Women's Golf Completes 36 Holes at Lamkin Invitational
RANCHO SANTA FE, Calif. - Sun Devil Women's Golf ends a marathon day in third place, as they (almost) completed the first 36 holes of the Lamkin Invitational on Monday.
Arizona State (+5/577) put together not only one, but two rounds of solid golf to put themselves in a position to contend for the team title. Play in the second round was suspended due to darkness, with a few teams still left to complete their first 36 holes, including one hole remaining for the Sun Devils.
The field is being put to the test by a tough The Farms Golf Club, but the Maroon & Gold has been up to the test. The average first round score by the field was 75.4, while the average first round score by a Sun Devil was 73.4. It was a big reason why the Sun Devils were tied for second place midway through the day, now trailing No. 1 Stanford (-2/547) and No. 13 San Jose State (+3/552) in third place following the second round.
A well-balanced approach has allowed Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye's team to succeed, as three of the Top-12 on the current leaderboard are Sun Devils. All three remain in contention for the individual title heading into the final 18 holes tomorrow.
"It was a long day of golf, but I am proud of the way we battled through it," Farr-Kaye remarked. "You see it with some of these other teams, the mental and physical fatigue can take effect during that second round, but we did a good job preparing for and handling that."
Arizona State will get a much deserved break tonight before hitting the course tomorrow, with one golfer needing to finish one hole before officially putting a bow on the second round. The members of the field needing to finish their second round will begin to do so at 8:30 am MST, with the rest of the field undergoing a shotgun start at 9 AM MST. Here is where the Sun Devils will tee-off tomorrow morning, with pairings, yardage, and hole locations all remaining the same:
Grace Summerhays - Hole 6
Ashley Menne - Hole 7
Calynne Rosholt - Hole 8A
Alexandra Forsterling - Hole 8B
Alessandra Fanali - Hole 9
Leading the way for the Sun Devils was Ashley Menne, who caught fire at several points throughout her round today. She fired a 68 (-4) to earn a tie of first place after the first round, playing nearly flawless golf. She enjoyed a four-birdie stretch over her final five holes, managing to shoot a 33 on the front nine. Menne's 11 birdies on the day led the field, as did her 2.50 stroke average on par three opportunities. She sits in a tie for third place heading into the final day, sitting just two strokes back of UCLA's Emma Spitz for the overall lead.
Joining Menne in the Top-10 is Alessandra Fanali, who is tied for 10th pending the completion of her second round. She still has to finish the eighth hole, but currently boasting a 65 (-3) through 17 holes. If she were to birdie her final hole, the 68 would match the best score of anyone in the second round. Fanali is even overall for the tournament, only four strokes back of the lead. She took advantage of par four chances, producing the third-best stroke average in the field on such occasions. One of those occassions was the par-four fourth hole, in which Fanali registered her first eagle of the season. Fanali is bogey-free over her last nine holes, with three birdies in that span.
Just one stroke behind Fanali is teammate Calynne Rosholt, looking for another Top-10 finish early in her career. Rosholt sits just outside the Top-10 and only five strokes out of the top spot in a crowded leaderboard. Her best work came in the morning round, recovering from an opening-hole bogey to birdie three of her next 11 holes, avoiding any bogeys during that span.
Alexandra Forsterling manage to sink five birdies over her two rounds, sitting in the top half of the 75-golfer field. Grace Summerhays looks to build off her excellent approach on the hole No. 1, as she birdied the par-three set up in both of her rounds.
HOW TO FOLLOW
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