ASU’s golf teams head in opposite directions with an action-packed week ahead

(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics)

The United States spans 1,650 miles of land from north to south across its 48 contiguous states. This week, Arizona State’s men’s and women’s golf teams find themselves at opposite ends of the vast nation. Up north, the women’s squad heads to Chicago as it competes in the Windy City Collegiate Classic at the Glen View Club. On the flip side, men’s golf looks to ride its early-season wave into the Lone Star State and conquer another leaderboard.

Starting down south, No. 2 ASU Men’s Golf gears up to play in the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas, a two-day tournament that begins Monday, Sept. 29.

The Sun Devils have won two of three tournaments this year, but are coming off their worst finish at the Fighting Illini Invitational in Chicago last week, finishing 8th. The Maroon and Gold will look to spring back to their feet in the Texas heat.

Junior Connor Williams has hit the ground sprinting to begin the year, finishing inside the top ten in two out of the Sun Devils’ three opening tournaments, including a win at The Wohali two weeks ago. Williams has been ASU’s front runner to kick off the year and will look to keep his hot hand and lead the way for the Sun Devils in Texas.

Senior Michael Mjaaseth has also finished inside the top 10 twice down the Sun Devils opening stretch, featuring a fourth-place finish in the season opener at the Sahalee Players Championship. As the most experienced player on the roster, the Norwegian will look to continue his strong play coming off a season with an All-American honorable mention nod.

Despite ASU’s blazing start, the competition in Texas is the toughest one yet, with No. 1 Auburn and No. 5 Texas headlining the stacked field.

Auburn has only played one tournament so far this fall, but finished in second place at The Invitational in Tennessee two weeks ago. Junior Josiah Gilbert led the way for the Tigers as well as the rest of the field, claiming the individual title at six-under-par. Another name to look out for is sophomore Bill Davis, who finished in the top ten in his season debut with a final score of two-under-par.

Texas looks to defend its home turf and continue its determined opening run, highlighted by a 2nd place finish at the Sahalee Players Championship and a 5th place finish at the Fighting Illini Invitational. Both graduate student Matt Comegys and sophomore Daniel Bennett have finished in second place to start the year and will try to snowball that momentum into another big performance just a few hours away from their campus.

Other top-ranked teams competing include No. 6 Vanderbilt, which is coming off a victory at the Carmel Cup at Pebble Beach and a 4th place at The Invitational. No. 7 Oklahoma and No. 8 Virginia also look to make a run for the summit this week and improve their national rankings early on.

Migrating up north, ASU women’s golf is starting to find form as they ease their way into the young season. After opening up on the back foot, they were able to show improvement last week at the Mason Rudolph Championship in Tennessee, where they finished fourth outright.

With high expectations coming into the season and four fresh faces on the roster, the team will look to take steps toward greater heights as it heads to the Windy City for its own two-day tournament, which also starts Monday. Despite winning the tournament last year, the Sun Devils will have three freshmen playing individually and will not compete as a team.

Freshman Isla McDonald-O’Brien led the charge for the maroon and gold in Franklin last week, finishing at even par, largely due to a blazing opening round at three-under-par. The English standout has been a bright spot for the Sun Devils through two starts and will look to continue her promising freshman campaign heading into her first individual start.

Joining McDonald-O’Brien in Chicago is Freshman Kate Dillon. Dillon made her debut start for the team in Tennessee just a week ago, where she shot twelve-over-par over the course of three rounds. The Irishwoman looks to find her stride in Chicago in her second performance.

Rounding out the Sun Devils who’ll be heading up north is Freshman Johanna Axelson, who flew solo last week in Tennessee as well. As an independent, Axelson posted an impressive two-over-par performance, a 17-shot improvement from her first start at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate. With two starts now under her belt, she will look to gain more traction following her breakout performance last week.

Although ASU only has one leaderboard to worry about, the solo competition doesn’t get any easier.

No.1 Stanford’s senior Kelly Xu and Northwestern’s junior Jiayi Wang are among the individuals the Sun Devils will be competing against.

Xu was one of Stanford’s top dogs last year, receiving All-ACC honors in her first year in the conference. Not to mention the California natives individual 3rd place finish at the NCAA Championship. Stanford is not competing as a team, but Xu will look to top the leaderboard. Her No. 1-ranked team is the one to beat.

Wang, on the other hand, holds the home-field advantage among the individuals this week. After taking 17th place in the Windy City Collegiate last year, the veteran Wildcat will look to improve on that number in her year three campaign.

While both Sun Devil teams are heading in opposite directions geographically, they’ll both look forward to the challenges ahead as they make their fall season push, with eyes firmly fixed on the NCAA Championships in May.