Sun Devils fire 7th lowest score in program history at Ping Invitational

Sun Devil Women’s Golf comes roaring back up the leaderboard after a strong showing in the second round of the Ping Invitational at Papago Golf Club.

Coming into the round, the Sun Devils were 11 strokes back from first-placed Northwestern, who put on an impressive showing yesterday from Kelly Sim and Dianna Lee who led the way with five shots under par 72 for the first round.

It was essential for the Devils to rebound after an abysmal and uncharacteristic performance from Arizona State University on the opening holes. The golf team proceeded to flip the script on Saturday by shooting five under par on the front nine.

“We talked about how we were going to start, and just putting ourselves in position to be able to have the opportunity to make birdies,” said head coach Missy Farr-Kaye. “We started so well on one, it was just insane. We just kept with it all day long, and the start became a big part of our day.”

Junior Ashley Menne, who finished the day 4-under-par 72, got the ball rolling early for ASU on the first hole after she hit a splendid iron shot from the rough that landed a couple of feet away from the cup for an easy tap-in for birdie.

“On the first hole I laid it up almost into the water, and I had a punch shot I had to hit underneath the tree, and just rolled it up to the green and have a putt for birdie,” said Menne.

Hole one for the Sun Devils proved to be a gimme birdie after four out of seven players birdied the first.

Menne, who will tee it up in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur for a second straight year next week, relied on a strong putting performance to help dig ASU and herself out of the hole they dug themselves in the prior round and ended a successful day at Papago with a bogey-free round.

“My putting was great, I don’t think I three-putted once today. I hit all my lag putts to a foot and inside of that, so I was very happy with my putting because I’ve been working on that lately,” said Junior Meene.

The Ping Invitational gives ASU an early advantage heading into the Pac-12 Championship, and are looking to win its first Pac-12 tournament title since 2009, when Papago Park hosts the event in four weeks.

“We’re fortunate that we get to host the conference this year, at Papago, and so we’re just continuing to learn a lot as the course went under renovation,” said head coach Farr-Kaye. “We are still learning a couple of holes and how to play them, and it’s just great for confidence to have such a good round.”

ASU will look to continue its fine form into tomorrow and win back-to-back Ping Invitational championships.