PALOS VERDES, Calif. – After a slow start to the morning, the #14 Sun Devil women's golf team significantly improved throughout the afternoon, making a run for the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge title before finishing one stroke out of the lead in second place.
The Devils were in fourth place going into day three and gained the lead in the last few holes before the eventual winner, #2 USC, moved into first place on the last two holes. The Trojans finished the tournament +4 while ASU finished +5. Only four strokes separated the top four.
Arizona State matched their round two team score, shooting 282, good for the team's third lowest combined round of the season. On day three, they were the only team to shoot under par as a team, shooting 2-under.
With a second-place finish, the Sun Devils also took the crown for their region, finishing ahead of Alabama (5), UNLV (6), Arizona (T8), and Oklahoma State (T11).
Individually, four of the five Sun Devils finished in the top-20, with Linnea Strom (+1) leading the way, finishing T11th. Monica Vaughn (+2) finished 13th while Olivia Mehaffey (+3) was part of a three-way tie for 14th, improving 19 spots on the final day. Sophia Zeeb (+5) also rounded out the top-20 in a seven-way tie for 17th.
Mehaffey shot a 69 in the final round of competition, her lowest collegiate round thus far by two strokes while Vaughn (70) and Zeeb (71) each tied their second lowest rounds of the season.
"Coach [Michelle] Estill and I are very happy for our team," Missy Farr-Kaye said following the final round "We didn't start off strong today, but fought back to where we almost won. We had the lowest round of the day on a great golf course with difficult wind conditions. We'll keep working hard and believing in ourselves and it's so fun to watch this team compete. I can't wait until we tee it up again in two weeks at the Darius Rucker Invitational."
The spring season starts on a high note with the Sun Devils' third top-five finish of the season in five tournaments after placing second at the Branch Law/Dick McGuire Invite to start the year and winning the Pac-12 Preview to cap the fall season.
Arizona State has two weeks to prepare for their next competition before heading East to the Darius Rucker Invitational Mar. 3-5 in Hilton Head, S.C.
The Devils were in fourth place going into day three and gained the lead in the last few holes before the eventual winner, #2 USC, moved into first place on the last two holes. The Trojans finished the tournament +4 while ASU finished +5. Only four strokes separated the top four.
Arizona State matched their round two team score, shooting 282, good for the team's third lowest combined round of the season. On day three, they were the only team to shoot under par as a team, shooting 2-under.
With a second-place finish, the Sun Devils also took the crown for their region, finishing ahead of Alabama (5), UNLV (6), Arizona (T8), and Oklahoma State (T11).
Individually, four of the five Sun Devils finished in the top-20, with Linnea Strom (+1) leading the way, finishing T11th. Monica Vaughn (+2) finished 13th while Olivia Mehaffey (+3) was part of a three-way tie for 14th, improving 19 spots on the final day. Sophia Zeeb (+5) also rounded out the top-20 in a seven-way tie for 17th.
Mehaffey shot a 69 in the final round of competition, her lowest collegiate round thus far by two strokes while Vaughn (70) and Zeeb (71) each tied their second lowest rounds of the season.
"Coach [Michelle] Estill and I are very happy for our team," Missy Farr-Kaye said following the final round "We didn't start off strong today, but fought back to where we almost won. We had the lowest round of the day on a great golf course with difficult wind conditions. We'll keep working hard and believing in ourselves and it's so fun to watch this team compete. I can't wait until we tee it up again in two weeks at the Darius Rucker Invitational."
The spring season starts on a high note with the Sun Devils' third top-five finish of the season in five tournaments after placing second at the Branch Law/Dick McGuire Invite to start the year and winning the Pac-12 Preview to cap the fall season.
Arizona State has two weeks to prepare for their next competition before heading East to the Darius Rucker Invitational Mar. 3-5 in Hilton Head, S.C.