Men's golf tied for sixth at NCAA Championship

May 26, 2009

The No. 13 Arizona State men's golf team is tied for sixth place after the first round of the NCAA Golf Championship being held at the par-71, 7,255-yard Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. The Sun Devils carded a 10-over 294 to end the day tied with Ohio State and Tennessee and six shots behind co-leaders Oklahoma State and Georgia, which both shot a four-over 288.

The Sun Devils did not falter following a tough start that saw them 14-over after the first nine holes of the day. Despite the early adversity, the team would regroup as every player shot even par or better on the back nine. In fact, 10 of ASU’s 11 birdies for the day came on the team’s last nine holes of play.

“It’s great to be in sixth place considering how we started,” ASU head coach Randy Lein said. “We were eight over after six holes and so we had some catching up to do early. We did a good job coming back on the back nine and picked up a few strokes and so we feel like we are in a good position heading into tomorrow’s round.”

Individually…

Sophomore Jesper Kennegard is tied for 16th at 1-over 72. He led the Sun Devils with four birdies on the day, all of them coming on the back nine.

Sophomore Scott Pinckney is tied for 29th place at 2-over 73.

Sophomore Knut Borsheim is tied for 41st at 3-over 74.

Freshman Chan Kim is tied for 56th at 4-over 75.

Sophomore Stephan Gross is tied for 75th with a 5-over 76.

Play will continue with tomorrow’s second round (see note below on new format for this year). The Sun Devils will tee off at 7:20 a.m. ET. Live scoring can be found on Golfstat.com.

THE NEW FORMAT The 2009 NCAA Championships will feature a new twist with the team champion determined via match play, the first time the winner hasn't been awarded by total strokes since 1965. The top eight teams after 54 holes of stroke play will advance to match play with the quarterfinals and semifinals being held on Friday, May 29 and the championship match set for Saturday, May 30. During the match-play portion of the championships, each match will be worth one point with all five players participating. The first team to win three points within the team match will advance or, in the case of the championship match, be declared the national champion.