Granbury, Texas – Sun Devil Women’s Golf heads to Texas to play in the inaugural Abilene Christian Intercollegiate, starting Monday, held at Halbert National Golf Club, with three days of stroke play in Granbury, Texas.
Live coverage can be seen on the Golf Channel from Monday to Wednesday at 1 to 4 p.m. MST each day, with the final round concluding on Wednesday.
The inaugural event hosts nine men’s and women’s golf teams at Halbert National, a par-72, 6,304-yard course. The Sun Devils will tee off Monday starting at 9:50 a.m. MST through 10:30 a.m. MST.
Arizona State’s lineup
The Sun Devils squad will feature Patience Rhodes, Amelia Wan, Natalia Aparicio, Kate Dillon and Fai Rubrong, with junior Isabella Cioe competing as an individual.
The Tournament field (9)
Abilene Christian, Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Cincinnati, Louisville, Oregon, Purdue, Tennessee.
Last time out
Playing in the Windy City Collegiate Classic, the Sun Devils weathered tough conditions and finished sixth (+21/873) out of 12 teams at Lake Shore Country Club. Rhodes and Aparicio finished tied for 10th at +3 (216) for the tournament, as two-time All-American Rhodes shot a 69 (-2) final round to jump 21 spots into the top 10. Aparicio notched her first career top-10 finish and her second straight top-20 finish to begin her collegiate career.
Clipped October team rankings
(Top 30)
Oregon (6)
Tennessee (14)
Arizona State (18)
Purdue (23)
Baylor (30)
Clipped individual rankings
The Sun Devils have three players in the top-100 of the first edition of the Clipped Individual rankings, led by Patience Rhodes, who is No. 28 in the country. Freshman Natalia Aparicio is ranked No. 85 to open her collegiate career, as sophomore Amelia Wan is No. 95.
WGCA Coaches Poll
Arizona State is 18th in the first WGCA Coaches Poll, with Iowa State the only Big 12 team ahead of the Sun Devils to begin the 2026-27 campaign. In the tournament field this week, Oregon (4), Tennessee (16), and Arizona (23) join the Sun Devils, with Baylor and Purdue receiving votes.
Potent Patience
Patience Rhodes opened the year with her seventh career top-5 finish at the Mason Rudolph Championship and her 16th top-10 finish in her career as a Sun Devil at the Windy City Collegiate Classic. She was one of four golfers to shoot under par or better for all three rounds at the Mason Rudolph Championship. Since the start of the 2025 season, Rhodes has placed in the top 10 in seven of her last nine tournament starts.
In both final rounds to start her year, she has finished on a high note, averaging 68.5 strokes in her final 18 holes this season. Similar to her last two seasons as a Sun Devil, it is the third straight season that she has opened with consecutive top-15 appearances. In four of her last eight third rounds, she has shot in the 60s and has eight career instances where she has saved her best for last, shooting in the 60s in the final round.
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.
In early August, 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.
New ladies on the block
Missy Farr-Kaye's team welcomed three new faces to Tempe over the offseason, welcoming Natalia Aparicio, Amelia Wan and Isabella Cioe to the team. From Italy, Aparicio has started her collegiate career with two consecutive top-20 finishes and has notched her first career top-10 finish at the Windy City Collegiate Classic, tying for 10th (+3). Through six rounds, she has had three rounds at par or better, including a season-best 69 (-2) in the second round of the Windy City Collegiate Classic.
Sophomore Amelia Wan, in her first tournament as a Sun Devil, registered her first career top-5 showing at the Mason Rudolph Championship with three rounds at par or better, finishing -3 (210), which helped ASU to a runner-up finish. Junior Isabella Cioe made her Sun Devil debut as an individual in Nashville and will appear in her second career tournament this week. She finished T-39th as a top individual at the Mason Rudolph Championship at +8 (221).
Top-10 finishes for Patience Rhodes
2026: Windy City Collegiate Classic - T10
2026: Mason Rudolph Championship - T2
2026: NCAA Stanford Regional - T6
2026: Big 12 Championships - 4th
2025 Nanea Invitational - 10th
2025: Stanford Intercollegiate - 5th
2025: ANNIKA Intercollegiate - T10
2025: NCAA Regionals - 2nd
2025: PING/ASU Invitational - 2nd
2025: Clover Cup - 7th
2025: Darius Rucker Intercollegiate - 6th
2025: Therese Hession Regional Challenge - T8
2024: Windy City Collegiate Classic - T5
2024: Mason Rudolph Invitational - T5
2024: ANNIKA Intercollegiate - T6
2024: Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational - 3
About Halbert National Golf Club
Opening in 2025, it is located 40 miles southeast of Fort Worth on 170 acres along Lake Granbury. Privately owned by medical biotech entrepreneur and founder of Caris Life Sciences, David D. Halbert, and designed by legendary golf designer Tom Fazio, who is an alumnus of ACU and an Abilene native. The 7,542-yard, par-72 course will play host to the inaugural Abilene Christian Intercollegiate.
