullum, who won two NCAA Division II national championships.
Players from UCLA and USC will be competing in the tournament as individuals as well.
Reach the reporter at jjmckelv@asu.edu
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