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Golf: Women's golf to Tucson


After stumbling out of the gate this spring, the ASU women's golf team looks to rekindle the success it enjoyed in the fall today at the Wildcat Invitational in Tucson.

The Sun Devils will travel to UA's home tournament with an experienced lineup that includes senior Erin Tone and junior Alissa Kuczkz.

Coach Melissa Luellen said that her team played terribly last time out at Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge held Feb. 7-9 and was forced to settle for 13th place.

"Our four and five players really just struggled with the course," Luellen said. "I think the other three were under pressure to try and make up (for them) and as a result they didn't play well because they got out of their game plan."

Luellen said the team is shooting for a top-two finish in Tucson but knows the competition will be challenging. The Sun Devils will vie for the top spot with host UA, defending national champion UCLA and some of the best teams in the country, including New Mexico, Oklahoma State, Pepperdine, Stanford and Tennessee.

"Everyone is really fired up and ready to play in Tucson," Luellen said. "I think that (finishing 13th last week) was a good experience to kick them into gear."

Freshman standout Louise Stahle and sophomores Tiffany Tavee and Charmaine Erasmus will round out ASU's card. Sophomore Lindsay Anderson will also compete as an individual.

Stahle, who dropped one spot to No. 3 in the national collegiate rankings, qualified for an exemption this week to play in the Safeway International LPGA event held March 14-20 at Superstition Mountain.

Luellen said she expects Stahle to rebound from the 12-over par 225 she shot at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge.

"She expects so much from herself and I have been very impressed with how she has put that tournament behind her," Luellen said.

Luellen added her team might have an advantage playing at Tucson's desert course compared to most of the teams in the field.

"Once you start playing desert courses day in and day out, you don't all of the sudden get afraid of the desert -- you know its there and that it is just part of the golf course," she said. "For a lot of visiting teams, it is very overwhelming visually."

Last year, ASU finished seventh in the event but Luellen said the team's performance tends to improve around this point in the season.

"We've had very good success at this tournament. Even for our teams in the past that have been struggling up until this point, things kind of seem to click into gear at Tucson," Luellen said. "We need a tuning point right now."

Reach the reporter at mark.saxon@asu.edu.


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