Women’s Golf Opens Season at ANNIKA Intercollegiate

By Lindsay Gaesser, SDA Media Relations

Orlando, Fla.—The Arizona State women’s golf team returns to action Sept. 28-30, when it opens its 2014-15 season at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate in Orlando, Fla.  The ANNIKA Intercollegiate is a new college golf tournament co-founded by the ANNIKA Foundation and Golfweek. 

The 54-hole stroke play event will be played on Reunion Resort’s Watson Course and will feature some of the top Division I women’s programs in the country.  The 12-team field includes last year’s NCAA Champion Duke, Southern California, UCLA, Arizona, South Carolina, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma State, Alabama, Pepperdine, and Northwestern.

“We’re excited for our first tournament,” said ASU head coach Melissa Luellen.  “The top teams in the country will be competing there, so it will be a great weekend of golf.  Our girls have been practicing hard and they are ready to compete.” 

The Sun Devils return four out of eight golfers from the 2013-14 team, with senior Noemi Jimenez at the helm.  Last season, Jimenez recorded seven top-five finishes, including a first-place finish at the NCAA West Regional.  Jimenez also earned first-team All-American honors, All-Pac-12 first team, and Pac-12 All-Academic honors last year.

Jimenez will be golfing in the No. 1 spot for the Sun Devils.  Freshman Sophia Zeeb, sophomore Monica Vaughn, freshman Roberta Liti, and senior Emilie Alonso round out the Arizona State lineup. 

Hailing from Germany, newcomer Zeeb has secured the No. 2 spot in the lineup.  On the amateur international circuit, Zeeb finished in 15th place in the 2013 German International Ladies Amateur Championship and finished in fourth place at the Platz DM Mädchen AK 16 (German Girls under 16) in 2012. 

Vaughn, who had a standout freshman season for the Sun Devils, recorded four top-10 finishes including a third place finish at the Pac-12 Preview.  She shot a career-low 69 three times last season and earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors.    

Golfing in the No. 4 spot for the Sun Devils, Liti is fresh off a top-40 finish at the 2014 World Amateur Championship.  A native of Siena, Italy, she has golfed for the Italian National Team in two consecutive World Amateur Championships.  In 2013, Liti won the Italian Championship and took second place in the Girls’ British Open Amateur Championship.

Nabbing the final spot in the Arizona State lineup, Alonso returns for her senior season as a Sun Devil.  As a junior, she competed in nine events and tied her career-low 68 in the second round of the SDSU Farms Invitational.  Excelling off the course as well, Alonso’s 3.60 GPA last year earned her first-team Pac-12 All-Academic honors as. 

Live scoring for the ANNIKA Intercollegiate is available at www.golfstat.com.