Windy City Awaits Sun Devil Women's Golf

Tempe - The next stop for Sun Devil Women's Golf has them traveling to Illinois for the Windy City Collegiate Classic.

Arizona State will compete in the event hosted by Northwestern at Westmoreland Country Club for the sixth time. Three of the Top-5 and six of the top-10 ranked spring teams in the country will compete for one of the most prestigious titles of the Fall GOLF Channel identified nine tournaments as "Events to Watch" in the month of September. Each of ASU's first three tournaments are featured on the list, a reason why their fourth place finish at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate and fifth place showing at the Mason Rudolph Championship has turned heads. Arizona State will begin the first of two rounds being completed tomorrow at 5:57 AM MST on the 10th hole.

Live Scoring
2024-25 Statistics Hompeage

Coach's Corner
"It has been a solid start to the season, but we still have a lot of room to grow," Coach Farr-Kaye stated. "This will be another good test for us. We want to continue building momentum this Fall and be playing our best when the Spring comes."

Last Time Out
Sun Devil Women's Golf put together another impressive final round, ending the Mason Rudolph Championship strong. Arizona State (-20/844) delivered the second-lowest round of the final day (-11/277), moving into a tie for fifth place. For the second straight tournament to start the 2024-25 season, Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye's team recorded their best score in the third round. It was a total team effort that led the Maroon & Gold to another Top-5 team finish at a marquee Fall event.

Leading the way for the Sun Devils was redshirt sophomore Patience Rhodes, who set the tone all weekend for her team. Rhodes finished tied for fifth, building upon her T6th performance at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate earlier in the month. Rhodes (-10/206) is proving to be one of the top golfers in the nation, finishing only three strokes back of individual champion Avery Weed (-13/203) from Mississippi State. Joining Rhodes in the Top-20 was junior Paula Schulz-Hanssen, who was simply sensational today. She fired a team-best 67 (-5) to move up 15 spots on the leaderboard and into a tie for 16th.

Key contributions from the entire lineup were a key reason why Arizona State was able to secure another high finish. This includes Beth Coulter, who found herself in a tie for 32nd after carding her second round (-1/71) under par of the weekend. Senior Grace Summerhays was consistent throughout the event, shooting a 72 (E) for the second-straight round. The story of the day for the Sun Devils was the play of freshman Isla McDonald-O'Brien. In only her sixth collegiate round, she carded a 68 (-4) to facilitate ASU's rise up the leaderboard. This included an incredible eight birdies, which is the most by any Sun Devil this season.

Sun Devils in the Rankings
Arizona State is considered one of the best teams in the nation heading into the 2024-25 season and they proved that they deserve the recognition through their first two tournaments. GOLF Channel initially tabbed them as the No. 9 team in the country in their preseason rankings. Golfweek also had high expectations for Coach Farr-Kaye's group, coming in at No. 14 in the publication's version of a preseason poll. The Women's Golf Coaches Association released their preseason poll, which had ASU at No. 12. Scoreboard presented by Clipp'd will be coming out with rankings based on results later in the month. 

Golfweek: #9
GOLF Channel: #14
WGCA: #12

Four of five individuals are currently ranked in the Top-175 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR), led by Patience Rhodes at No. 63. In addition to a team ranking, Scoreboard presented by Clipp'd will also produce individual rankings based on results later in the month. 

The Competition (Golf Channel Preseason Rankings)
The Windy City Collegiate Classic once again features one of the most decorated fields in all of collegiate golf. Preseason ranked teams include #3 USC, #4 UCLA, #5 South Carolina, #8 Oregon, #9 Arizona State, #10 Northwestern, #14 Arizona, #15 Wake Forest, #20 Virginia, and #22 Duke. In total, 10 of the GOLF Channel's preseason Top-25 teams in the country will be in Illinois for the event.

In the Field (15 Teams): Arizona, Augusta, Duke, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa State, Northwestern (Host), Oregon, Purdue, South Carolina, UCLA, USC, Virginia, Wake Forest

The Format
Holes: 54 (36 Day 1, 18 Day 2)
Days: 2 (Mon-Tues.)
Scoring: 5 count 4
Par: 72
Yardage: 6,491

The Lineup
Arizona State boasts one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the country. Redshirt sophomore Patience Rhodes earns the top spot yet again after recording the best finish by any Sun Devil for the second straight tournament. She will be followed by a pair of juniors, Paula Schulz-Hanssen and Beth Coulter, out of the No. 2 and No. 3 slots respectively. Senior Grace Summerhays will make her 36th appearance as a Sun Devil, this time as the No. 4 golfer. Freshman Isla McDonald-O'Brien will round out the lineup and make her third career start.

