Rosholt Shines at ANNIKA in Sun Devil Debut
LAKE ELMO, Minn. - Sun Devil Women's Golf got their season underway, completing the first round of the ANNIKA Intercollegiate at Royal Golf Club.
No. 8 Arizona State (-1/287) is tied for fourth after the first 18 holes, matched by No. 11 USC. ASU only trails No. 3 Wake Forest by a stroke and No. 2 Duke by two strokes, with No. 10 South Carolina pacing the field at 277 (-10). The Sun Devils' 21 birdies and 3.05 scoring average on par-three opportunities are the second-best marks in the field.
"For the first day of competition of our season, we had a lot of positives," Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye reflected. "This is a very difficult golf course and a very strong field with all the top teams in the country."
The Maroon & Gold are led by freshman Calynne Rosholt, who made her Sun Devil debut in style. She fired a 69 (-3), the team's best score, putting her in the Top-10 after her first collegiate round. She is currently tied for eighth thanks in large part to a strong start and finish. Rosholt was bogey-free and three-under on the back nine where she started her day, in addition to a three-birdie stretch over her final five holes. The last birdie on 9 pulled her within three strokes of overall leader Hannah Darling of South Carolina.
"It honestly felt amazing to represent ASU with a good score," Calynne Rosholt mentioned after the round. "It feels so nice to have the support of my teammates and coaches even when I'm making bogeys. I'm hoping to keep it up the next two days so I can make our great school and my team and coaches proud."
One stroke behind Rosholt sits Alexandra Forsterling, who carded a 70 (-2) in her first round of the season. That places her in a tie for 12th, only four strokes off the pace. Forsterling limited her mistakes and rode a strong start on the back nine, where she was bogeyless and two-under.
The third Sun Devil in the Top-25 was Amanda Linner thanks to her 73 (+1), which puts her a tie for 25th. Linner finished tied for the best results on par-three chances, going two-under with a 2.50 scoring average. With two more rounds left to play, Alessandra Fanali (T38) and Ashley Menne (T47) will have plenty of time to move up the leaderboard after implementing their adjustments. Arizona State will begin their round tomorrow at 6:00 am MST, paired with USC and UCLA starting on hole one. Here is how the Sun Devils will tee-off tomorrow
ANNIKA Intercollegiate Tee Times (MST):
Calynne Rosholt, 6:40 am
Alexandra Forsterling, 6:30 am
Amanda Linner, 6:20 am
Alessandra Fanali, 6:10 am
Ashley Menne, 6:00 am
HISTORY AT THE ANNIKA INTERCOLLEGIATE
This will be the Sun Devils fourth appearance in the event, last participating in 2019. Linn Grant led the way finishing tied for eight, while ASU placed fourth as a team among a loaded field at one of the most prestigious tournaments of the season. The Maroon & Gold ended up ahead of several talented teams in the standings at the end of the three-day event, including No. 1 USC, No. 2 Duke, No. 6 UCLA, and No. 12 Arizona. Just missing a spot in the Top-10 was Alexandra Forsterling (-1/215), who ended the tournament one stroke behind Grant for the best score on the team. Alessandra Fanali recorded her first collegiate hole-in-one in the first round at the very same Royal Golf Club, doing so on the 16th hole with a 5 iron.
Arizona State also competing back in 2014 & 2016 when the tournament was in Orlando. During the 2016 ANNIKA Intercollegiate, Linnea Strom recorded one of her 20 career Top-10 individual finishes, earning a tie for eighth. Back in 2014, Noemi Jiminez put together a strong performance, finishing in the Top-5 of the individual race.
HOW TO FOLLOW
You can track the scores of your favorite Sun Devils on Golfstat at the following link. Stay tuned to our social media platforms (@SunDevilWGolf) and our website (thesundevils.com) for the latest information and updates after each day of the tournament. For more behind-the-scenes coverage, follow the ANNIKA Foundation twitter page (@ANNIKA_Fdn).