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Women's Golf finishes 11th at the Therese Hession Regional Challenge

Women's Golf finishes 11th at the Therese Hession Regional ChallengeWomen's Golf finishes 11th at the Therese Hession Regional Challenge
Brad Repplinger
by Zach Romesburg

PALOS VERDES, Calif. – Sun Devil Women's Golf wrapped up the Therese Hession Regional Challenge securing the No. 11 slot (+25/877) on Tuesday evening to conclude the first tournament of the spring slate. 

Freshman Paula Kate Dillon put on a show for the Sun Devils, shooting one under (-1/70) on the day. She shot one under on the front and back nine, finding the bottom of the cup for five birdies on the final day.

Sophomore Isla McDonald-O'Brien trailed right behind Dillon, as she shot an even-71 Par (E/71). McDonald-O'Brien stayed poised throughout the 6,017 yard course, sinking five birdies on the day. The sophomore currently leads the team on the year with 58 birdies and counting. 

Freshman Pimpisa "Fai" Rubrong made her Sun Devil debut and finished strong, shooting two over (+2/72) on the day. Rubrong shot even on the back nine, with an impressive back-to-back stretch of three birdies.

The Sun Devils are set to travel down south to the Arizona Intercollegiate in Tucson, Ariz. The event will be hosted from Feb. 9-10 at the Tucson Country Club. Live stats will be avaible on SCOREBOARD powered by clippd.

Live scoring

Quotables
"It was a tough week for us" Coach Farr-Kaye remarked. "We did not play up to our normal standards. Everyone had at least one good day but we need to be able to put together three good days. Obviously, we are adjusting to not having Patience (Rhodes) in the line up until she is healthy again. We will settle in our new normal. We compete at the University of Arizona next week, so it will be good for us to get some solid practice in for a few days before we take off again" Coach Farr-Kaye added.

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 second-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.

Best rounds in 2025-26

*19 total rounds of 70 or lower

Birdies by Sun Devil (2025-26 season totals)


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. 

Follow us
Stay connected with Sun Devil Women’s Golf on social media throughout the season by following @SunDevilWGolf on Instagram, X, Facebook and sundevils.com. General athletic news can also be found at @TheSunDevils on X, Instagram and Facebook.