ASU Women's Golf Prepares for Pac-12 Championship

TEMPE - Sun Devil Women's Golf heads to Pullman, Washington to compete in the 2024 Pac-12 Women's Golf Championship, running April 21-23 at Palouse Ridge Golf Club.

No. 12 Arizona State will attempt to add to their Pac-12 best eight team and 13 individual conference championships. Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye's team enters the event as the No. 4 seed, slotted behind No. 1 Stanford, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 8 USC. The Maroon and Gold have been one of the nation's hottest teams, hitting their stride at the right time. Down the stretch in the Spring, ASU claimed team titles at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate and the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational. Most recently they are coming off a second-place finish at the PING/ASU Invitational, which included nine of the 11 Pac-12 teams.

For the first time since 2012, the Pac-12 Women's Golf Championship will be held in Pullman hosted by Washington State. They will have big shoes to fill, as Arizona State received rave reviews as hosts of the 2023 Pac-12 Championship at Papago Golf Club. The Sun Devils are looking to improve upon their fifth-place finish in last year's edition and continue building momentum heading into NCAA Regionals. Veteran leaders Ashley Menne (4th appearance) and Grace Summerhays (3rd appearance) have championship experience on their side. Beth Coulter looks to duplicate her success at this event, as she was the conference Silver Medalist after a career-best performance at the 2023 championships. Pac-12 Network will be providing coverage throughout the week, with a daily recap highlight show airing the morning after each round. Live scoring for all three days of the Pac-12 Championship will be provided by Golfstat.

COACH'S CORNER
"We have been learning a lot about ourselves on and off the golf course," Coach Farr-Kaye mentioned after PING/ASU. "The timing is good to be heading in this direction. Now we have been getting ready for Pac-12s and will take it one tournament at a time."

"The postseason is what we work all year for," Coach Farr-Kaye added. "You have to take your focus and intensity to a different level. I am excited to see how these team handles the increased pressure of the tournament. Our mindset is to go up there and win a title."

SUN DEVILS IN THE RANKINGS
Clipp'd, backed by the NCAA, are now responsible for the 2024 NCAA Golf Rankings. Arizona State moved up to No. 12 in the ranking, gaining another spot after their second place finish at the PING/ASU Invitational. Three Sun Devils are in the Top-100, while all five fall within the Top-160. Here is where each of the Sun Devils' rank in the latest Clipp'd Individual Rankings:

No. 37 Ashley Menne UP 4 spots
No. 76 Patience Rhodes 
No. 98 Beth Coulter 
No. 103 Grace Summerhays UP 22 spots
No. 155 Paula Schulz-Hanssen

THE COMPETITION (CLIPP'D RANKINGS)
10 of the 11 teams at the PING/ASU Invitational are ranked in the Top-72 of the latest Clipp'd National Team Rankings. Arizona State is one of six Top-16 teams in the field. To take it a step further, 9 of the Top-45 teams in the country will be competing for a Pac-12 Championship. The loaded event features 19 of the Top-100 ranked golfers in the nation, including No. 37 Ashley Menne, No. 76 Patience Rhodes, and No. 98 Beth Coulter from Arizona State. In total, 36 of the Top-200 individuals will be vying for Pac-12 medalist honors, including all five members of the Sun Devil lineup.

THE LINEUP
Arizona State boasts one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the country. Coming off another Top-10 finish at the PING/ASU Invitational and an appearance in ANWA, senior Ashley Menne claims the top spot. Redshirt freshman Patience Rhodes earns the No. 2 spot for the third straight event, with sophomore Beth Coulter once again following in the third position. Junior Grace Summerhays, who gets prepares to play in her third Pac-12 Championship, will play out of the No. 4 spot. Sophomore Paula Schulz-Hanssen rounds out Missy Farr-Kaye's lineup.

1. Ashley Menne
2. Patience Rhodes
3. Beth Coulter
4. Grace Summerhays
5. Paula Schulz-Hanssen

THE FORMAT
Fifty-four holes of stroke play golf over the three days of competition shall decide the Pac-12 Conference Team and Individual Women's Golf Champion. Each team may enter five (5) players for a competition round. Now that it is postseason play, a team may substitute a sixth player for any member of the team prior to a round. The four players with the lowest score on a team for any 18-hole round shall constitute the scoring members of the team for that round and the team with the lowest total combined score for all rounds shall be the team champion.

THE COURSE
Home to the Washington State Men's and Women's Golf programs, Palouse Ridge Golf Course will host the 2024 Pac-12 Women's Golf Championship. The Par 72 course is set up at 6,324 yards.  It lies between WSU's football facility, Martin Stadium, and the Pullman–Moscow Regional Airport. Designed by John Harbottle III back in 2008, the course has a rating of 75.4 with a slope rating of 140. It also hosted the 2012 Pac-12 Women's Golf Championship, when Giulia Molinaro (T2nd) and Daniela Ordonez (T5th) recorded Top-10 finishes. 
 

