The ASU men’s golf team now set their sights on the biggest tournament of the season so far, the Isleworth Invitational.
The tournament dubbed “college golf’s major championship” will kick off Sunday in Orlando. Isleworth will be the Sun Devils return to NCAA play following the Barbara Nicklaus Cup in Dublin, Ohio.
In Dublin, ASU’s mens and womens squads competed together in the two day tournament. The Sun Devils finished second overall with 12.5 points as a team, winning 10 matches and drawing five throughout the two day event. The tournament will not count towards NCAA rankings, but provided both of ASU’s squads some quality reps.
“This was an amazing experience for all of our student athletes,” said Women’s Golf Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye. “It was also a great experience to compete with our men’s team. I believe we learned a great deal this week from each other.”
Now, the men’s squad will set their sights on Orlando. The Isleworth Invitational, hosted by the University of Central Florida and West Virginia University, has been played by some of the top golfers in the world. PGA Tour players like Ricky Fowler, Jordan Speith, Webb Simpson and more have all participated in the Isleworth in previous seasons.
The tournament historically hosts the top 15 college golf teams in the country. The Sun Devils come in ranked third in Golfweek’s coaches poll, right behind the top ranked Oklahoma Sooners and the number two ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys. Neither of those two squads will be competing in Orlando this week.
Arizona State senior Cameron Sisk is coming off of a mammoth month of September, with a first place finish at the Maridoe Collegiate Invitational individual competition, and tied for second overall individually at the Fighting Illini Invitational. Sisk was named Pac-12 Golfer of the Month for September for the first time in his career, and was awarded the Ben Hogan Award for September.
The last Sun Devil to win the Pac-12 men’s golfer of the month was current junior David Puig in February of 2021. Puig is coming off of a big week himself, as he participated in his first ever professional event in Madrid, Spain.
Puig took home the Low Amateur title at the Acciona Open de España, finishing tied for 34th at 10 under. Puig got the opportunity to compete against former Sun Devil and fellow Spaniard Jon Rahm, who closed out the tournament only three up on Puig. He finished just nine strokes back of the leader in his first professional event, which is quite the feat for the junior as he now looks towards Orlando.
The Isleworth Collegiate will take place at Isleworth Golf & Country Club, which happens to be one of the toughest courses in the state of Florida. Do not let the gorgeous scenery of this course fool you, this course will offer quite the challenge for the ASU squad.
The course will be the second longest course Arizona State has seen this season, measuring in at 7,544 yards. Compare that to Maridoe earlier this year, which played at 7,869 yards, where Sisk brought home the individual title.
With ASU being the only top 10 squad entered into the tournament, and multiple leaders on the squad hitting on all cylinders recently, look for a big weekend from the Sun Devils squad.
