Three finish in top five as ASU wins Thunderbird Invitational

April 13, 2008

Playing three freshmen and two sophomores, the Arizona State men's golf team won the 36th annual 15-school ASU Thunderbird Invitational held at ASU's Karsten Golf Course (par-71/7,057 yards) with a 9-under 843 (279-279-285), nine shots ahead of the ASU Maroon Team, which finished at even-par 852 (279-286-287).<separator></separator>It marked the 40th Sun Devil tournament title for 14th-year ASU head coach <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/lein_randy00.html">Randy Lein</a>.<separator></separator>Sun Devil sophomore <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/borsheim_knut00.html">Kn… Borsheim</a> (73-68-70) shot a 2-under 211 and finished second, one shot behind Denver's Espen Kofstad's 3-under 210 (70-72-68). It marked Borsheim's second career top-10 finish in 16 appearances, as he finished tied for sixth at last year's Oregon Duck Invitational. He now has a 72.21 stroke average on the year.<separator></separator>Sophomore Braxton Marquez, who was tied for first after the first round with a 5-under 66 in just his third appearance on the year, finished at 1-under 212 (66-73-73) along with freshman teammate <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/kennegard_jesper00.html"… Kennegard</a> (75-68-69). Kennegard's updated stroke average of 71.71 is the second-best by a freshman in ASU history, behind <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/canizares_alejandro00.ht… Canizares</a> in 2003 (71.65), when he won the national title.<separator></separator>Freshmen <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/gross_stephan01.html">St… Gross</a> (71-70-73) finished at 1-over 214 and tied for ninth, his second top-10 finish in four appearances on the year.<separator></separator>Freshman <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/byrne_james00.html">James Byrne</a>, who carded a 2-under 69 on Friday, tied for 40th with an 8-over 221 (69-77-75). Friday's round marked his third in the 60s this year in his fifth appearance.<separator></separator> Leading the way for the ASU Maroon squad was freshman <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/edens_cameron00.html">Ca… Edens</a>, who tied for sixth as he finished at even-par 213 (68-72-73). He entered the tournament with a 75.42 stroke average in four previous appearances.<separator></separator><a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/telliard_phil00.html">Ph… Telliard</a> finished tied for 14th at 2-over 215 (70-75-70). <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/coover_erik00.html">Erik Coover</a> finished at 3-over 216 (71-67-78) and tied for 16th along with sophomore <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/bierenbroodspot_tristan0… Bierenbroodspot</a> (70-72-74) and freshman <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/pinckney_scott00.html">S… Pinckney</a> (71-75-70).<separator></separator>ASU has won six of the past ten Thunderbird Invitationals (1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2008) and 14 times overall since the tournament began in 1973.<separator></separator>ASU next will play at the Stanford Intercollegiate April 19-20 and then travels to the Pac-10 Championships April 27-29 in Oakland. NCAA Regional play will be held May 15-17 while the NCAA Championships will be held May 28-31 in Indiana at West Lafayette.<separator></separator>NOTES: ASU won its first tournament since the National Invitational in Tucson last spring (April 2-3, 2007), as <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/borsheim_knut00.html">Kn… Borsheim</a> is the only current member of the team to play in that tournament...Oregon won last year's Thunderbird Invitational with a 20-under 844 (277-279-288), three shots ahead of Arizona State which was at 17-under 847 (281-283-283), as par was set at 72 (288 for the team rounds and 864 for the final team score)...individually, New Mexico's Charlie Beljan won the tournament with a 15-under 201 last year (April 13-15, 2007)...ASU is now 65-47-2 overall this year...<separator></separator>ASU WINNERS: Fourteen ASU teams have won the Thunderbird Invitational, with ASU winning the title in 1984, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2008.<separator></separator>PAST ASU INDIVIDUAL WINNERS: Eight Sun Devils have won the individual titles on nine occasions, with <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/mickelson_phil00.html">P… Mickelson</a> (1991 and 1992) the only multiple winner. Other Sun Devil individual winners include Mark Sollenberger (1974), Jim Carter (1984), Larry Barber (1994), Todd Demsey (1995), <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/quinney_jeff00.html">Jeff Quinney</a> (2000), <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/casey_paul00.html">Paul Casey</a> (2001) and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/canizares_alejandro00.ht… Canizares</a> (2003).<separator></separator>