(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics)
With one tournament left before a nearly three-month winter break, the Sun Devils aim to finish the first half of the season strong.
While the Arizona State men’s golf team heads to the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia, to compete in the East Lake Cup, the women’s Golf team will travel approximately 4,500 miles west of Atlanta to Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, for the Nanea Invitational. Both tournaments are three-day events that start on Monday.
The women’s squad is coming off a great performance at the Stanford Intercollegiate, and with a favorable course set up for them, a top finish is looking highly likely. The last time the Maroon and Gold competed at the Nanea Invitational, they finished second with a 17-under par performance thanks to stellar outings by sophomore Isla McDonald-O’Brien, redshirt junior Patience Rhodes and senior Paula Schulz-Hanssen.
Sparky and the gang faced fierce competitors at the Stanford Intercollegiate, and with four top twenty schools taking part in the Nanea Invitational, the road to victory won’t be any easier. The teams making up the top twenty are No. 1 Stanford, No. 6 Auburn, No. 10 Texas and No. 17 UCLA.
Stanford continues to torch its opponents, and after a dominant win at its home tournament last week, the rest of the field will need to bring 110% effort in order to put up a fight. In the previous Nanea Invitational, the Cardinal claimed first place after finishing 26-under par and controlling the tournament right from the get-go. Cardinal senior Megha Ganne had the best individual performance during that tournament, and after finishing seventh at the 2025 Stanford Intercollegiate, she will be the name to look out for.
Auburn is also coming in with a dominant team resume so far this season. In the past three tournaments, Auburn racked up two first-place finishes and a third-place result, highlighting the aggressiveness that it displays every week.
Texas, on the other hand, is struggling this season, with its best finish being fourth at the Annika Intercollegiate. Similar to the Sun Devils, the Nanea Invitational could suit the team well since it finished in third place last year, and with junior Farah O’Keefe leading the way for the Longhorns, anything is possible.
Shifting over to the men’s Golf squad, the team is prepared to play in the most prestigious fall tournament in college golf, the East Lake Cup. The tournament, which is comprised of the top Men’s and women’s Golf teams in the nation, will be available to watch on Golf Channel.
The field this week consists of No. 1 Virginia, No. 10 Florida and No. 12 Ole Miss. This tournament will be the biggest test so far for the Maroon and Gold as they hope to bounce back after a rough outing at their last event.
The team finished 12th at the Ben Hogan Collegiate with every player finishing outside of the top 25 in a forgettable performance. The Sun Devils will be hoping to get out of the gates running in round one in order to establish a solid foundation going forward in the tournament.
Junior Fifa Laopakdee won the 2025 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship early Sunday morning, which will give a much-needed confidence boost to both golf organizations heading into their respective tournaments.
