GolfChannel.com previews the 2019 spring season in men’s college golf, from teams and players to watch to picks to win. Here we dive into the Pac-12:
Pac-12
Championship info: April 22-24, Eugene (Ore.) Country Club
Recent champions: USC (2018), Oregon (2017), Stanford (2016), Stanford (2015), Stanford (2014)
Team rankings: USC (8), Arizona State (11), California (17), Stanford (31), UCLA (41), Oregon (45), Arizona (69), Colorado (73), Utah (74), Oregon State (75), Washington (82), Washington State (141)
Midseason All-Conference Team: Collin Morikawa, Sr., Cal (2); Justin Suh, Sr., USC (6); Chun An Yu, Jr., Arizona State (12); Kaito Onishi, Soph., USC (17); Brandon Wu, Sr., Stanford (37)
What to watch: After a slow start to the fall, USC came alive to close with two wins. Senior Justin Suh is a force and watch out for freshman Charlie Reiter, the long-hitter who was T-6 in his first college event at Olympia Fields. The team will be without junior Cheng Jin, who turned pro unexpectedly in early January. … The transformation of Arizona State under coach Matt Thurmond continues as the Sun Devils finished second three times in the fall – and that was with junior Chun An Yu, who recently won the Australian Master of the Amateurs, only playing two events. … Cal, like USC, didn’t advance to the NCAA Championship a season ago. The Bears have one of best players in the country in senior Collin Morikawa and closed the fall with a win in Hawaii. … Stanford has a talented top 2 in seniors Brandon Wu and Isaiah Salinda, but the Cardinal’s Pac-12 hopes will likely depend on what their freshmen, Daulet Tuleubayev and Fred Lee, do this spring. … UCLA didn’t finish better than fourth this fall as U.S. Amateur runner-up Devon Bling battled a sore wrist. Freshman Bryan Teoh was a bright spot, though, notching three top 12s. … Oregon senior Edwin Yi has stepped up, but the Ducks are still adjusting to the post-Norman Xiong era.
Pick to win: Arizona State