Sun Devil best rounds of 2026-27 (70 or lower)
68 (-3) - Patience Rhodes (Mason Rudolph Championship/Third Round)
69 (-2) - Patience Rhodes (Windy City Collegiate Classic/Third Round)
69 (-2) - Amelia Wan (Mason Rudolph Championship/First Round)
69 (-2) - Natalia Aparicio (Windy City Collegiate Classic/Second Round)
70 (-1) - Amelia Wan (Mason Rudolph Championship/Third Round)
70 (-1) - Kate Dillon (Mason Rudolph Championship/Second Round)
70 (-1) - Patience Rhodes (Mason Rudolph Championship/Third Round)
70 (-1) - Natalia Aparacio (Mason Rudolph Championship/First Round)
8 total rounds of 70 or lower
Birdies by Sun Devil (2026-27 season totals)
Natalia Aparicio (19 birdies)
Patience Rhodes (17 birdies)
Amelia Wan (17 birdies)
Kate Dillon (11 birdies)
Fai Rubrong (14 birdies)
Johanna Axelsen (6 birdies)
Isabella Cioe (5 birdies)
Total: 89 birdies
2026-27 Player round-by-round
Freshman Natalia Aparicio
- Mason Rudolph Championship – Sept 18-20 (Franklin, TN): 70-74-72=216/+3/T17 of 87
- Windy City Collegiate Classic (Par 71) – Oct. 5-6 (Glencoe, Ill.): 71-69-76 = +3/216/T10 of 65
2 Tournaments / 6 Rounds / 72.00 Stroke average /432 Strokes
1 Round in 60s / 3 Rounds of Par or better
Sophomore Johanna Axelsen
- Windy City Collegiate Classic (Par 71) – Oct. 5-6 (Glencoe, Ill.): 77-74-76 = +14/227/T47 of 65
1 Tournament / 3 Rounds / 75.66 Stroke average /227 Strokes
0 Rounds in 60s / 0 Rounds of Par or better
Junior Isabella Cioe
- Mason Rudolph Championship – Sept 18-20 (Franklin, TN): 73-75-73=221/+8/T39 of 87
Sophomore Kate Dillon
- Mason Rudolph Championship – Sept 18-20 (Franklin, TN): 73-70-74=217/+4/T22 of 87
- Windy City Collegiate Classic (Par 71) – Oct. 5-6 (Glencoe, Ill.): 75-73-80 = +15/228/T51 of 65
2 Tournaments / 6 Rounds / 74.16 Stroke average / 445 Strokes
0 Rounds in 60s / 1 Round of Par or better
Fifth-Year Patience Rhodes
- Mason Rudolph Championship (Par 71) – Sept 18-20 (Franklin, TN): 71-70-68=209/-4/T2 of 87
- Windy City Collegiate Classic (Par 71) – Oct. 5-6 (Glencoe, Ill.): 74-73-69 = +3/216/T10 of 65
2 Tournaments / 6 Rounds / 70.83 Stroke average /425 Strokes
2 Rounds in 60s / 5 Rounds of Par or better
Sophomore Fai Rubrong
- Mason Rudolph Championship – Sept 18-20 (Franklin, TN): 76-76-73=225/+12/T54 of 87
- Windy City Collegiate Classic (Par 71) – Oct. 5-6 (Glencoe, Ill.): 76-71-72 = +6/219/T24 of 65
2 Tournaments / 6 Rounds / 74 Stroke average / 444 Strokes
0 ROUNDS in 60s / 1 Round of Par or better
Sophomore Amelia Wan
- Mason Rudolph Championship – Sept 18-20 (Franklin, TN): 69-71-70=210/-3/T5 of 87
- Windy City Collegiate Classic (Par 71) – Oct. 5-6 (Glencoe, Ill.): 75-75-75 = +12/225
1 Tournament / 6 Rounds/72.5 Stroke average / 435 Strokes
1 Round in 60s /3 Rounds of Par of better
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.
The postseason begins on April 21 at the Big 12 Championship in Las Vegas, with NCAA Regionals and NCAA Championships slated for May.
- 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)
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 program 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
Stay connected with Sun Devil Women’s Golf on social media throughout the season by following @SunDevilWGolf on Instagram, X, Facebook and sundevils.com.