TEMPE – The twelfth season head coach Missy Farr-Kaye begins September 18 at the Mason Rudolph Championship is Franklin, Tn. with four returners from last year’s squad and three newcomers for the 2026-27 season following a fourth top-10 finish in the last six years for the program.
Fifth year Patience Rhodes returns to Tempe as a two-time All-American and 2026 Big 12 Player of the Year, alongside sophomore’s Fai Rubrong, Kate Dillon and Johanna Axelsen shaping up the squad. Baylor transfer Amelia Wan and San Jose State transfer Isabella Cioe join the team with freshman Natalia Aparicio, who was touted as the No. 15 recruit in the class of 2026.
Welcome to the Valley
Arizona State welcomes Aparicio who was ranked as the No. 1 player in Italy and won the 2025 Italian Girls U18 National Championship. She also won the 2025 Italian National Team Championship by going 5-under through 54 holes. Aparicio has 19 top-10 finishes in her amateur career and six wins going into her collegiate career. This past summer, she had a top-15 finish at the European Ladies’ Amateur Championship shooting even par, 288.
Farr-Kaye added sophomore Amelia Wan over the summer who competed in 30 rounds for Baylor, had two top-15 finishes and eight rounds at par or better during her 2025-26 season. At the UCF Challenge, she fired a career-best round of 66 (-6) and would later finish tied for 10th, with 10 birdies for the weekend.
Junior Isabella CIoe returns to the valley following two seasons at San Jose State, appearing in 34 rounds for the Spartans and 14 tournaments over two seasons. In the first round of the Illini Women’s Invitational last October, she shot a career-best 69 (-3) and was the top Spartan on the team, finishing 1-over (217) for the weekend. Cioe earned a win in the Battle of the Bay against No. 1 Stanford, with a 2-and-1 win over Paula Martin Sampedro with five birdies and never trailed in the match.
Potent Patience:
Returning for a fifth season, Patience Rhodes is a two-time All-American and one of five Sun Devils in the athletic department to return to action as reigning Big 12 Player of the Year. Earlier this month, she was tabbed as preseason second team All-American by Golfweek and Golf Channel and earned a spot on the prestigious ANNIKA Award watch list for the second year in a row.
In her career in Tempe, Rhodes has compiled 14 top-10 showings and 20, top-20 appearances and has helped the Sun Devils make three straight NCAA Championships, with a top-10 finish in 2026.
This past summer, the fifth year Sun Devil was part of the Curtis Cup for the second straight occurrence and went unbeaten in match play, going 4-0-0 for the weekend. Her success in match play translated to the 2026 Palmer Cup, where Rhodes went 3-0-1 and was the only team international player to go unbeaten. Her four points were critical in helping Team International defend the Palmer Cup for the second straight year. Last month, Rhodes competed in the R&A Home International event and went 5-0-1 in match play, leading the women to a victory over Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Rhodes graduated from ASU this past spring with a bachelor's in sports business.
Super Sophomores:
Fai Rubrong had a successful freshman campaign earlier this year, appearing in eight tournaments and having three top-15 finishes. Notably, she finished tied for second at the PING/ASU Invitational, hosted by the Sun Devils, at 7-under (209) and was fifth at the Dr. Donnis Invite at 3-under (210). This summer, Rubrong competed in three Thai LPGA events on the Color Tour and won the Singha Red Lemon Soda at Laem Chabang Country Club at 4-under (68) on July 6. Later in July, she played in the SINGHA-NSDF Ladies Open and earned low amateur honors at 4-under (212) for the week, finishing 13th.
Kate Dillon appeared in 31 rounds as a freshman for the team last season with a 72.5 scoring average in 11 tournaments. Dillon had a runner-up finish at the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic, shooting 14-under (202). This past June, she won the inaugural East of Ireland Women’s Open with a birdie on the second playoff hole at Woodbook. Dillon made a long birdie on the 72nd hole to get into a playoff, where she finished the tournament at 3-under (216).
Dillon would represent Ireland at the European Team Championships, where she finished tied for second in stroke play, shooting 138 (-6) over the two days, helping Ireland qualify for match play. The Galway, Ireland, native was selected for Team Ireland for Home Internationals earlier this month. Dillon went 3-2-1 in match play and scored 3.5 points to help Ireland win the overall title over England for the second time in the history of the event.
Johanna Axelsen, played in seven tournaments and 21 rounds for the Sun Devils as a freshman. She set a career-low round at two under par (71) in the opening round of the Windy City Collegiate Classic and had a tied for 16th at the Mason Rudolph Championship, shooting 2-over, (215).
Sun Devils in the Rankings:
Arizona State made an appearance in the preseason rankings ahead of the 2026-27 season. Golf Channel listed the Sun Devils at No. 15 to begin the season, as Golfweek listed ASU at No. 18 in their preseason poll.
GOLF Channel: #15
Golfweek: #18
Rhodes recently climbed a spot on the World Amateur Golf Rankings list to No. 15, a career-best, additionally, Rubrong is No. 85 on the list.