TEE TIMES
Arizona State will begin the Pac-12 Women's Golf Championship on Sunday at 10:10 AM MST, with a new golfer starting their round every ten minutes on Hole 10. ASU will be paired with Oregon and Oregon State.
 

The tee times for round two shall remain the same, however, the pairings for the second rounds shall be determined by place finish the previous day. These will be generated by Golfstat. The tee times for round three shall begin at 8:00 am and 8:20 am off 1 and 10 tee respectively. The pairings final round shall be determined by place finish the previous day. These will be generated by Golfstat.

PAC-12 NETWORK COVERAGE
Pac-12 Networks will produce daily 30-minute highlight recaps that will air on Pac-12 Network the morning after each round.

Monday, 4/22 (1st round) - 10 AM MST 
Tuesday, 4/23 (2nd round) - 10 AM MST
Wednesday, 4/24 (3rd round) - 8 AM MST

HISTORY AT PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
No team has enjoyed more success at the Pac-10/12 Women's Golf Championships than Arizona State. Their 13 individual champions are seven more than any other team, while their eight team championships are tied for first. Most recently, Olivia Mehaffey claimed the 2019 Individual Championship by coming back from four strokes down on the final day. The Sun Devils last one as a team back in 2009 on their way to the program's seventh of eight NCAA Championships, with Coach Farr-Kaye serving as an Assistant Coach that year.
 
Legendary Sun Devil Women's Golf Head Coach Linda Vollstedt could be considered the queen of the Pac-10/12 Championships. Her teams won it a total of six times (most by any coach), including the first two in 1987 & 1988. Later in her career, Arizona State ran off four straight titles during their dominant run in the mid-90s, a feat that has never been matched since. ASU has three Top-3 finishes at the conference championships under Coach Farr-Kaye, finishing third in 2016, 2019, and 2021.

LAST TIME OUT
Sun Devil Women's Golf ended the 2024 PING/ASU Invitational strong, moving up the leaderboard on the final day at Papago Golf Club. No. 13 Arizona State (-8/856) finished with the best round of the day allowing them to jump six spots into a tie for second. The PING/ASU Invitational runner-up results is another impressive performance for Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye's team, as the field featured eight Top-15 teams. The Maroon & Gold only trailed PING/ASU Invitational Team Champions No. 11 Northwestern by three strokes as they leap-frogged several teams thanks to a fantastic effort on Saturday. ASU finished ahead of No. 1 Stanford, No. 6 USC, No. 7 Texas, and No. 12 Oregon, while matching No. 4 UCLA's second-place outcome. 

Two Sun Devils finished in the Top-10 of the individual race, as both Ashley Menne (-3/213) and Grace Summerhays (-3/213) tied for ninth. The duo used rounds in the 60s to make a major move up the standings, as Summerhays' 68 (-4) was the second-best score of the day with Menne following behind with a 69 (-3). Joining Menne and Summerhays in capping their event by climbing the standings were Beth Coulter and Paula Schulz-Hanssen, who both contributed to the Sun Devils carding the lowest round of the day.

BEST ROUNDS IN 2023-24
64/-8 Ashley Menne (Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational second round/March 18, 2024)
65/-7 Beth Coulter (Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational second round/March 18, 2024)
66/-6  Ashley Menne (Match in the Desert/Jan. 22, 2024)
67/-5  Paula Schulz-Hanssen (Mason Rudolph Invitational first round/Sept. 22, 2023)
67/-4  Ashley Menne (Stanford Intercollegiate second round/Oct. 21, 2023)
---> 68/-4 Grace Summerhays (PING/ASU Invitational third round/March 30, 2024)
68/-4 Patience Rhodes (Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational third round/March 19, 2024)
68/-4 Patience Rhodes (Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational first round/March 17, 2024)
68/-4 Paula Schulz-Hanssen (Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational second round/March 18, 2024)
68/-4  Patience Rhodes (McGuire Invitational second round/Sept. 11, 2023) 
68/-3  Patience Rhodes (Darius Rucker Intercollegiate first round/March 4, 2024)
68/-3  Grace Summerhays (Darius Rucker Intercollegiate first round/March 4, 2024)
68/-3  Grace Summerhays (Darius Rucker Intercollegiate second round/March 5, 2024)
---> 69/-3 Ashley Menne (PING/ASU Invitational first round/March 28, 2024)
---> 69/-3 Patience Rhodes (PING/ASU Invitational first round/March 28, 2024)
69/-3 Paula Schulz-Hanssen (Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational third round/March 19, 2024)
69/-3 Ashley Menne (Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational third round/March 19, 2024)
69/-3 Patience Rhodes (Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational second round/March 18, 2024)
69/-3 Ashley Menne (Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational first round/March 17, 2024)
69/-3  Paula Schulz-Hanssen (Mason Rudolph Invitational third round/Sept. 24, 2023)
69/-3  Beth Coulter (Mason Rudolph Invitational first round/Sept. 22, 2023)
69/-3  Ashley Menne (McGuire Invitational first round/Sept. 11, 2023)
69/-3  Beth Coulter (McGuire Invitational second round/Sept. 11, 2023)
69/-3  Calynne Rosholt (Windy City first round/Oct. 2, 2023)
69/-2  Patience Rhodes (Stanford Intercollegiate third round/Oct. 23, 2023)

