TEMPE — Sun Devil Women’s Golf opens up its spring slate with the Therese Hession Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes, Calif., Feb. 1-3.
No. 13 Arizona State will compete at Palos Verdes Golf Club for the third-consecutive year, with Missy Farr-Kaye's squad becoming a regular in this event. They are looking to capture the program's third Therese Hession Regional Challenge title. Nine of the top-25 ranked teams in the country will begin their spring season in Palos Verdes, Calif.
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2025-2026 Statistics Homepage
Last time out
The Sun Devils wrapped up the 2025 slate with a spectacular performance, ultimately shooting 25 under par throughout the tournament to finish second in the team standings. The Sun Devils showcased their depth and consistency throughout the weekend, with multiple players contributing low scores and clutch birdies to keep ASU in contention. The team’s strong finish marked one of their best collective rounds of the season and in program history.
Top team 54-hole scores (vs. par)
822 (-42) 2024 Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational, par 72
828 (-36) 2025 PING/ASU Invitational, par 72
851 (-25) 2025 Nanea Invitational, par 73
839 (-25) 2022 PING/ASU Invitational, par 72
839 (-25) 2017 PING/ASU Invitational, par 72
839 (-25) 2017 Mason Rudolph Championship, par 72
842 (-22) 2017 NCAA West Regionals, par 72
842 (-22) 2009 NCAA West Regional, par 72
844 (-20) 2024 Mason Rudolph Invitational, par 72
859 (-17) 2024 Nanea Invitational, par 73
848 (-16) 2021 Clover Cup, par 72
827 (-13) 2025 Clover Cup, par 70
The last time each Sun Devil shot under par collectively to end the tournament was the 2025 PING/ASU Invitational. The Maroon and Gold managed to go on and win the hosted tournament themselves in dominant fashion.
One of the three rounds carded by Arizona State this weekend will go down in the record books. On Monday, the squad recorded one of their best eight 18-hole team scores vs par ever.
Top team 18-hole scores (vs. par)
266 (-22) 2024 Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational, par 72 (second)
275 (-17) 2025 Nanea Invitational, par 73 (second)
275 (-17) 2022 Pac-12 Preview, par 73 (first)
272 (-16) 2017 NCAA Regionals, par 72 (third)
273 (-15) 2025 PING/ASU Invitational, par 72 (first)
273 (-15) 2017 PING/ASU Invitational, par 72 (third)
273 (-15) 2009 NCAA West Regional, par 72 (first)
275 (-13) 2022 PING/ASU Invitational, par 72 (second)
275 (-13) 2025 PING/ASU Invitational, par 72 (second)
Quotables
The competition (scoreboard rankings)
The Therese Hession Regional Challenge features one of the most loaded fields of any women’s collegiate golf tournaments in 2025-26. Five of the Top-10 teams in the latest Scoreboard rankings will be competing for the title at Palos Verdes Golf Club. The ranked teams include No. 2 USC, No. 3 Oregon, No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 8 Florida, No. 9 Pepperdine, No. 11 Texas, No. 13 Arizona State, No. 17 South Carolina, and No. 23 UCLA. In total, nine of the top-25 teams in the country will be in California for the event.
In the field (15 teams): Cal, Florida, Kansas, Miami, Ohio State, Oregon, Pepperdine, San Jose State, SMU, South Carolina, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA, UNLV, USC
The lineup
Arizona State boasts one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the country. Sophomore Isla McDonald-O’Brien earns the top spot to kick off the spring slate for the Sun Devils.
Highly-touted freshman Pimpisa "Fai" Rubrong will be playing in the No. 2 spot after enrolling early this January. Senior Beth Coulter will be teeing off as the No. 3 golfer. Paula Schulz-Hanssen and Kate Dillon will be playing as the No. 4 and No. 5 golfer, respectively.
1. Isla McDonald-O'Brien
2. Fai Rubrong
3. Beth Coulter
4. Paula Schulz-Hanssen
5. Kate Dillon
The format
Holes: 54 (18 each day)
Days: 3 (Sun.-Tue.)
