McDonald-O’Brien’s hole-in-one leads the way for ASU women’s golf

(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics)

It was a chilly Tuesday morning as Arizona State sophomore golfer Isla McDonald-O’Brien strolled up to the seventh hole at the Glen View Golf Club, just outside of Chicago, Illinois. It was a 149-yard par three which the England native had been capitalizing on by attaining both a birdie and a par in her previous two rounds.

Heading into the tee box, McDonald-O’Brien was three-under par, and she knew a birdie would put her in a great spot to move up the leaderboard. As she lined up her iron and set her feet, the sophomore had a breath of confidence to go pin hunting with little interest in just settling for par.

As she put her swing in motion, her ball fluttered through the air, piercing the sky and traveling on a superb line toward the pin. As the golf ball descended on the green, it soon disappeared into the cup, signaling a hole-in-one.

The hole-in-one was the highlight of Arizona State’s women’s golf team’s action at the Windy City Collegiate Classic, which concluded Tuesday. For the first time this season, the team did not compete as a collective unit, but instead, three Sun Devil players competed in the individual category.

Each player settled into the top 35 despite having a rollercoaster of a path towards their results. McDonald-O’Brien notched her third consecutive top 20 finish as her three-under-par performance of 72-70-71 was enough to tie for ninth place. Freshman Kate Dillon rounded out the tournament with a four-over par finish of 72-74-73, which punched her inside the top thirty in 28th place, and fellow freshman Johanna Axelsen continued to trend in the right direction, finishing in 33rd place after shooting 71-74-75.

The final round showed promising results for the trio, as they tallied seven outcomes of birdie or better in total. However, the bogey component halted most of the success, with only McDonald-O’Brien shooting better than par.

McDonald-O’Brien’s incredible hole-in-one guided her to shooting three-under par on the front nine, which gave her all the momentum heading into the back nine. Unfortunately, the sophomore shot two-over par on the back nine, erasing her hole-in-one result and giving her a finish of one-under par on the day.

The two freshmen could not establish a groove in the final round, with bogeys stinging their attempts to finish the round strong. Dillon would end one-over par, while Axelsen would go on to finish three-over par.

Round two featured a dream start for McDonald-O’Brien as she recorded three straight birdies to start the round, leading her to wrap up the day with a two-under par finish. The two freshmen, however, would face difficulties finding ways to push up the leaderboard as they both shot two-over par in round two. Dillon began the first round immediately, carding a double bogey on the first hole, which set the tone for the day. The Irishwoman would attain a bogey two holes later, and with only one birdie on the day, she had to settle with a one-over par finish.

The first round, however, was anything but straightforward. The three Sun Devils recorded a double bogey each and had to fight their way back up to register a good start to the tournament.

Axelsen would go on to snatch eight birdies on the day, including two back-to-back birdies to start the round, but five bogeys later would have her finishing the day at just one-under par. Dillon wrapped up her front nine one-under in the first round, but a double bogey on hole twelve shifted her mindset from establishing a solid round to just trying to get an even par performance.

The Sun Devils won’t be back in action until October 17, when head coach Missy Farr-Kaye’s squad will hit the ground running at the Stanford Golf course in Palo Alto, California, for the Stanford Collegiate. The team finished fifth last year with the help of junior Beth Coulter and McDonald-O’Brien. With each player having another full year of experience, the sky is the limit for the team in the Golden State.