During the same weekend in which the ASU men's golf team played without its top player, the women's golf team went to work minus its star, finishing fifth in the Peg Barnard Collegiate.
Sun Devil sophomore Jimin Kang missed the two-day event in Palo Alto, Calif., because of academic reasons. The par 72, 6,168-yard Stanford Golf Course, the site of this year's Regional, gave ASU an additional chance to familiarize itself with the settings. Sun Devil head coach Mickey Yokoi didn't mind his team's high scoring average leader staying at home because she's already familiar with the course.
"It let us take another player down there to look at the course," Yokoi said. "As far as how we did as a team without (Kang), I'm happy."
ASU's 34-over 610 (309-301) was not completely indicative of how the golfers performed. Through 14 holes of Saturday's first round, the Sun Devils were in contention of standing atop the leader board. But they sunk into ninth place after shooting a combined 17-over in the final four holes.
"Sometimes that happens in rounds of golf," Yokoi said. "There's no reason for it. It happened, and we just have to move on from here."
Washington captured first place with a 17-over 593. California (599), USC (600) and Stanford (607) rounded out the top five.
In Kang's absence, freshman Erin Tone stepped up for the Sun Devils. Tone grabbed her second straight top 15 finish, placing tied for 14th with a seven-over 151. She fired a four-over 76 in the first round, before carding a three-over 75 in Sunday's final round.
"She's been playing really well. You always knew she had a lot of talent," Yokoi said. "She hits the ball really well. Once she feels comfortable in college golf, she'll take off."
ASU juniors Melanie Hunt (78-74) and Blair O'Neal (77-75) finished tied for 16th place at eight-over 152. Sun Devil senior Lisa Meredith ended up tied for 34th at 13-over 157 (80-77), while junior Gaëlle Truet tied for 40th place at 14-over 158 (78-80) after struggling in her second consecutive tournament.
"Gaëlle played 31 holes well and five poorly," Yokoi said. "Her scores may not reflect that, but she'll do well (in the Pac-10 Championships)."
ASU freshman Josefin Gustafsson finished tied for 51st place with a 16-over 160 while competing as an individual. USC junior Mikaela Parmlid took home medalist honors after turning in a two-under 70 on Sunday to finish at two-under 143.
The Sun Devils will return to action April 22-24 when competing in the Pac-10 Championships in Walla Walla, Wash. The three-day event hosted by Washington State will take place at the Walla Walla Country Club.
"We have a pretty tough schedule getting ready for the tournament," Yokoi said. "I'm going to push them a bit and then ease off, but we'll be ready."
Reach the reporter at casey.pritchard@asu.edu.
