(photo courtesy – Stryder Bigler)
Maricopa, Arizona: After suffering a loss in the rivalry round to the University of Arizona on Jan. 14 the Sun Devils were set to take on the University of Southern California Trojans in the consolation round. Hoping to avoid a fourth-place finish on the weekend the Sun Devils kicked their day off playing a “Ryder Cup” style format with groups of two playing with one ball and each golfer taking alternating shots.
When junior Preston Summerhays was asked how he liked playing with freshman Nick Prieto in this unique format, Summerhays responded by saying Prieto’s attention to detail with putting among other things helped him overcome what head coach Matt Thurmond described as “a really tough week for him.”
The Devils performed well in their morning round winning three out of their four matches giving them a three to one lead going into the final 18. In the final round of the consolidation bracket, the Devils showed out, going 4-2-1 and ending their day with a score of 7-2-2 a dominating win.
The Devils recovered well from their loss on day one gaining some valuable information on what they need to work on going forward. The standouts from the day are freshman Connor Williams who had an ASU best 7U on his opponent and sophomore Luke Potter who continued the dominance he displayed on the first day of the tournament finishing his weekend undefeated 4-0.
The chemistry that the Sun Devils are building as they gear up for the Pac-12 Championship and the National Championship will be one of their most valuable assets, Coach Thurmond believes that “they have a long way to go… but we got better this week we learned a lot of stuff and I think we will be ready by the end of April to play well in the Pac-12”. The Sun Devils’ next tournament, the National Invitational, is taking place Jan. 29-30 in Tucson Arizona.
