Following the addition of freshman sensation Wenyi Ding, Arizona State has placed in the top three of every tournament it has competed in thus far. The Sun Devils put on dominant performances at both tournaments, with Ding placing in the top two individually at both the National Invitational and the Amer Ari Invitational.
However, this theme does not coincide with ASU's performance in late February. At the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas, the Sun Devils ranked No. 14 out of 15.
Not one Sun Devil scored under par.
Following the tournament, the team dropped two places to sixth in the NCAA men's golf standings. Associate head coach Thomas Sutton discussed the complicated nature of the courses in the Southern Highlands Tournament.
"It was a super tricky course," Sutton said. "We had never been there. I don't know, as coaches, if we really prepared the guys well enough. On top of not having the best strategy on the course, we didn't have the best golf."
From a team perspective, the two Sun Devils at the top of ASU's standings were sophomore Michael Mjaaseth and junior Josele Ballester.
Mjaaseth tied for 18th, while Ballester tied for 21st. Ballester said that the team struggled because many of the players were not at their best.
"It was a really tough challenge," Ballester said. "A couple of our best guys, like Preston and Wenyi, just weren't at their best. When you have two of the best players on the team not playing good, it’s a big difference for the rest of the guys."
Following the historic loss, their worst of this season, players had their own approaches to dealing with it.
Sophomore Luke Potter said that his attitude coming out of it was to stay positive and that success would come to them.
"I'm a pretty positive guy in terms of looking at my golf game," Potter said. "I just figured we’ll keep hitting good shots and keep playing better. Things are gonna go our way, so there's no point in dwelling on it."
Potter was right not to dwell on their loss. Following their disappointing defeat, the Sun Devils put on a dominant performance at the Cabo Collegiate to secure first place over Texas Tech by nine strokes.
Ballester said that the past tournaments show the nature of golf, and you cannot expect to win every time.
"It's just golf," Ballester said. "You can do really bad in one tournament and go out and win the next one. That's why it's so amazing, and that's why we need to keep pushing ourselves in practice every day."
After such rough losses, Sutton said that the team was motivated to redeem themselves, leading to their win in Cabo.
"We went out there really hungry," Sutton said. "We were totally focused on our game. As coaches, we really tried to lock in our players. We tried not to put too much pressure on them because we knew they were feeling the pressure to rebound. They went out there and just played their game."
It was difficult for the Sun Devils to venture from course to course. Sutton had previously mentioned that the players did not know the course during the Southern Highlands Tournament. Therefore, they had a difficult time performing well in it.
However, the mental tax from the loss could also affect the team's performance coming into Cabo. Sutton said that the mental challenge was a key focus for the coaching staff following their loss in Las Vegas.
"The biggest part of it is getting mentally prepared to play a tournament," Sutton said. "That’s being ready to hit every shot and be totally committed to it. As coaches, we try to do a lot more of that second part; we provide the guys with the yardage books and the strategy guides ... What we really want is for us to be mentally ready."
The coaches rely on the players to prepare themselves mentally. Luckily, the competitive atmosphere is showing good results, with their impressive win bringing them back to fourth in the NCAA standings. Potter is optimistic about the team's future after their recent performance.
"Everyone's playing better," Potter said. "Each day, we're kind of pushing ourselves to lock in a little bit more and stay focused on that final goal. It's a competitive atmosphere out here, and we've got to stay focused on our games and playing well because the lineup could change at any moment."
Edited by Alfred Smith III, Sadie Buggle and Caera Learmonth.
Reach the reporter at Gbarberi@asu.edu and follow @Giobarberio1 on X.
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