The ASU women’s golf team will look to regroup at home after a rough outing in California as it hosts the annual PING/ASU Invitational starting Friday.
Last week the Sun Devils had their worst finish of the year, placing 11th in the Battle of Rancho Bernardo in California. Junior Giulia Molinaro has been on a tear as of late, winning her first individual title in Hawaii over spring break and finishing tied for fourth at the Battle of Rancho Bernardo.
“Giulia’s doing great,” ASU coach Melissa Luellen said. “She has been playing really solid.”
This has become increasingly important with the loss of the team’s star player, back-to-back Pac-10 champion Carlota Ciganda, due to illness.
ASU has won this event 17 times in the past with the last victory coming in 2007. However, this year will be extremely difficult, as the tournament will contain nine teams in the top 25, including No. 1 USC and No. 2 UCLA.
The Sun Devils hit a wall after the Rancho Bernardo tournament, and the players needed some time off before they got ready for their home match, Luellen said. In all, ASU played three tournaments in less than nine days.
The Sun Devils will be looking to capture its fourth tournament of the season, which would be the fifth most wins in a single season since 1993-94.
The tournament will be the last one for the women’s golf team before it heads into the postseason.
Nine Pac-10 teams will be competing in the tournament, which will serve as a tune-up for the Pac-10 championships hosted on the same course, ASU Karsten Golf Course, April 17 to 19.
This year ASU has slowly risen through the ranks, starting outside of the top 25 until holding the No. 9 spot in the Golfweek/Sargarin Rankings. And the Sun Devils accomplished this without enough players to compete during the fall season.
In fact, the team has raised eyebrows for allowing a walk-on, Nicole Jones, to compete.
As a freshman Jones competed in two tournaments, with her highest finish coming in the Paradise Desert Classic in Hawaii, a one-round tournament in which she shot a 20-over-par 92. However, she got sick and wasn’t able to compete in the team’s last tournament.
Freshman Brittney McKee, a native from Hamilton High School in Chandler, took her place and finished 92nd in the tournament.
Reach the reporter at jjmckelv@asu.edu
