FRANKLIN, TN – Sun Devil Women’s Golf opens its season at the annual Mason Rudolph Championship beginning Friday at Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin. It marks the fourth straight season the Sun Devils will compete in the three-day tournament.
This will be the 25th edition of the Mason Rudolph Championship, as Arizona State aims for its fourth straight top-5 finish in the annual tournament. Additionally, the Sun Devils have finished runner-up three times in the tournament's history.
Arizona State’s lineup
The Sun Devils will tee it up with fifth-year Patience Rhodes, sophomore Amelia Wan, sophomore Kate Dillon, sophomore Fai Rubrong and freshman Natalia Aparicio. Junior Isabella Cioe will be competing as an independent.
The Tournament Field (15)
Arizona State, Clemson, Charleston, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Georgia Southern, Long Beach, Louisville, Middle Tennessee State, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Northwestern, Purdue, Vanderbilt, Western Kentucky
Including Arizona State, five teams are ranked in the top-30 of Golf Channel’s preseason rankings and six are in GolfWeek’s preseason rankings.
Golf Channel’s rankings
Florida - #12
ASU - #15
Mississippi State - #23
North Carolina - #28
Northwestern - #32
Purdue - #33
Golfweek’s rankings
Florida - #7
Vanderbilt - #9
ASU - #18
Mississippi State - #22
Northwestern - #25
History at the Mason Rudolph Championship
Sun Devil Women’s Golf will appear at the Vanderbilt Legends Club near Nashville for the fourth straight season. In 2025, the team finished fourth at 8-over (860) with three top-20 showings for the team. Among returners, Patience Rhodes was tied for 13th (+1/214) and Kate Dillon was tied for 54th (+12/225). In 2023, Arizona State (-13/851) finished in fourth place as a team after posting a 285 (-3).
- In 2024, Rhodes shot 10-under (206) to tie for fifth. She opened the tournament with a 68 (-4) and followed it up with a 67 (-5) before finishing with a 71 (-1) over the three days.
The Sun Devils matched what was then a program-low 54-hole score vs. par (-25) with a third-place finish back in 2017, their first appearance in the event since 2013. ASU also competed at the Mason Rudolph Invitational from 2007-09 and 2005. The Sun Devils will aim to continue their solid play this weekend as the course is a potential NCAA Regional in the postseason in 2027.
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 tied for 16th at the Mason Rudolph Championship, shooting 2-over, (215).
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
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 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)
How to follow
Stay connected with Sun Devil Women’s Golf on social media throughout the season by following @SunDevilWGolf on Instagram, X, Facebook and sundevils.com.