(Photo: Courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)
During winter break, No. 18 Arizona State junior golfer Patience Rhodes encountered an unlikely setback.
While boating with her family, Rhodes fractured her left fibula, forcing her to be on crutches for six weeks and missing a large chunk of the spring season.
In the fall, the English native secured three top-10 achievements, including a fifth-place outcome out of a field of 100 at the 2025 Stanford Intercollegiate.
With Rhodes out of the lineup in spring, Arizona State women’s golf failed to achieve a top-10 team result twice in its first three tournaments, with its best performance being seventh at the Arizona Intercollegiate at 29-over-par.
Despite the Sun Devils’ slow start without their star junior, they ended their regular season with two back-to-back second-place results.
Rhodes eventually announced her return to the links at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, where she finished tied for 31st at 3-over-par.
With the full roster united once again in the Big 12 Conference Championship, Rhodes made her spring debut for ASU and returned to her usual ways at the Dallas Athletic Club. However, the team as a whole still lagged behind.
On Saturday, the No. 22 Sun Devils concluded the Big 12 Conference Championship tied for fourth alongside No. 21 Oklahoma State at 10-over-par, with No. 26 Iowa claiming victory at 5-under-par. Rhodes displayed a fast start to the tournament with a 4-under total in the first two rounds, guiding her to an eventual fourth-place individual finish at 2-under-par.
Before the first tee shot even took place, Rhodes stepped into Dallas as the highest-ranked golfer in the field, and her performance echoed that title.
In the first two days, Rhodes managed only three bogeys, which was the lowest amount out of the top-five finishers.
Not only that, but none of Rhodes’ bogeys happened on back-to-back holes as her steady play stapled her in strong positions throughout the day.
In rounds one and two, Rhodes struck four of her total seven birdies on the back nine, even though her teammates tallied 15 bogeys and three double bogeys throughout the closing holes.
The Sun Devils struggled during the start, but the team utilized pars to keep themselves in decent shape as the holes progressed.
ASU accumulated the second-most total pars in the field with 179, with freshman Pimpisa Rubrong adding a healthy amount en route to her third straight top-15 finish.
After Rubrong finished rounds one and two, she carded eight total birdies along with just three bogeys as well, which was a similar score line to Rhodes.
But the hidden troubles emerged with Rubrong’s two double bogeys, which hindered her from a possible top-10 finish as she ended the tournament tied for 12th at 2-over-par.
While Rubrong ended with a pair of double bogeys, her Sun Devil teammate, sophomore Isla McDonald-O’Brien, notched double her amount with four.
In each of the three tournament rounds, McDonald-O’Brien posted a double bogey on her scorecard.
The English native registered nine birdies throughout the tournament, the second-most on the squad and only behind Rhodes, but the double bogeys dropped her to a tie for 31st.
Along with the double bogeys that faltered ASU’s chances of breaking into the top three, its slow finish proved to be the main culprit behind a higher outcome.
After 36 holes, Rhodes occupied the tie for 1st spot at 4-under-par, and Rubrong stood inside the top-10 at 1-under-par.
However, both Sun Devils shot a combined 5-over-par, which dropped them three spots respectively, while the rest of the team moved up a handful of spots, but it was too late for a surge to the top.
ASU commanded the first five holes on the back nine with the team shooting 5-under from holes 10-15, but it fell apart the rest of the way.
From holes 16-18, the Sun Devil racked up four bogeys and one double bogey, with McDonald-O’Brien accounting for two of those bogeys and the lone double.
On the front nine, however, McDonald-O’Brien flourished as she shot 1-under, but it was actually Rhodes who struggled to find her footing on the front nine on the final day.
In the previous two rounds, Rhodes carded one bogey and three birdies during the front nine.
But on Saturday, the junior delivered three bogeys and one double bogey, which demoted her to a tie for 1st standing that she held entering the day.
While Rhodes failed to finish leading the pack, she recorded a top-5 in her first spring start for ASU alongside a promising Rubrong, who continues to land amongst the top placements in talented fields.