1. Patience Rhodes
2. Paula Schulz-Hanssen
3. Beth Coulter
4. Grace Summerhays
5. Isla McDonald-O'Brien

Tee Times
Arizona State will begin the first of two rounds on the day Windy City Collegiate Classic on Monday at 5:57 AM MST, with each of the five golfers beginning their round on Hole 10 every nine minutes. Following the completion of round one, golfers will get 30 minutes between rounds before starting their second set of 18 holes. The Sun Devils will be paired with Duke and Oregon,
 

The Course
Westmoreland Country Club was founded back in 1911. Over the years, the club has hosted a number of prestigious golf tournaments. That includes the 1917 Western Open, the 1921 Western Amateur, the 1924 & 1934 Western Golf Association's Junior Girls Tourney and the 42nd annual U.S.G.A. Women's Amateur Championship in 1938. 

History at Windy City Collegiate
Arizona State will be back in a familiar spot when they return to the Windy City Collegiate, competing in the tournament in five of the past seven years. This will be the sixth overall appearance for the Sun Devils at the Windy City Collegiate Championship, first competing in the event in 2015.

In 2019, Arizona State finished in fourth place as a team lead by Top-10 finishes from Linn Grant (6th) and Alessandra Fanali (10th). In 2018, Raquel Olmos earned a career-best finish at this event, as she posted a 207 (-9) which was good enough for second place. Her second round score of 66 was a career-low, with her first collegiate hole-in-one coming on the 13^th hole. The Sun Devils finished in second as a team thanks to Olmos' effort.

During the 2017 edition, Olivia Mehaffey matched her career-low (65) in the first-round. Arizona State took home the team championship that year, with Linnea Strom and Olivia Mehafffey earning Top-10 finishes. The program has fond memories of the Windy City area, having won the 2017 National Championship in nearby Sugar Grove, Illinois.

2024-25 Arizona State Women's Golf Schedule
Arizona State will be tested throughout the campaign as Coach Farr-Kaye built one of the nation's toughest slates once again. The Maroon and Gold will compete in a total of ten regular season events, five in the Fall and five in the Spring. The postseason begins April 15 at the Big 12 Championship, with NCAA Regionals and NCAA Championships scheduled for the month of May.

ANNIKA Intercollegiate – Sept. 9-11 (Lake Elmo, MN)
Mason Rudolph Championship – Sept. 20-22 (Franklin, TN)
Windy City Collegiate Classic – Sept. 30 - Oct. 1 (Wilmette, IL)
Stanford Intercollegiate – Oct. 18-20 (Stanford, CA)
Nanea Invitational - Oct. 28-30 (Kailua-Kona, HI)
Match in the Desert – January 27 (Gold Canyon, AZ)*
Therese Hession Regional Challenge – Feb. 2-4 (Palos Verdes, CA)
Darius Rucker Intercollegiate – March 3-5 (Hilton Head Island, SC)
Clover Cup – March 10-12 (Litchfield Park, AZ | Wigwam Golf Club)*
PING/ASU Invitational – March 28-30 (Phoenix, AZ | Papago Golf Club)*
Big 12 Championship – April 15-17 (Hockley, TX)
NCAA Regionals – May 5-7 (Columbus, Ohio; Lexington, Kentucky; Norman, Oklahoma; Lubbock, Texas; Charlottesville, Virginia; Gold Canyon, Arizona)*
NCAA Championship – May 16-21 (La Costa, CA; Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, Champions Course)
Italicized = Home Tournament
*Held in the state of Arizona

Empty the Notebook

• Arizona State is one of ten teams that made the 2024 NCAA Championship and returns four members from that team.
• The Sun Devils will face a team in the Top-10 of GOLF Channel's preseason rankings a total of 28 times this year.
• Missy Farr-Kaye enters her ninth season as the Head Coach of Sun Devil Women's Golf. She is tied with Bobby Hurley (Men's Basketball) and Greg Powers (Hockey) as the second-longest tenured Sun Devil Athletics Head Coach. She trails only Zeke Jones, who is getting ready for his 10th year at the helm of the Sun Devil wrestling program.
• ASU has the chance to play in the state of Arizona up to four times this year. Regular season events have them playing Superstition Mountain Golf Club (Gold Canyon), Wigwam Golf Club (Litchfield Park), and Papago Golf Club (Phoenix). Should they qualify for a regional, the Sun Devils would compete at Superstition Mountain Golf Club a second time, serving as one of six regional hosts.

