Despite losing its top golfer from last season, the ASU women’s golf team is poised to remain an elite program.
ASU ranks No. 4 in the NGCA preseason poll, including receiving a first-place vote.
“There’s a lot of respect there,” coach Melissa Luellen said. “I think that preseason is preseason, and if we end up (ranked) at four, then we have overachieved. But at the same time this group has always overachieved. They just have to decide how good they want to be.”
Giulia Molinaro was ASU’s star golfer last season and was the fourth-ranked NCAA golfer by Golfweek after the 2011-12 season.
Molinaro graduated in the spring, leaving the Sun Devils with a big void to fill.
But ASU remains in an ideal position to replace her with the rest of last year’s team coming back. ASU returns a plethora of top-level talent that competed remarkably well last year.
The Sun Devils bring back juniors Justine Lee, Laura Blanco and Daniela Ordonez and sophomore Noemi Jimenez all from the starting lineup last year.
ASU expects these incumbent starters to continue improving on all facets of their game in the upcoming season.
“We’ve obviously lost our star and we have no freshmen this year,” Luellen said. “We have a lot of experience. I really think we can finish in the top 10 at the end of the year. That would be a really good goal.”
Lee is the top returner after drastically improving her per-round scoring average from 75.80 her freshman year to 73.97 last season. The team is hoping for similar improvements from Lee in her junior season.
“She’s got all the tools (to become elite),” Luellen said.
Lee battled through a shoulder injury last season, limiting her ability to practice and her ball-striking accuracy and power.
Over the summer, she underwent a successful rehabilitation. If the shoulder holds up this season, ASU expects her to be exceptional.
Lee isn’t the only player coming off a drastic turnaround in the 2011-12 season.
Blanco lowered her per-round score from 76.27 to 74.83 and Ordonez improved from 76.27 to 75.21.
“I think all the girls, if they can reduce their scoring average by a stroke or even half a stroke (this season, then) we can achieve those goals easily.
Notes
At just 5 feet-2 inches, Ordonez isn’t the most physically strong golfer, but she improved her strength in the offseason.
“‘Danny’ was here during the summer and she worked with our new strength coach Alex Boyd and she had remarkable improvement in her strength and, the way she strikes the ball,” Luellen said.
“Of course she always had a great short game. She’s a little challenged with distance off the tee, but she’s been hitting it farther already.”
The season begins Sept. 17 in the Dale McNamara Invitational in Tulsa, Okla.
Reach the reporter at justin.janssen@asu.edu
