Men's Golf Heads to Colonial Collegiate Oct. 3-4
FORTH WORTH, TEXAS - The Arizona State men's golf squad heads to the Colonial Country Club next Monday (Oct. 3) for the two-day Ben Hogan Colonial Collegiate.
THE LINEUP
The Sun Devils will send Ryggs Johnston, Preston Summerhays, Josele Ballester, Kiko Coelho and Michael Mjaaseth to Texas. It is the third lineup ASU has used in three tournaments.
COACH THURMOND ON RYGGS JOHNSTON
"Ryggs is playing great golf right now but you have to wake up and go earn it again every single day. He has to keep doing that. Colonial is a good course for him that demands accuracy. He's hungry and I don't see why he won't have another excellent week."
STRONG START
In the Fighting Illini Invitational that took place September 16-18, the Sun Devils came out hot by sticking around in the top six for the whole Friday first round. Preston Summerhays and Luke Potter led the Sun Devils with four birdies each while veteran Ryggs Johnston held a good first round position in a tie for thirteenth.
SUPER SATURDAY
In their first two tournaments, ASU has carded its best round on Saturday. In the Maui Jim Intercollegiate, ASU carded its lowest three-round score in program history at 257 (65-65-64-63 = 257/-13) Entering Saturday in Illinois, Johnston carded an eagle on the opening 626-yard par-5. He then later caught fire and put up four birdies in the last six holes to help him finish the day at 6-under 64, the second best individual round in the tournament's history. ASU secured its low round of the tournament with a 273 (64-68-70-71=273/+3).
BIG DAY FOR BIRDIES
Michael Mjaaseth's birdies on the first and sixth holes helped boost the Sun Devils from fifth to and fourth on the leaderboard. Luke Potter also put up two birdies on holes 10 and 12 to keep the teams positioning strong while Johnston moved to 3-under.
LOCKED IN
In the first three holes of the third round of the Fighting Illini Invitational, Jose Ballester secured himself a new season-high of three straight birdies. This helped ASU maintain its positioning on the leaderboard. He finished the tournament at 6-over 216.
COACH SUTTON ON THE TWO-WEEK LAYOFF
"The 2 weeks at home have been productive. We've been able to have a four round qualifier and a few practices. We believe we have played well but know we need to get better and it's been nice to be able to work towards it at home."
OLYMPIA FIELDS RECAP
Arizona State finished in 4th place out of the 15 competing teams in Illinois. Ryggs Johnston's stellar outing helped him individually finish in 4th place and card 5-under 205 (70-61-71). Johnston's Saturday performance was marked as the second-best round ever recorded in the 16-year history of the Fighting Illini Invitational. The next closest Sun Devil tied for 17th and shot 3-over (69-72-72) on the weekend. Arizona State led the invitational in eagles (2) and tied for first with Illinois for the amount of birdies they had on the weekend with 46 total.
THE TOURNAMENT
ASU is 7-2 against squads in the 16-team field. Teams will play 36-holes day one and 18 on day two.
LONE STAR STATE
This will be ASU's second consecutive year taking a trip to Texas. Last year, the Sun Devils played in the Maridoe Collegiate Invitational where Cameron Sisk took home the individual title.