About that 2026-27 Schedule:
Arizona State will compete against some of the top competition in the country in preparation for the postseason. The Sun Devils compete in a total of nine regular-season events, with four in the fall and five in the spring, starting September 18 in Franklin, Tenn., at the Mason Rudolph Championship.
The postseason begins on April 21 at the Big 12 Championship in Las Vegas, with NCAA Regionals and NCAA Championships slated for May.
Mason Rudolph Championship – Sept 18-20 (Franklin, TN | Vanderbilt Legends GC)
Windy City Classic – Oct. 5-6 (Glencoe, IL | Lake Shore CC)
Abilene Christian Intercollegiate – Oct. 19-21 (Abilene, Texas | Halbert National)
Nanea Invitational – Oct. 26-28 (Kailua-Kona, Hawaii)
Therese Hession Regional Challenge – Jan. 31- Feb. 2 (Palo Verdes, CA
Palo Verdes GC)
Arizona Intercollegiate – Feb. 8-9 (Tucson, AZ | Tucson CC)
Lady Luck Invitational – March 1-2 (Las Vegas, NV | Las Vegas CC)
Juli Inkster Invitational – March 9-10 (San Francisco, CA | TPC Harding Park)
PING/ASU Invitational – March 25-27 (Phoenix | Papago GC)
Big 12 Championships – April 21-23 (Las Vegas, NV | Las Vegas CC)
NCAA Regionals – May 10-12 (Aiken, South Carolina; Dallas, Texas; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Franklin, Tennessee; Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; Stanford, California)
NCAA Championships – May 21-26 (La Costa, CA; Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, Champions Course)
Best Rounds of 2025-26 by returners:
68/-5: Patience Rhodes (Nanea Invitational First Round/Oct. 27, 2025)
67/-5: Kate Dillon (Wyoming Cowgirl Classic Second Round/Apr. 7, 2026)
67/-5: Kate Dillon (Wyoming Cowgirl Classic Third Round/Apr. 8, 2026)
66/-5: Patience Rhodes (Stanford Regional Second Round/May 12, 2026)
67/-4: Patience Rhodes (Stanford Intercollegiate Second Round/Oct. 18, 2025)
69/-4: Patience Rhodes (Nanea Invitational Third Round/Oct. 29, 2025)
67/-4: Pimpisa "Fai" Rubrong (Darius Rucker Intercollegiate Third Round/March 4, 2026)
68/-4: Fai Rubrong(PING/ASU Invitational Second Round/March 24, 2026)
68/-4: Kate Dillon (Wyoming Cowgirl Classic First Round/Apr. 7, 2026)
68/-4: Fai Rubrong (NCAA Championship Third Round/May 24, 2026) Craig Turnbull
69/-3: Patience Rhodes (ANNIKA Intercollegiate Second Round/Sept. 9, 2025)
68/-3: Patience Rhodes (Mason Rudolph Championship Third Round/Sept. 21, 2025)
68/-3: Patience Rhodes (Stanford Intercollegiate Third Round/Oct. 19, 2025)
68/-3: Fai Rubrong (Dr. Donnis Invitational Second Round/March 17, 2026)
Birdies by Returning Sun Devils (2025-26 season totals)
Patience Rhodes (65 birdies, two eagles)
Johanna Axelsen (44 birdies)
Kate Dillon (70 birdies)
Fai Rubrong (78 birdies, one eagle)
Rounds and Tournaments by Player:
Patience Rhodes (89 Rounds, 32 tournaments)
Isabella Cioe (34 rounds, 12 tournaments)
Kate Dillon (31 rounds, 11 tournaments)
Amelia Wan (30 rounds, 11 tournaments)
Fai Rubrong (25 rounds, 8 tournaments)
Johanna Axelsen (21 rounds, 7 tournaments)
A tradition like no other
During the past five decades, many of the premier amateur women's golfers have called Arizona State University home. Arizona State won its NCAA-leading eighth national championship title 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 in women's collegiate golf to win six championships in a decade (1990, '93, '94, '95, '97, '98). ASU remains the lone program to ever capture three national titles in a row (1993, '94, '95). The Sun Devil Golf programs did something in 1990 that had never been done before and hasn't been accomplished since. ASU swept both the Men's and Women's Team National Titles in 1990, becoming the first school to capture both championships in the same year.
Here for the long haul:
Sun Devil Athletics was thrilled to extend four of its head coaches back in December of 2023, including Women's Golf Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye. Entering her ninth year with ASU, Farr-Kaye has been extended through the 2027-28 athletic calendar. She completed the trifecta in 2017, becoming the first individual in NCAA history to win a National Championship as a player, assistant coach, and head coach at the same school.
"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 with the unveiling of 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 & Grill.
HOW TO FOLLOW
For the latest updates and information on the Sun Devil Golf programs, follow our Twitter/Instagram accounts (@SunDevilWGolf & @SunDevilMGolf), like our Facebook pages (facebook.com/sundevilwgolf/ & facebook.com/sundevilmgolf/), and visit our website (thesundevils.com).