The No. 4 ASU women’s golf team won the 2017 Notre Dame Clover Cup in nearby Mesa with a final score of 26-under par over the weekend. The favor of victory was wide, as the next closest team was No. 25 Oklahoma at 13-under.
“They played fantastic golf,” ASU head coach Missy Farr-Kaye said. “I’m really happy with how they’re competing right now … and taking care of business the way they need to.”
Sun Devils WIN! Second tournament win of the season, fifth top-5 finish as four of the top 10 individuals are from ASU #Allin17 pic.twitter.com/KYBhuLZ78A
— Sun Devil W. Golf (@SunDevilGolf) March 19, 2017
Entering day two of competition at the Longbow Golf Club, ASU trailed No. 2 Florida State by two strokes but improved over the next two days of competition.
“Our goal coming in was to beat Florida State because they’re ranked ahead of us,” Farr-Kaye said. “So to have a head-to-head win against them was really important heading closer to postseason as we are now.”
Another high point for the Sun Devils this weekend was the finish of sophomore Linnea Strom, who was the runner-up in the individual standings as she completed the course with a score of 9-under. It was Strom’s second straight second-place finish in the individual competition.
“She’s really on the cusp of winning,” Farr-Kaye said. “She’s had really just a couple holes that kept her out of being the champion this week. She’s right there in the hunt every single week.”
In the individual standings, ASU golfers finished back-to-back-to-back as Strom, senior Monica Vaughn and junior Sophia Zeeb rounded out the top four.
“We were just coming all together at the right time,” Vaughn said. “This group of girls, I think especially, really knows how to pump each other up and get each other going.”
Freshman Olivia Mehaffey came in tied for sixth place overall at -3 along with FSU’s Morgane Metraux.
Sophomore Madison Kerley, competing as an individual for the Sun Devils, took 15th place, with a score of +1 away from Longbow.
Junior Roberta Liti rounded out ASU tied for 16th overall, finishing at 3-over par.
“I thought we drove the ball really well this week, which really puts you in position to make birdies,” Farr-Kaye said.
The Longbow Golf Club is about a 20-minute drive from ASU’s main campus in Tempe, and while it is not the home course, ASU has some degree of familiarity with the greens.
“We get out here multiple times each semester to come practice and play and Longbow has always been great to host us,” Vaughn said. “To be here is definitely like another home tournament for us.”
ASU has played in the Clover Cup at Longbow two of the last three years.
Next up:
The Sun Devils have a short break before heading out to Maui, Hawaii for the Anuenue Spring Break Classic. The Anuenue Spring Break Classic runs from March 27-29 and will be played at Kapalua Bay Golf Course.
Reach the reporter at michael.baron@asu.edu or follow @Michael_Baron96 on Twitter.
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