The women’s golf team fought through some adversity in its first tournament of the season but did not find much success.
Temperatures and humidity were high in Orlando, Florida the past three days for the ANNIKA Intercollegiate tournament and some of the golfers for ASU were also fighting through chest colds.
Those factors might have contributed to the team's performance, which was tied for last in the field in the team's first tournament of the season.
“It’s tough seeing Arizona State finish tied for last,” coach Melissa Luellen said. “It was a very difficult field.”
The leader of that field, South Carolina, finished at 10-under par, seven strokes ahead of the team in second place. Arizona State finished at 18-over as a team.
During a time when the temperatures in the Valley are starting to lower, the golf team struggled to adjust to the weather in Florida. However, according to Luellen it’s something the team must be prepared for, especially with the national championships being played in Brandenton, Florida in May.
The team had two freshmen competing in their first ever tournament at ASU, Sophia Zeeb and Roberta Liti. Luellen said she would grade their first performance at a C saying they seemed to be playing a little tentative throughout the three days.
One positive Luellen said she saw out of Liti's performance was the freshman's strong finish. After hitting over par in both of the first rounds, Liti was able to put together a solid third and final round in Florida 1-under par with three birdies. Liti finished 9-over overall.
Senior Noemi Jimenez was the only Sun Devil to finish under par. Jimenez finished tied for fifth overall in the tournament shooting 4-under over three days.
Luellen said that despite her success, Jimenez has been struggling with her sleep schedule. Luellen said that Jimenez has been having problems with her sleep patterns ever since she returned from the World Amateur in Japan.
Jimenez, the seventh best amateur in the world according to the World Amateur ranking, will be relied upon by the team moving forward.
Luellen said that the one thing everyone needs to improve on moving forward is having better course management, along with other individual tweaks.
“They all know what they need to work on,” Luellen said.
The golf season is long so one poor performance likely won’t matter in the long run. Luellen chalks it up as a learning experience for her team.
The team will return back to Tempe on Tuesday and begin preparations for their next tournament, the Stanford Intercollegiate, which begins on Oct. 17.
You can reach the reporter at wslane@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @bill_slane
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