Women's Golf in Top-Five at Columbus Regional

COLUMBUS, OH – Sun Devil Women's Golf wrapped up day two at the NCAA Columbus Regional, held at The Ohio State University Golf Club.
 
Arizona State (+16/592) is in sole possession of fifth after 36 holes, putting themselves in a position to qualify for the NCAA Championship. No. 5 seed Georgia paced the field with an even round today, while No. 7 seed Michigan and No. 1 seed Duke sit in second and third respectively. The Sun Devils find themselves only three strokes back of fourth-place No. 4 seed Kent State.
 
"Today was a battle on the golf course," Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye reflected. "We faced very difficult weather conditions. It was quite cold today with high winds. The wind chill was in the 40's for most of the day. Our team hung in there until the end."
 
The Sun Devils finished strong over the final two holes, with no one carding a bogey, one of two such stretches on the back nine (holes 13-14). They look to continue that momentum into tomorrow, sitting in the coveted Top-6 entering the second day. The top six teams advance from each regional, with 24 teams competing at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona from May 21-26. Coach Farr-Kaye's now has a total of 21 birdies and 117 pars.
 
1          Georgia           289      288      577      +1
2          Michigan         288      296      584      +8
3          Duke               287      298      585      +9
4          Kent State       291      298      589      +13
5          Arizona State 291      301      592      +16
 
On the individual leaderboard, Linn Grant leads the way, currently sitting in tenth place with one more round to go. Grant has finished in the Top-10 in all six events this season and will attempt to continue her streak tomorrow. She was two-under over her final seven holes, putting her at 145 (+1) for the tournament.
 
1          Jenny Bae                   Georgia           71        68        139      -5
2          Monet Chun                Michigan         70        70        140      -4
3          Isabella Holpfer          Georgia           72        70        142      -2
4          Caley McGinty           Kent State       70        73        143      -1
10        Linn Grant                 Arizona State 71        74        145      +1
 
Alessandra Fanali's extremely consistent play was a big reason why the Sun Devils remained in the top-five in the team standings. She moved up 32 spots on the leaderboard in one round thanks to a 73 (+1), earning a tie for 21st place. The way she went about it was incredible, putting together one of only three bogey-free front nine today. Fanali had only one blemish on her card, putting her at 149 (+5) through two days.
 
Two Sun Devils are one stroke back of Fanali and tied for 31st place with a 150 (+6). Ashley Menne and Olivia Mehaffey will have a major impact on Arizona State's push for the NCAA Championships. Menne was playing her best golf by the end of the day, birdieing two of the final five holes. Mehaffey will look to use her experience of three previous NCAA Regional appearances and previous postseason success to her advantage. The final Sun Devil Amanda Linner ended on a high note, playing bogey-free/one-under golf over her final six holes. She is tied for 46th, with all five Sun Devils in the top-half of the 94-golfer field.
 
"The birdies coming down the stretch by Linn, Ashley and Amanda were a great way to finish up a tough day," Coach Farr-Kaye added. "Tomorrow we want to stay focused on one shot at a time and I believe this team is capable of finishing strong!"
 
Arizona State will begin the third round of the NCAA Columbus Regional tomorrow morning, starting at 7 AM MST (10 AM ET). Here is how the Sun Devils will tee-off tomorrow:
 

 
HOW TO FOLLOW
Live results for the regional will be available here. 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).