Youth powers Sun Devils

 by Tim O'Donnell
 published on Wednesday, March 26, 2008

The ASU men's golf team seized fourth-place honors in Tucson, thanks largely in part to a final-round push by the young squad that consists of four freshmen and a sophomore.

The Sun Devils finished one place ahead of host and in-state rival, UA. As a team, ASU shot a 2-over, 866 during its three-round stint at the par 72, 7,330-yard Omni Tucson National Golf Course.

The Sun Devils climbed up the leader board in the final round of play when four golfers shot par or better — good enough for the second-best team score of the day, only behind Kent State.

ASU finished 12 shots behind tournament champion Texas Christian, which edged out runner-up Kent State by three strokes.

Coach Randy Lein said TCU got out to a strong start, but ASU competed evenly with them during the final two rounds.

Behind the play of heralded freshman Jesper Kennegard, the Sun Devils once again finished among the top of the pack, something they struggled with during the fall season. Kennegard shot a 5-under, 211, and finished tied for fifth individually. He has had a number of strong finishes this season, including a first-place finish in Hawaii last month.

Sophomore Knut Borsheim was the only other Sun Devil to finish in the top 25. Borsheim shot 2-over, 218, to finish tied for 21st.

Lein added that ASU's worst score was good enough to help most other teams, but it lacked the top scores necessary to win the tournament.

"You have to have at least one or two guys in the top-10 to go deep and win championships," Lein said.

Kennegard was the only Sun Devil to shoot under par for the tournament.

His play included a final-round score of 5-under 67, which was tops among individual rounds posted for the tournament.

"It was nice to see Jesper come back," Lein said. "The rest of the guys played solid but not great."

Reach the reporter at: todonnel@asu.edu.