Coach Matt Thurmond said his players suffered the worst finish of their careers during the Southern Highlands Collegiate tournament
LAS VEGAS, NV — Arizona State coach Matt Thurmond compared golf to the greatest game there is — life.
“Life isn’t about what happens to you, it’s about how you respond. Life and golf are going to deal you tons of tough days and blows,” he said in a social media post.
The Southern Highlands Collegiate hosted in Las Vegas from Feb. 25-27 proved to be one of those blows, as the sixth-ranked Sun Devils finished 18 over and 14 overall out of the 15 team field.
Thurmond detailed the various ways his team could move on from what he called the worst tournament of his coaching career; the worst being playing the blame game, the easiest being to immediately forget about it and save mental anguish.
Instead, him and his team will hone in on tangible changes and use the material from the loss to better prepare. “I’ve seen great players from over the years always do that and we’re going to get better,” he said.
Josele Ballester paced the Sun Devils in the opening round, with a five-under 67 while logging seven birdies and finishing the day one shot shy of the lead (Jack Lundin of Missouri, 6-under 66). Michael Mjaaseth, playing as an individual, carded a three-under 69.
As a team, Arizona State finished one-under, 287 and tied for tenth through 18.
Ballester continued to guide the Sun Devil with a 2-under 70 in the second round, while the rest of the saw higher scores in the second round. Arizona State, as a team, finished 7-over, while Oklahoma led (3-over, 291) to Pepperdine (16-over, 304).
Arizona State sat in eighth at 7-over 583 (287-296) before taking the course of the final round, which only grew tougher as the tournament waged on.
The Sun Devils had a final round to forget (a rarity for this program), as Mjaaseth closed as the program’s best scorer, although competing as an individual.
- Mjaaseth 1-over T-18
- Josele Ballester 2-over T-21
- Wenyi Ding 7-over T-46
- ryggs Johnston 7-over T-46
- luke potter 7-over T-46
- preston Summerhays 14-over T-68
It’s rare that the Thurmond-led program isn’t atop the leader board, but with preparation in mind, the Sun Devils hope for better results as they head to Mexico for the Cabo Open from March 3-5.
“Actually the worst tournament ive had as a coach and worst tournament any of these guys have had as a player on this team.