The ASU men's golf team finished in fourth place after being tied for the lead with TCU entering the third round of the Arizona Intercollegiate at The Golf Club at Vistoso in Tucson on Tuesday.
With a team score of 281 (-3) during the final round, the New Mexico golf team came from behind to beat TCU by two strokes.
With a final score of -8 for the entire tournament, ASU coach Tim Mickelson said New Mexico pulled off the win by playing the last few holes better than the teams trailing close behind, including his own.
After the tournament, Mickelson said he was pleased with his team's performance while admitting that it had to battle through some rust due to the long layoff from tournament play.
"I expected to to finish higher," Mickelson said Tuesday night. "We had a poor start today. We were playing a little too aggressive when the odds weren't in our favor. Not playing in three months hurt the guys."
ASU sophomore Austin Quick seemed to be brushing off some rust throughout the tournament as by posting scores of +7, +3 and +5. Quick said he personally didn't play well but took away valuable lessons from the contest.
"We were expecting to win, but you live and you learn," Quick said. "We've got to move on as a team."
On a positive note, Mickelson said before the tournament one of his goals was to place higher than UA. The Sun Devils placed 11 strokes higher than the Wildcats.
Despite a disappointing finish, Mickelson said his guys were resilient and showed great confidence on the course.
ASU posted the lowest overall team score with a 175 (-9) in the second leg of the tournament.
"Nobody panicked," Mickelson said. "Once they got going they played well, especially in the second round."
Freshman Max Rottluff kept his composure throughout the tournament. He put up three birdies in the final round, helping him to an overall score of -6 in the individual category which was good enough to tie for third place.
"Max performed well," Mickelson said. "It only took a semester to get comfortable."
Notes
To be considered for post-season play, ASU needs two things to happen this season.
The team will need a national ranking of about No. 65 or higher. Before the tournament, ASU was ranked at No. 72, but Mickelson said his team should move up around five to seven spots the next time rankings are released, putting them right near where they need to be.
"We'll need to play again to move up more," he said.
Second, ASU golf needs to beat more teams than it loses to as the season progresses. A fourth place finish in a field of 15 should help that cause.
What's next
The team heads to Hawaii Saturday to prepare for the Amer Ari Invitational in Waikoloa, which begins Feb. 6.
Mickelson is hoping his team will carry over a positive performance after this week's play in Tucson.
"Anytime you have a good finish, you want to feed of of it," he said.
Quick said he and his teammates will continue to motivate one another and take their confidence along with them to their next contest.
"We're all playing really solid," he said. "I think we could do some damage."
Reach the reporter at adrian.martinez.1@asu.edu
