The Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate Championship lived up to its reputation as one of the top women’s golf tournaments in the country, sending the ASU women’s golf team to its first finish outside the top three this season.
In a field that included seven of the nation’s top ten teams, the Sun Devils finished seventh, but were only three strokes back from third-place finishers Tulane and Duke. ASU has now played its first three tournaments with first-year freshmen making up half the team.
Consistency has been the staple of the team, and ASU coach Melissa Luellen has been able to get productivity from all players.
In most tournaments the worst score has been dropped from each round, which has hurt the Sun Devils more than other teams. No ASU player posted a round above 80 this season.
“We play hard golf, and the weather has been tough, but this shows these girls have some game,” Luellen said.
While finishing seventh is not where this team wants to be, the Sun Devils’ final round showed they could hang with the best competition in the nation. The team had a 2-over-par 290 third-round score, its lowest of the tournament.
Individually the Sun Devils’ best golfer was junior Giulia Molinaro, who finished tied for fifth, her best performance of the year.
She has bounced back from her 37th-place finish in the team’s opening tournament to place in the top 10 in her last two.
Her consistent production along with back-to-back Pac-10 champion junior Carlota Ciganda has helped bring the five newcomers on the team into a winning experience.
However, Ciganda finished the tournament tied for 18th, her lowest finish of the year.
Her first and second-round scores were a combined 5-over-par 149 and dropped her farther than she would have liked. But she showed resilience and fought back to post a 2-under-par 70 on the final day.
“We obviously need Carlota (Ciganda) to play well,” Luellen said. “If our goal is to compete at the highest level and have a chance to win tournaments, we need our number one player to play great.”
One of the more surprising stories on Tuesday was freshman Laura Blanco. Blanco had her best round of the tournament on the final day, shooting a 1-over-par 73, despite recording a triple bogey on her second hole of the day.
Four of the top five golfers in the nation competed, with No. 25 Alabama freshman Stephanie Meadow winning the individual title.
The No. 1 Crimson Tide team finished second, four strokes behind No.2 USC and 10 strokes ahead of ASU.
“It’s pretty impressive how these girls are doing and how well they are competing, and we have still got a lot of work to do, a lot of improving and learning,” Luellen said. “We have a lot of great things happening and some other things we need to work on.”
Reach the reporter at jjmckelv@asu.edu
