The first major hurdle is behind the ASU women’s golf team as the Sun Devils tied for third in one of the premier tournaments in the country.
The Fall Preview, unlike any other regular season invites, combined early season hopes with a postseason-like atmosphere.
All of the top teams want to be there in the spring when the Vanderbilt Legends Club, the same course for the Preview, hosts the National Championship; but for the weekend, they just wanted to get a statement win.
For the Sun Devils, the tournament couldn’t have gone better. Finishing behind No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 Alabama was a tremendous showing for a team with little experience, but what really stood out was their ability to do it as a team.
ASU was the only team other than UCLA to not have a player finish outside of the top 60.
“We are really pleased in the fact that our goal was to finish in the top five and we did that,” ASU head coach Melissa Luellen said. “They fought, fought and fought to finish strong … They all really know how important it is to grind it out to the end.”
Finishing strong had already proved troublesome for the Sun Devils as they dropped a 21-shot lead to finish second on the final day of the Dale McNamara Invitational on Sept. 14.
This time the Sun Devils held on, and while they didn’t record their best round, they showed some improvement.
“The goal that the girls set at the end of last year was that they wanted to be in contention,” Luellen said. “For the youth of our team we had a great showing. They all really know how important it is to grind it out to the end.”
Leading the team was sophomore Justine Lee, who finished tied for eighth. Lee had the individual lead after the first round, but with All-Americans and the rest of a stellar field nipping at her heels, Lee fell to third and finally to her eighth place finish with second and third round scores of an even-par 72 and a three-over-par 75, respectively.
“She did a really good job (at maintaining her focus),” Luellen said. “She had a couple of hiccups on the par 3’s Sunday, but what I was impressed with was that she would come back on the next hole. She was fighting not only for herself but she was fighting for her team. That’s what this group really feels like is a team.”
Lee’s bounce-back ability showed big time in her final round, as she made birdies on holes 13, 15 and 17 after shooting over-par on 12, 14 and 16.
The Sun Devils are also pleased with the play of their lone freshman Noemi Jimenez, who put a rough 7-over-par 79 first round behind her in order to shoot just four strokes over par in her final two rounds.
“She struggled the first day but was just a different player the next two days with her mindset,” Luellen said.
Also competing for the Sun Devils was senior Giulia Molinaro, who captured her second career victory in the McNamara Invite. Molinaro rallied after a disappointing four-over-par 76 on her second round to finish tied for 14th.
“She kept at it and kept her composure,” Luellen said. “Probably in the past she would have let her emotions get to her, but she stayed strong. She was our leader and did a great job.”
Reach the reporter at jjmckelv@asu.edu
Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
