Sun Devils Move Up on Day Two of Silverado Showdown
NAPA, Calif. – Sun Devil Women's Golf wrapped up day two at the Silverado Showdown, taking place April 5-7 at Silverado Resort and Spa.
Arizona State (+12/588) moved into fourth place in the team standings after putting together the fourth-best round of the day. The Sun Devils trail overall leader UCLA (+1) and is separated from third-place Oregon State by six strokes.
"The course played harder today and we had a solid round," Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye observed. "Our two juniors Alessandra and Alexandra are doing a great job leading us this week while Olivia and Linn get some much-needed rest after a great week at Augusta."
Alessandra Fanali and Alexandra Forsterling led the way with solid days and are each in the Top-10 after 36 holes. Fanali sits at 143 (-1) which is good enough for sixth place, while Forsterling is not far behind in a tie for 10th place at 146 (+2). Oregon State's Ellie Slama (-9/135) is running away with the individual race, with Fanali one of only six competitors under par heading into the final day.
Fanali managed to avoid mistakes a majority of the round, starting the day with an even front nine. Forsterling improved her score by two strokes, allowing her to move up 11 spots and into the Top-10. She will look to carry over the momentum built from a back nine in which she finished one under.
The next highest finisher through two rounds is freshman Ashley Menne, who was the third Sun Devil in the Top-25. Menne played her best golf over the final five holes, going one under to gain confidence heading into tomorrow.
Like Forsterling, Amanda Linner improved her score by two strokes and made a big jump up the leaderboard, a reason why the Sun Devils moved up as a team. She moved up 16 spots into a tie for 31st.
Freshman Breyana Matthews had one of the four lowest scores of the day for the Sun Devils, making her 76 count towards the team total for the first time in her career. Matthews accomplished the feat and also moved up 15 spots on the leaderboard.
"It was great to see Freshman Breyana Matthews count today for us for the first time as well," Coach Farr-Kaye added. "We look forward to coming out tomorrow and compete well to move up the leaderboard the last day."
The field will undergo a shotgun start at 8 am MST tomorrow morning in pursuit of the Silverado Showdown title. All five Sun Devils will begin their third rounds at the same time, but on different holes. Arizona State will be paired with Oregon and Washington. Here is how the Sun Devils will lineup:
Hole 5B: Alessandra Fanali - 8 AM
Hole 5A: Alexandra Forsterling - 8 AM
Hole 6: Ashley Menne - 8 AM
Hole 7B: Amanda Linner - 8 AM
Hole 7A: Breyana Matthews - 8 AM
Arizona State is one of seven Top-50 teams in Napa for the Silverado Showdown, which also features 13 Top-100 golfers in the latest Golfstat rankings. Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye's team will be playing without Linn Grant and Olivia Mehaffey, as they recently wrapped up excellent finishes at the 2021 Augusta National Women's Amateur broadcasted for a national audience on NBC.
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