Scoring: 5 count 4
Par: 71
Yardage: 6,017
History at the Therese Hession Regional Challenge
The former Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge was renamed in honor of legendary women’s golf coach Therese Hession in 2022. This is Arizona State's third straight appearance in the event and fourth since 2020. The 31st edition of the event will be held at Palos Verdes Golf Club, a place Coach Farr-Kaye is very familiar with.
Back in 2020, Olivia Mehaffey (-5/208) put together three consecutive rounds under par on her way to a second-place finish. She continued her dominance of the Palos Verdes Golf Club, earning silver in a loaded field less than a year after capturing the 2019 Pac-12 Championship at the same location.
ASU has won the Regional Challenge team title twice (2006, 2009) and has had an individual medalist four times (Juliana Murcia in 2009, Carlota Ciganda in 2011, Monica Vaughn in 2016, Olivia Mehaffey in 2018).
Patience needed with one starter out
The Sun Devils will be without 2025 third-team All-American Patience Rhodes until at least April due to a leg injury suffered over the holiday break. The junior from England has posted nine top-10 finishes and finished in the top 15 at the 2025 NCAA Championships and competed at the 2024 Curtis Cup and the 2025 Augusta National Women’s Amateur. She has January rankings of No. 19 (NCAA Scoreboard) and No. 17 (WAGR).
Meet Sun Devil Pimpisa “Fai” Rubrong
Sun Devil Women’s Golf has added highly-anticipated incoming freshman Pimpisa “Fai” Rubrong to the current roster, a student-athlete with extensive international experience.
A highly regarded competitor on the global stage, Rubrong is currently ranked No. 64 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. She claimed the title at the 2024 SINGHA Thailand Amateur Match Play Championship and earned champion honors as the No. 6-ranked player on Thailand’s National Team in 2025.
Rubrong also played a key role in Thailand’s second-place finish at the 2025 Southeast Asian Amateur Golf Team Championship (Santi Cup). She is ranked No. 5 in Thailand and has already accumulated two victories and 25 top-10 finishes throughout her junior career.
2025-26 Arizona State Women's Golf schedule
Arizona State will be tested throughout the 2025-26 campaign as Coach Farr-Kaye again built one of the nation’s toughest slates. The Maroon and Gold will compete in 10 regular-season events, five in the fall and five in the spring. The postseason begins April 23 at the Big 12 Championship, with NCAA Regionals and NCAA Championships scheduled for May.
- ANNIKA Intercollegiate: Sept. 7-10 (Lake Elmo, MN)
- Mason Rudolph Championship: Sept. 19-21 (Franklin, TN)
- Windy City Collegiate Classic: Sept. 29-30 (Wilmette, IL)
- Stanford Intercollegiate – Oct. 17-19 (Stanford, CA)
- Nanea Invitational: Oct. 27-29 (Kailua-Kona, HI)
- Therese Hession Regional Challenge: Feb. 1-3 (Palos Verdes, CA)
- Arizona Intercollegiate: Feb. 9-10 (Tucson, AZ)
- Darius Rucker Intercollegiate: March 2-4 (Hilton Head Island, SC)
- Dr. Donnis Invitational: Mar. 17-18 (Kaneohe-Oahu, HI)
- PING/ASU Invitational: March 23-25 (Phoenix, AZ | Papago Golf Club)*
- Big 12 Championship: April 23-25 (Dallas, TX)
- NCAA Regionals: May 11-13 TBA
- NCAA Championship: May 21 (La Costa, CA; Omni La Costa Resort and Spa, Champions Course)
*Held in the state of Arizona
Best rounds in 2025-26
- 66/-7: Isla McDonald-O’Brien (Nanea Invitational First Round/Oct. 27, 2025)
- 68/-5: Patience Rhodes (Nanea Invitational First Round/Oct. 27, 2025)
- 67/-4: Patience Rhodes (Stanford Intercollegiate Second Round/Oct. 18, 2025)
- 69/-4: Patience Rhodes (Nanea Invitational Third Round/Oct. 29, 2025)
- 69/-3: Isla McDonald-O’Brien (ANNIKA Intercollegiate Third Round/Sept. 10, 2025)
- 69/-3: Patience Rhodes (ANNIKA Intercollegiate Second Round/Sept. 9, 2025)
