Vaughn Two Strokes Off Lead, @SunDevilGolf in 6th in California

PALOS VERDES, Calif. - The Arizona State women's golf team finished day one of the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge with junior Monica Vaughn among the top-10 -- and two strokes out of the lead -- at one-under, 70.

After a bogey on the 10th hole to start the day, No. 38 Vaughn bounced back with two birdies before the turn and playing an even-par back nine to finish the day. Not to mention draining 50-plus foot birdie putt on the 18th to finish on a high note. 

	Top-5 Teams 1 2 3 Total 1. #11 Alabama 278       T2. #2 Duke 285       T2. #14 Washington 285       4. #12 Florida 287       5. North Carolina 288       6. #13 ASU 291
	Arizona State 1 2 3 Total T6.  M. Vaughn 70       T17.  L. Strom 72       T27.  R. Liti 74       T36.  S. Zeeb 75       T50.  M. Kerley 77

"I'm very pleased with how we finished today," said head coach MIssy Farr-Kaye. "We were two-under over the last five holes as a team, which is fantastic on a course of this caliber."

The tournament features the top teams in the country with No. 1 Southern California, No. 2 Duke, No. 3 UCLA, No. 9 Arizona, No. 10 Oklahoma State, No. 11 Alabama, No. 12 Florida, No. 14 Washington, No. 20 UNLV, No. 24 Michigan State and more. 

The team as a whole finished seven-over for a 291 and still within reach of the top spot held by Alabama. They're within six strokes of Duke in second.

That's accounting for a few strokes that Farr-Kaye said were simple mistakes and that the women avoided down the stretch to finish the day.

"There were only a few errors made on the golf course today, but I was so happy with their resiliency to finish the way they did," she said. "We had three birdies on the final hole, so it's great momentum heading into day two.

"If we have two more days like the way we finished, we'll definitely be in the hunt." 

Before the tournament, Farr-Kaye described the course as one that requires mental toughness and good course management to tally a bunch of birdies. 

Stats show the Sun Devils tallied the most pars of any team on day one, sinking 61 along with 10 birdies. All five women also finished par or better on the par-5's. 

If ASU can turn just a few of those pars into birdies, the women will continue to climb the leaderboard. 

For live results and to follow the Sun Devils on Monday and Tuesday, you can go to Golfstat.com here.