After beginning the final day of competition in fourth place at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge last week, four of ASU's five women’s golfers combined to shoot two-under par en route to a second-place finish in California.
It was ASU's first competition of the spring season, and that success has now helped to jump-start excitement around the program as the Sun Devils head into the thick of their schedule.
“I still think that this group still has a lot more that they’re capable of, and I know that they want to win,” Missy Farr-Kaye, ASU women’s golf head coach, said in a phone interview. “We’re just trying to every day get a little bit better and continue to focus and work hard at practice and then just see what can happen.”
After the Northrop Grumman Regional, Golfweek ranked the Sun Devils as the No. 4 team in the nation. Farr-Kaye said the rise in the rankings gave the team some extra confidence.
“They’re the highest we’ve been ranked in awhile,” Farr-Kaye said. “It fits in well where they see themselves that they are a top team and they’re a force to be reckoned with.”
Sophomore Linnea Strom, who led the way for the Sun Devils finishing with a +1 at the regional challenge, believes that the team is deserving of its ranking, but said there's still more work to be done.
“I think that we are in the right spot where we should be because last semester, we didn’t really play as good as we could,” Strom said. “I think this is more where we should be in the rankings.”
The rise in the rankings was also noticed by a prominent figure within Sun Devil Athletics. Vice President of University Athletics Ray Anderson retweeted the women’s golf new ranking and congratulated the team. The shoutout wasn't lost on Farr-Kaye.
Congratulations @SunDevilGolf and @missymkaye ! https://t.co/09ocTbI4so
— Ray Anderson (@SunDevilRay23) February 17, 2017
“We have a lot of support in the athletic department, and having Ray pay attention to that is wonderful,” Farr-Kaye said. “It’s just as important to me that we get notoriety for the kind of people that we are and I really have a lot of faith in this group. They are a tremendous group of young women.”
Four of the five Sun Devils finished within four strokes of one another last week at the challenge in Palo Verdes, a possible sign of the depth on display in the Sun Devils lineup. With capable golfers up and down the roster, Farr Kaye said the team needs to focus on simplifying the game.
“I think we really tried to get across that we need to focus on what we can control and not worry about anything that’s going on around us,” Farr-Kaye said. “I think that they’re really starting to get to that point where it’s all about conquering the golf course one hole at a time.”
Freshman Olivia Mehaffey completed competition at the regional tied for 14th place in the overall standings with a +3, shooting two-under on the final day. Mehaffey said she was just happy to get back out on the golf course and compete again, and that the team did well to control its emotions after a tough start to the competition.
It was ASU's first tournament of the spring season.
“I think not one of us panicked after the first day,” Mehaffey said. “Nobody even looked at our position. We knew that we still had a chance to win if we kept calm and give it our all the next couple of days. There’s a reason why it’s a three-day event, not just a one-day event.”
ASU's never-say-die attitude in California last week was a mentality the team is trying to take into all of its competitions moving forward. If you look through the ASU women’s golf Twitter account, you may notice a common theme. The Sun Devils have constructed a team hashtag of #allin17. Coach Farr-Kaye said it's just another way to bring the team together.
“We started off the season with a little bit of a retreat afternoon and talked about who we wanted to be this spring and how we wanted to get there and 'allin17' is something that we have all promised and made a commitment to each other,” Farr-Kaye said.
Strom said #allin17 means doing all that is possible to benefit the team, both on and off the golf course.
“I think that’s what it means,” Strom said. “To give everything you can do in every situation.”
ASU will be off until March 3-5, when the team travels to Hilton Head, South Carolina for the Darius Rucker Invitational.
Mehaffey said the Sun Devils have the potential to be the best team in the nation.
“We can be No. 1, and I don’t have any doubt, no hesitation in saying that,” Mehaffey said. “I think that we can be the best, and I know our team is capable of that.”
Reach the reporter at michael.baron@asu.edu or follow @Michael_Baron96 on Twitter.
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