The No. 8-seeded Arizona State men’s golf team was unable to pull of the upset against No. 1 North Carolina on the first day of match play today at the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship, ending the Sun Devils’ season in disappointing fashion.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Ultimately came up short. Thank you, Sun Devil Nation 🫡#ForksUp /// 🔱😈⛳️ pic.twitter.com/q9zmVVQmgn
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) May 30, 2023
The match came down to the very last hole of the round at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale. North Carolina had already won two of the best-of-five individual matchups when ASU’s Michael Mjaaseth and UNC’s David Ford stepped up to the tee box on their final hole. Ford was leading by a stroke and both scored a par on the hole, giving North Carolina the victory.
FINAL: UNC defeats ASU in the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship quarterfinals.
Michael Mjaaseth was only able to par Hole 18, and with a David Ford putt that was good for a tie, the Tarheels secured their 3rd victory to move on to the semis.
ASU’s season is over.@DevilsDigest pic.twitter.com/C88OvDm4YI
— Nick Borgia (@Nick_Borgia) May 30, 2023
Mjaaseth was just inches away from birdieing on the hole.
This is how close Michael Mjaaseth was to winning Hole 18. Would have extended the match to a playoff, and Preston Summerhays would have needed to win Hole 18 as well.@DevilsDigest pic.twitter.com/QZ4HuCJ5fp
— Nick Borgia (@Nick_Borgia) May 30, 2023
The Sun Devils and coach Matt Thurmond used their All-Pac-12 lineup of Preston Summerhays (1), Josele Ballester (2), Mjaaseth (3), Luke Potter (4) and Ryggs Johnston (5) this weekend. Each team in the tournament played four rounds from Friday to Monday before the top-8 teams advanced to match play.
The final results from today can be seen below, as just one Sun Devil, Ballester, won his matchup.
The final results of match play (via golfstat.com)
Arizona State qualified to play in their home national championship after a record-breaking performance in the Las Vegas regional where the team came back from four strokes down to beat Stanford, who the Sun Devils placed second to in the Pac-12 Tournament, by two strokes. In the final round, the Sun Devils shot a NCAA postseason and Pac-12 record 59-under.
Heading Back to Grayhawk❕@SunDevilMGolf qualifies for the 2023 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship in Scottsdale 😈 pic.twitter.com/dJBB323n3L
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) May 17, 2023
The Sun Devils entered this weekend as the No. 4 seed and were looking to one-up last season’s national runner-up team. ASU was the last team to advance to match play after it defeated Pac-12 foe Stanford yesterday in an exciting playoff finish.
.@sundevilmgolf's Preston Summerhays with the birdie to give ASU the playoff victory over Stanford to advance into match play! #NCAAGolf pic.twitter.com/ow8nl6IiAz
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) May 30, 2023
There were plenty of Arizona State supporters that came out to Grayhawk all weekend, including football coach Kenny Dillingham, starting quarterback Trenton Bourguet, men’s basketball coach Bobby Hurley and the women’s basketball coaching staff.
Day 9 good to have @KennyDillingham chatting with @MattThurmond pic.twitter.com/TGlDLsksZ3
— Doug Tammaro (@DougTammaro) May 26, 2023
TB16 spotted at Grayhawk. #ForksUp #GoSunDevilMGolf 🔱 pic.twitter.com/txtRaUj7xg
— Lindsay Zienty (@lindsayzienty) May 29, 2023
Playing UNC so let’s get the Duke guy out here. pic.twitter.com/rHJxISuEIn
— Doug Tammaro (@DougTammaro) May 30, 2023
Out supporting @sundevilmgolf on the first day of match play at the NCAA Men's Golf Tournament.#ForksUp /// #O2V pic.twitter.com/svpFmdCqqR
— Sun Devil WBB (@SunDevilWBB) May 30, 2023
ASU’s season came to a close today, but the storied program had a lot to celebrate all season long with numerous top-3 tournament finishes and impressive individual performances.
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Brendan Mau is a college sports insider and general assignment reporter for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on Twitter via @Brendan_Mau