TOP FINISHES IN 2023-24
1st - Ashley Menne (Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational)
T2nd - Ashley Menne (Match in the Desert)
3rd - Patience Rhodes (Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational)
5th - Beth Coulter (Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational)
T5th - Paula Schulz-Hanssen (Mason Rudolph Invitational)
6th - Paula Schulz-Hanssen (Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational)
6th - Ashley Menne (McGuire Invitational)
T7th - Grace Summerhays (Darius Rucker Intercollegiate)
---> T9th - Ashley Menne (PING/ASU Invitational)
---> T9th - Grace Summerhays (PING/ASU Invitational)
T12th - Patience Rhodes (Darius Rucker Intercollegiate)
T12th - Beth Coulter (Darius Rucker Intercollegiate)
T14th - Grace Summerhays (McGuire Invitational)

BIRDIES BY SUN DEVIL (SEASON TOTALS)
Ashley Menne - 75 (plus 1 Eagle)
Grace Summerhays - 75 (plus 4 Eagles)
Patience Rhodes - 71 (plus 2 Eagles)
Beth Coulter - 71 (plus 2 Eagles)
Paula Schulz-Hanssen - 62 (plus 3 Eagles)

CAREER APPEARANCES 
Ashley Menne, 40 (37 stroke; 3 match)
Grace Summerhays, 30 (27 stroke; 3 match)
Beth Coulter, 21 (18 stroke; 3 match)
Paula Schulz-Hanssen, 21 (18 stroke; 3 match)
Patience Rhodes, 10 (8 stroke; 2 match)

CAREER TOP-20 FINISHES
Ashley Menne, 24
Grace Summerhays, 13
Paula Schulz-Hanssen, 9
Beth Coulter, 7
Patience Rhodes, 4

2023-24 CAMPAIGN
Arizona State has been tested throughout 2023-24 as Coach Farr-Kaye built one of the nation's toughest slates once again. The Maroon and Gold have competed in a total of ten regular season events, four in the Fall and six in the Spring. The postseason begins April 21 at the Pac-12 Championship, with NCAA Regionals and NCAA Championships scheduled for the month of May.

ARIZONA STATE WOMEN'S GOLF SCHEDULE
McGuire Invitational – Sept. 11-12 (Albuquerque, NM)
Mason Rudolph Invitational – Sept. 22-24 (Franklin, TN)
Windy City Collegiate Classic – Oct. 2-3 (Chicago, IL)
Stanford Intercollegiate – Oct. 20-22 (Palo Alto, CA)
Match in the Desert – January 22 (Gold Canyon, AZ)
Therese Hession Regional Challenge – Feb. 3-4 (Palos Verdes, CA)
Duel in the Desert (vs. Denver) – Feb. 25 (Phoenix, AZ)
Darius Rucker Intercollegiate – March 4-6 (Hilton Head Island, SC)
Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational – March 17-19 (Honolulu, HI)
PING/ASU Invitational – March 28-30 (Phoenix, AZ) - HOSTED BY ASU
Pac-12 Championship – April 21-23 (Pullman, WA)
NCAA Regionals – May 6-8 (Auburn/Cle Elum/College State/East Lansing/Las Vegas/Winston-Salem)
NCAA Championship – May 17-22 (La Costa, CA; Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, Champions Course)

HOW TO FOLLOW
Pac-12 Women's Golf Women's Golf Championship Central is a one-stop shop for all things related to the tournament. Live scoring for the event can be found at the following link. For the latest updates and information on the Sun Devil Women's Golf program, follow our Twitter/Instagram accounts (@SunDevilWGolf), like our Facebook page (facebook.com/sundevilwgolf/), and visit our website (thesundevils.com). Find Coach Farr-Kaye (@missymkaye) and Coach Tatman (@CoachMikayla_) on Twitter as well.