The No. 4/5 Arizona State men’s golf team completed their final round at the Calusa Cup in Naples, Fl. finishing in third place at 7-over after improving by 11 strokes from the second round and tying the lowest round of the day, going 4-under (284).
The Sun Devils (292-295-284=871/+7) compiled 51 birdies for the week, the second most in the field and were one of four teams with an eagle for the entire tournament.
Leading the way for ASU was Josele Ballester who fired a 70 (-2), who tied for fourth and equaled his best finish of the season at -1 for the tournament. In a 54-hole tournament, it was his best finish in the 2022-23 campaign. His bogey free back-9 kept him in red figures, being one of six golfers to finish under par this week. Alongside was Luke Potter who compiled a 69 (-3) to catapult him into his fourth career top-10 finish. He also rattled off a bogey free back-9 with one birdie placing him in sole possession of eighth.
“It takes so much effort and concentration to limit bogeys on a course like this.” head coach Matt Thurmond said. “Josele did awesome this week and I’m so proud of him. Luke’s last two rounds were solid too. I like seeing him with that clean scorecard.”
Ryggs Johnston finished inside the top-15, finishing 4-over for the week. In his final round, he birdied three of his final five holes to card a 74 (+2) and was one of four players for the tournament to have an eagle. Michael Mjaaseth was the third Sun Devil to be in red figures Thursday with a 71 (-1) with a team-best five birdies in his round. He finished tied for 17th. Preston Summerhays was one of three golfers this week to go 5-under on the par 5’s, which was best in the field.
“Proud of the guys and how they played today,” associate head coach Thomas Sutton said “We took a step in the right direction this week. We’ll be looking to build on it as the season progresses.”
The Sun Devils return to the valley of the sun where they’ll host the annual Thunderbird Invitational at Papago Golf Course before heading into postseason play. Arizona State finished second behind Oklahoma by 5-strokes but James Leow became the 15th Sun Devil to claim the Thunderbird Invitational…
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