By Lindsay Gaesser, SDA Media Relations
Mesa, Ariz.—The No. 26 Arizona State women’s golf team captured its first title of the season on Sunday at the 2015 Clover Cup. The Sun Devils won in a commanding fashion, beating second-place tournament host Notre Dame by 11 strokes. Through 54 holes, ASU shot a 21-over 885 (295-295-295) at the par-72, 6,184-yard Longbow Golf Club.
“It feels great to get a win,” said ASU head coach Melissa Luellen. “It was the picture of consistency with the same score every single day. It doesn’t happen very often. Everyone kind of started off a little bit rocky today—our front nine wasn’t very strong. But we really just hung in there and kept fighting and started dropping some birdies. We played really well on the back nine and were able to pull away.”
Rounding out the top-five teams are Texas Christian in third with a 34-over 898, Oklahoma in fourth with a 40-over 904, and Florida International in fifth with a 43-over 907.
It was neck and neck down the back nine between Oklahoma’s Hannah Wood and Arizona State’s Monica Vaughn, but Wood ultimately edged Vaughn by two strokes to take the individual title. Wood finished with a 7-under 209 (69-71-69) while Vaughn shot a 5-under 211 (69-71-71).
“Monica has been playing so well,” said Luellen. “She’s been working hard and working on the right things. She’s staying really positive and working on keeping her emotions under control. It was a really good experience for her to be in contention and have a chance to win. She had a really solid performance—it was a great tournament for her.”
Vaughn, who recorded her best finish thus far as a Sun Devil, carded the most pars of the tournament (39), was 6-under on par-five holes, and birdied 10 holes throughout three rounds.
ASU’s Noemi Jimenez recorded her third top-five finish of the season on Sunday. The senior tied for fifth with Nebraska’s Jordan Chael after shooting a three-round total of 5-over 221. Jimenez led the field in par-three scoring (-3) and carded nine birdies total.
Also cracking the top 20 were freshmen Sophia Zeeb and Roberta Liti. Zeeb tied for 13th with a 9-over 225 (75-74-76), while Liti tied for 18th with a 12-over 228 (77-78-73).
“I was really proud of our freshmen today,” said Luellen. “They really just dug in and finished strong.”
Arizona State carded the most birdies of the tournament (40) and led the 15-team field in scoring on par-four holes (+27). Also of note, TCU’s Chaney Uhles shot a tournament-low 67 in Sunday’s round, while Oklahoma’s Maggie Neece carded a hole-in-one on the par-three seventh hole.
Next up, the Sun Devils host Denver on Friday, Mar. 20, before heading to San Diego for the SDSU Farms Invitational, to be held Mar. 23-25.
| 1 | Arizona State | 295 | 295 | 295 | 885 | +21 |
| 2 | Monica Vaughn (2) | 69 | 71 | 71 | 211 | -5 |
| T5 | Noemi Jimenez (1) | 74 | 72 | 75 | 221 | +5 |
| T13 | Sophia Zeeb (3) | 75 | 74 | 76 | 225 | +9 |
| T18 | Roberta Liti (4) | 77 | 78 | 73 | 228 | +12 |
| T71 | Saki Iida (5) | 85 | 80 | 78 | 243 | +27 |
| T29 | Ashleigh Greenham (I) | 74 | 75 | 81 | 230 | +14 |
| T39 | Emilie Alonso (I) | 77 | 76 | 80 | 233 | +17 |