PHOENIX – Sun Devil Women’s Golf is in position to contend after the first round of the PING/ASU Invitational.
No. 11 Arizona State is tied for sixth after the first day, sitting only four strokes out of second place. The Sun Devils used a strong back nine to rally and make a climb up the leaderboard, settling for a tie for sixth with 36 holes left to play. Three Sun Devils sit in the Top-25 following the completion of round one, highlighted by Amanda Linner (4th) and Paula Schulz-Hanssen (T-8th). The duo each went under par, with Linner’s 69 putting her only two strokes shy of the individual lead.
Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye‘s team is home the rest of the weekend, with the remainder of the PING/ASU Invitational taking place over the next two days at Papago Golf Club. The Maroon & Gold start the second round tomorrow at 8:45 AM MST on Hole 1, with two individuals starting on Hole 10 at the same time. Live scoring for the PING/ASU Invitational will be provided by Golfstat at the following link.
ROUND BREAKDOWN
The front nine was an opportunity for the Sun Devils to get used to the weather, as winds were heavy throughout the day. This mitigated their home course advantage, with the conditions equalizing the playing field. Positives from the front nine included a Beth Coulter birdie to start the day on hole one, followed by a birdie on six by Schulz-Hanssen. Meanwhile, Linner started out separately on the back nine and took full advantage of the more friendly half of the course. She birdied five of her first nine holes, jumping out to an early lead.
Play turned around for Arizona State on the back nine, as the team enjoyed a massive 24-stroke improvement. Beth Coulter led the way with a two-under effort over her final nine holes, while Schulz-Hanssen avoided any mistakes in going one-under. Ashley Menne bounced back by going even on the back nine as she looks to continue building momentum. 11 of the 13 birdies from the Maroon & Gold came during the second half of the round.
QUOTABLES
“Tough weather conditions today for Phoenix and a lot of gusty winds and it was cold,” Coach Farr-Kaye remarked. “We started off a little slow and really unusual for our team to play how we did on the front side. We did a lot better on the back and really happy with how we did down the stretch.”
“We still definitely have to clean…
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