The ASU women’s golf team capped off the final tournament of 2019 in style, cruising through round three to earn a third place finish at the Nanea Pac-12 Preview.
That marks four top five finishes out of four fall tournaments for the Sun Devils, who were coming off a first place win at the Stanford Intercollegiate before traveling to Kailua Kona, Hawaii on Nov. 2.
The team started the first round on Nov. 4 at Nanea Golf Club finishing three over par on the day and sitting at sixth place in the standings.
The Sun Devils then picked up the pace in round two, finishing with an impressive -6 (286) score and moving up two spots into top five territory.
Wednesday’s round three built upon the previous day’s success as the Sun Devils shot four under par and ended their Pac-12 Preview run with a -7 (869) final tally.
The third place finish saw ASU ranking above powerhouse programs such as No. 1 Stanford (T5) and No. 5 USC (4th).
ASU put together some notable stats by tournament’s end, finishing first in total pars with 176 and ranking in the top three in birdies with 51.
Junior Raquel Olmos led the way for the Sun Devils, putting together a final score of -5 (214) and earning a top 10 placement on the individual leaderboard.
Olmos was particularly impressive in her par-4 and par-5 scoring averages.
The native of Spain sat atop the board for par-4s with a 3.88 (-4) average and tied for first with individual champion University of Washington's Rino Sasaki on par-5s, shooting 4.50 (-6).
Olmos’s round three score of -3 (70) was an important factor in ASU’s ability to climb into the top three and finish strong.
Head coach Missy Farr-Kaye and her Sun Devil squad will now have over two months to rest up and practice before they begin their spring schedule at Superstition Mountain Prospector Golf Course in Gold Canyon, Arizona.
That competition will begin Jan. 26 and will be the first of six spring showings for the No. 3 ranked team in the nation.
Reach the reporter at hcroton@asu.edu or follow @thecrote on Twitter.
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