Arizona State men's golf kick off the spring season on the Big Island of Hawaii for the 26th annual Amer Ari Invitational. The tournament, hosted by the University of Hawaii at Hilo, will take place February 2-4 at the Waikoloa Beach Resort. The course, designed by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish, is Kings' Course at Waikoloa Beach Resort and is largely consider to be a player friendly course.
This year's field features 21 total teams including seven teams ranking in the GCAA top 25 and a collegiate team from Japan. Arizona State will go up against six Pac-12 schools, including defending Amer Ari Invitational champion USC and reigning national champion Oregon.
"We are so excited to get going this spring, says first-year head coach Matt Thurmond. "We enjoyed the fall, but everything was so new for many of us that we were just sort of finding our way. Now we are in a rhythm as a team and ready to compete. I really like the makeup of this team. We have excellent veteran leadership and experience coupled with a talented group of rookies. Hawaii is always a great place to start and we've had a lot of good results here over the years. Plus we are riding the (Jon) Rahm wave this week and feeling good vibes. The weather is always sunny and windy here so that is a great challenge and training for us."
THE FIELD (CURRENT GCAA RANK): Oklahoma State (4), Stanford (6), USC (7), Auburn (8), Texas (11), Texas Tech (17), Oregon (22), Georgia Tech (26), Arizona State (29), Colorado (31), Oregon State, San Jose State, Texas Christian, UC Davis, UCLA, Hawaii Hilo, Hawaii, Pacific, Chico State (22 D-II), St. Mary's, Osaka Gakuin (Japan).
PAST SUCCESS IN THIS TOURNAMENT: ASU has had previous success at the Amer Ari Collegiate, as last year the team tied for third and won the tournament twice in 2015 and 1995. The Sun Devils have also had three individual medalists as Jesper Kennegard (2009), Chris Hanell (1996) and Todd Demsey (1994) took home the honors.
FALL RECAP: The Sun Devils had a great fall season in 2016 posting three top-five finishes, including a win at the Alister Mackenzie Invitational. The individual medal at the Alister Invitational was also taken home by a Sun Devil as Ki Taek Lee finished tied for first as a part of his breakout fall campaign. Team captain Jared du Toit also had a notable fall, posting three top-ten finishes and eight top-ten finishes in his two years at Arizona State.
SENIOR JARED DU TOIT: Senior captain Jared du Toit will leads off for the Sun Devils in Hawaii. Since transferring to ASU before last season, du Toit has been a force with eight top-ten finishes including three of those in just four tournaments this fall. To continue his top-ten trend, he finished tied for ninth in the RBC Canadian Open this summer. The last Canadian amateur to post a top ten finish at the Canadian Open was Doug Bajus in 1954.
LINEUP NOTES: The rest of the Sun Devil lineup feature a combination of rookies and veterans with three freshmen and a senior...in the two spot is freshman Alejandro del rey Gonzalez, who was both the U16 and U18 Spanish National Champion and helped the Sun Devil in a victory at the Alister Mackenzie Invitational this fall...newcomer Chun (Kevin) An Yu who just joined the program in January, looks to make an immediate impact in his first tournament as a Sun Devil and he is followed by freshman Blake Wagoner, who was also a part of the team's victory at the Alister Mackenzie Invitational...senior Nicolo Galletti has posted four top-ten finishes as a Sun Devil including a victory at the 2015 University of Wyoming Southern.
This year's field features 21 total teams including seven teams ranking in the GCAA top 25 and a collegiate team from Japan. Arizona State will go up against six Pac-12 schools, including defending Amer Ari Invitational champion USC and reigning national champion Oregon.
"We are so excited to get going this spring, says first-year head coach Matt Thurmond. "We enjoyed the fall, but everything was so new for many of us that we were just sort of finding our way. Now we are in a rhythm as a team and ready to compete. I really like the makeup of this team. We have excellent veteran leadership and experience coupled with a talented group of rookies. Hawaii is always a great place to start and we've had a lot of good results here over the years. Plus we are riding the (Jon) Rahm wave this week and feeling good vibes. The weather is always sunny and windy here so that is a great challenge and training for us."
THE FIELD (CURRENT GCAA RANK): Oklahoma State (4), Stanford (6), USC (7), Auburn (8), Texas (11), Texas Tech (17), Oregon (22), Georgia Tech (26), Arizona State (29), Colorado (31), Oregon State, San Jose State, Texas Christian, UC Davis, UCLA, Hawaii Hilo, Hawaii, Pacific, Chico State (22 D-II), St. Mary's, Osaka Gakuin (Japan).
Our newcomer @kevingolfyu also won 2015 @AJGAGolf Junior Players title https://t.co/WCsm7pK4WY
— ASUmensgolf (@asumensgolf) January 30, 2017
PAST SUCCESS IN THIS TOURNAMENT: ASU has had previous success at the Amer Ari Collegiate, as last year the team tied for third and won the tournament twice in 2015 and 1995. The Sun Devils have also had three individual medalists as Jesper Kennegard (2009), Chris Hanell (1996) and Todd Demsey (1994) took home the honors.
FALL RECAP: The Sun Devils had a great fall season in 2016 posting three top-five finishes, including a win at the Alister Mackenzie Invitational. The individual medal at the Alister Invitational was also taken home by a Sun Devil as Ki Taek Lee finished tied for first as a part of his breakout fall campaign. Team captain Jared du Toit also had a notable fall, posting three top-ten finishes and eight top-ten finishes in his two years at Arizona State.
What does Jon @littleJRmaza win Sunday mean to the current team? @MattThurmond says it best. pic.twitter.com/Y3lzVrNqAN
— ASUmensgolf (@asumensgolf) January 31, 2017
SENIOR JARED DU TOIT: Senior captain Jared du Toit will leads off for the Sun Devils in Hawaii. Since transferring to ASU before last season, du Toit has been a force with eight top-ten finishes including three of those in just four tournaments this fall. To continue his top-ten trend, he finished tied for ninth in the RBC Canadian Open this summer. The last Canadian amateur to post a top ten finish at the Canadian Open was Doug Bajus in 1954.
Glad @kevingolfyu tees it up for the first time this week. Who is he? Read @Golfweek article from June of 2015 https://t.co/rRZeNq8OYK
— ASUmensgolf (@asumensgolf) January 30, 2017
LINEUP NOTES: The rest of the Sun Devil lineup feature a combination of rookies and veterans with three freshmen and a senior...in the two spot is freshman Alejandro del rey Gonzalez, who was both the U16 and U18 Spanish National Champion and helped the Sun Devil in a victory at the Alister Mackenzie Invitational this fall...newcomer Chun (Kevin) An Yu who just joined the program in January, looks to make an immediate impact in his first tournament as a Sun Devil and he is followed by freshman Blake Wagoner, who was also a part of the team's victory at the Alister Mackenzie Invitational...senior Nicolo Galletti has posted four top-ten finishes as a Sun Devil including a victory at the 2015 University of Wyoming Southern.
That moment when you see you January roster addition is ranked 12th in @WAGRank https://t.co/5gvWvm7r33 pic.twitter.com/vmPEqDN4cb
— ASUmensgolf (@asumensgolf) January 31, 2017