- 68/-3: Isla McDonald-O'Brien (Mason Rudolph Championship First Round/Sept. 19, 2025)
- 68/-3: Patience Rhodes (Mason Rudolph Championship Third Round/Sept. 21, 2025)
- 68/-3: Patience Rhodes (Stanford Intercollegiate Third Round/Oct. 19, 2025)
- 70/-3: Beth Coulter (Nanea Invitational First Round/Oct. 27, 2025)
- 70/-3: Kate Dillon (Nanea Invitational Second Round/Oct. 28, 2025)
- 69/-2: Beth Coulter (Mason Rudolph Championship Third Round/Sept. 21, 2025)
- 69/-2: Paula Schulz-Hanssen (Stanford Intercollegiate Second Round/Oct. 18, 2025)
- 70/-2: Patience Rhodes (ANNIKA Intercollegiate Third Round/Sept. 10, 2025)
- 70/-2: Isla McDonald-O’Brien (Windy City Collegiate Classic Second Round/ Sept. 29/2025)
- 70/-1: Paula Schulz-Hanssen (Mason Rudolph Championship First Round/Sept. 19, 2025)
- 70/-1: Kate Dillon (Stanford Intercollegiate Second Round/Oct. 18, 2025)
- 70/-1: Beth Coulter (Stanford Intercollegiate Third Round/Oct. 19, 2025)
*18 total rounds of 70 or lower
Birdies by Sun Devil (2025-26 season totals)
- Patience Rhodes (40 birdies, one eagle)
- Paula Schulz-Hanssen (38 birdies, one eagle)
- Beth Coulter (28 birdies)
- Isla McDonald-O'Brien (47 birdies, two eagles)
- Johanna Axelsen (25 birdies)
- Kate Dillon (29 birdies)
Total (207 birdies; 4 eagles)
Tradition like no other
Many premier amateur women’s golfers have called Arizona State University home for the past five decades. Arizona State won its NCAA-leading eighth national championship in 2017 to reinforce its standing as the premier women’s golf school in the United States.
Under legendary Head Coach Linda Vollstedt, the program became the first women’s collegiate golf program to win six championships in a decade (1990, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’97 and '98). ASU remains the lone program to capture three national titles (1993, ’94, '95).
The Sun Devil Golf programs also did something in 1990 that had never been done before, and hasn’t been accomplished since. The men’s and women’s teams won national titles in 1990, becoming the first school to capture both championships in the same year.
"The Bird"
The Thunderbirds Golf Complex, designed by Douglas Fredrickson Architects and built by Rummel Construction Inc., is a 7,000-square-foot facility featuring a grand entry lobby, national championship displays, a team gym and locker rooms for both men’s and women’s teams, a fueling station, study lounge, team lounge, indoor hitting bays and more.
Designed by Sun Devil alumnus and five-time PGA Major Championships winner Phil Mickelson, who is known for his short-game expertise, the four-acre practice area consists of five practice greens, four practice bunkers and a three-acre fairway and rough designed to practice every possible golf shot.
On Nov. 1, 2018, Papago Golf Course became the new home for Sun Devil Men’s and Women’s Golf by unveiling their new state-of-the-art practice facility — The Thunderbirds Golf Complex — through the generous commitment by The Thunderbirds organization. Arizona State, in partnership with The Thunderbirds, Arizona Golf Community Foundation, the city of Phoenix and Phil Mickelson Design, revitalized the course and helped build the Lou Grubb Clubhouse and Lou’s Bar and Grill.
Fantastic four
Patience Rhodes, Isla McDonald-O’Brien, Paula Schulz-Hanssen, and Beth Coulter all return having gained another year of valuable experience. Freshmen Johanna Axelsen and Kate Dillon joined the program in the fall, forming a talented 2025-26 roster under the direction of Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye and Associate Head Coach Ryan Heisey. Highly-touted incoming freshman Fai Rubrong joined the team this January to fill the final spot on the roster.
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