(WCSN Photo/Nicholas Badders)
MARICOPA, AZ- After a rusty start to the 2021 slate on Sunday, the Sun Devils stormed back to form to keep the Copper Cup in Tempe for another year on Monday.
The second annual Copper Cup was Arizona State’s first tournament since Oct. 27. Luckily for the Sun Devils, they didn’t have to travel too far.
The tournament was created as simply an exhibition between ASU and the University of Arizona at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club to take the place of canceled NCAA tournaments. The competition was a smash hit when ASU’s David Puig gave the Sun Devils a final push at the end to secure a 1 point victory.
The tournament was played similar to the Ryder Cup, with four four-ball matches on Sunday morning, and eight singles matches in the afternoon. On Monday, they played four foursome matches, with another eight singles in the afternoon.
On Sunday, ASU showed up a little rusty, finishing down 7-5 to the Wildcats, leaving the Sun Devils disappointed going into Monday.
“We were pretty upset last night how it ended,” Arizona State head coach Matt Thurmond told AZCentral. “And I was like, I said a couple of things that were a little too hard and a little too aggressive. They’re doing their best and I kind of hit them pretty hard.”
Needing a second day surge to beat the rival Wildcats, ASU’s boys came to play Monday. The Sun Devils closed the gap in the morning, winning three of the four foursomes. This is when coach Thurmond knew his guys were in a good place to close out the tournament.
“Yesterday felt like a grind all day, most of the morning felt like a grind,” said Thurmond to AZCentral. “The energy at lunch was on our side”
Following lunch, the Sun Devils continued with the momentum set with the morning victories. Arizona State took seven of the eight singles matches in the afternoon, to win the Copper Cup.
The Sun Devils won five of the eight afternoon singles 1-up, with graduate student Mason Andersen and freshman Preston Summerhays securing 6 & 4 victories in their respective matches to retain the cup back to Tempe.
Summerhays has added quite the boost to ASU’s squad this season. The freshman has put up some very impressive outings in his first season, with notable performances coming at Isleworth where he finished tied for eighth with a 3-under 213 as well as earning co-medalist honors at the East Lake Cup.
Some struggles on the green for ASU junior David Puig created some high drama on Monday. Puig, one of the Sun Devils heavy hitters, went one up heading to the back nine Monday afternoon, though slipped up just enough to let U of A junior Chase Sienkiewicz back in it heading to 18. But Puig understood the task, and slammed the door on Sienkiewicz to win his matchup.
Arizona State’s men’s side is ranked third in the nation by Golfweek, on the heels of second ranked Pepperdine and top ranked Oklahoma.
Following Monday’s victory for ASU, the Sun Devils will be right back in action in a weeks time, where they will travel to Westlake Village, California for the Southwestern Intercollegiate tournament, which will tee off on Jan. 24.
