After shrugging off a disappointing second place finish, the ASU women’s golf team will take on one of the toughest tests they face all year in the NCAA Fall Preview.
One of the unique aspects of the annual tournament is that it is always held at the same course as the National Championship in the spring.
“This is a big tournament,” ASU head coach Melissa Luellen said. “It has all the big teams. Girls that like to compete get pretty fired up for the big ones. Our focus is to learn that golf course, to take a ton of notes, to every day learn something new about it and to learn the best strategies.”
Winning the tournament will not be as easy, and will especially be tough for a team that is relatively inexperienced.
“In essence we have four freshmen and a senior playing this week,” Luellen said.
While Justine Lee, Daniela Ordonez and Laura Blanco are technically sophomores, they came to ASU in January making this their second semester. Both Ordonez and Lee showed well in the team’s last tournament, finishing in the top ten. Blanco will take sophomore Brittney McKee’s spot.
All four played well last spring to secure a postseason birth for ASU, but showed their youth with a 17th place finish at the national championships.
“They didn’t like finishing down in the pack at the national championship,” Luellen said. “They know what they have to do. They have had that championship experience. They have a greater belief that collectively they are a team that they all have to do it together.”
After carrying a 21-stroke lead into the final day ASU played their worst round of the Dale McNamara Invitational on the final day. It didn’t help that Oklahoma State came back with an impressive 13-under-par round of 275, and the Sun Devils had to settle for second place.
“The one thing we learned is that no lead is too large and no deficit is too deep,” Luellen said. “We can remember also that we are just as capable of doing what Oklahoma State did but we just didn’t have our best day.”
One of the best things for the team was the play of senior Giulia Molinaro, who captured her second career individual victory at the tournament. Molinaro played all summer and there were questions about how physically ready she would be at the beginning of the season.
“I didn’t really expect to win. I knew I was playing well and my game was in good shape,” Molinaro who had 15 birdies in the tournament said, “It really helps your confidence for the next tournament that I know I can get the birdies.”
The only freshman, Noemi Jimenez, also was a bright spot, as she put on an impressive display for a recently transferred Spanish international student. Jimenez will return to the lineup this week looking to provide depth.
“She played well enough to finish in the top five, although when we looked at her stats, she wasted a lot penalty shots that really hurt her,” Luellen said. “We will work more closely with her during the practice round in getting her game plan ready to go.”
Reach the reporter at jjmckelv@asu.edu Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