Best rounds in 2024-25
67/-5 Paula Schulz-Hanssen (Mason Rudolph Championship Third Round/Sept. 22, 2024)
67/-5 Patience Rhodes (Mason Rudolph Championship Second Round/Sept. 21, 2024)
68/-4 Isla McDonald-O'Brien (Mason Rudolph Championship Third Round/Sept. 22, 2024)
68/-4 Patience Rhodes (Mason Rudolph Championship First Round/Sept. 20, 2024)
68/-4 Beth Coulter (ANNIKA Intercollegiate Third Round/Sept. 11, 2024
68/-4 Paula Schulz-Hanssen (ANNIKA Intercollegiate Third Round/Sept. 11, 2024)
68/-4 Patience Rhodes (ANNIKA Intercollegiate First Round/Sept. 9, 2024)
70/-2 Beth Coulter (ANNIKA Intercollegiate Second Round/Sept. 10, 2024)
70/-2 Patience Rhodes (ANNIKA Intercollegiate Third Round/Sept. 11 2024)
70/-2 Paula Schulz-Hanssen (Mason Rudolph Championship First Round/Sept. 20, 2024)
70/-2 Beth Coulter (Mason Rudolph Championship First Round/Sept. 20, 2024)
11 TOTAL ROUNDS OF 70 OR LOWER

Birdies by Sun Devil (2024-25 Season totals)
Paula Schulz-Hanssen (25 birdies)
Patience Rhodes (24 birdies; 1 eagle)
Beth Coulter (22 birdies)
Isla McDonald-O'Brien (22 birdies)
Grace Summerhays (17 birdies; 2 eagles)
Total (110 birdies; 3 eagles)

Career appearances
Grace Summerhays, 35 (32 stroke; 3 match)
Beth Coulter, 26 (23 stroke; 3 match)
Paula Schulz-Hanssen, 26 (23 stroke; 3 match)
Patience Rhodes, 13 (11 stroke; 2 match)
Isla McDonald-O'Brien, 2 (2 stroke)
Total 102 (91 stroke; 11 match)

Career Top-20 Finishes 
Grace Summerhays, 14 (7 Top-10)
Paula Schulz-Hanssen, 12 (4 Top-10)
Beth Coulter, 9 (3 Top-10)
Patience Rhodes, 6 (3 Top-10)
Total 41 (17 Top-10)

Elite Company
The Sun Devils are one of just eight Division I Women's Golf teams to earn a spot at NCAA Regionals every year for the past 31 seasons. Only traditional powers Arizona State, Arizona, Duke, Florida, Stanford, USC, UCLA and Wake Forest have qualified for a regional each time since the postseason format changed in 1993. Arizona State is one of only five schools to receive a Top-3 seed in each of the last four NCAA Regional selections. They are joined by only Wake Forest South Carolina, LSU, and USC in this exclusive group, an indicator of the consistent success of Coach Farr-Kaye's program.

A Tradition Like No Other
During the past five decades, many of the premier amateur women's golfers have called Arizona State University home. Arizona State won its NCAA-leading eighth national championship title in 2017 to reinforce its standing as the premier women's golf school in the United States. Under legendary Head Coach Linda Vollstedt, the program became the first in women's collegiate golf to win six championships in a decade (1990, '93, '94, '95, '97, '98). ASU remains the lone program to ever capture three national titles in a row (1993, '94, '95). The Sun Devil Golf programs did something in 1990 that had never been done before and hasn't been accomplished since. ASU swept both the Men's and Women's Team National Titles in 1990, becoming the first school to capture both championships in the same year.

Here for the Long Haul
Sun Devil Athletics was thrilled to extend four of its head coaches back in December of 2023, including Women's Golf Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye. Entering her ninth year with ASU, Farr-Kaye has been extended through the 2027-28 athletic calendar. She completed the trifecta in 2017, becoming the first individual in NCAA history to win a National Championship as a player, assistant coach, and head coach at the same school.

"The Bird"
The Thunderbirds Golf Complex, designed by Douglas Fredrickson Architects and built by Rummel Construction Inc., is a 7,000-square foot facility featuring a grand entry lobby, national championship displays, a team gym and locker rooms for both men's and women's teams, a fueling station, study lounge, team lounge, indoor hitting bays and more. Designed by Sun Devil alumnus and five-time PGA Major Championships winner Phil Mickelson, who is known for his short-game expertise, the four-acre practice area consists of five practice greens, four practice bunkers and a three-acre fairway and rough designed to practice every possible golf shot. On Nov. 1, 2018, Papago Golf Course became the new home for Sun Devil Men's & Women's Golf with the unveiling of their new state-of-the-art practice facility -- The Thunderbirds Golf Complex -- through the generous commitment by The Thunderbirds organization. Arizona State, in partnership with The Thunderbirds, Arizona Golf Community Foundation, the City of Phoenix and Phil Mickelson Design, revitalized the course and helped build the Lou Grubb Clubhouse and Lou's Bar & Grill.

Fantastic Five
Patience Rhodes, Grace Summerhays, Paula Schulz-Hanssen, and Beth Coulter all return having gained another year of valuable experience. Highly-touted incoming freshman Isla McDonald-O'Brien joins the program, forming a talented 2024-25 roster under the direction of Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye and Assistant Coach Mikayla Tatman.

How to Follow
Live scoring for the Windy City Collegiate Classic can be found at the following link. For the latest updates and information on the Sun Devil Women's Golf program, follow our Twitter/Instagram accounts (@SunDevilWGolf), like our Facebook page (facebook.com/sundevilwgolf/), and visit our website (sundevils.com). Find Coach Farr-Kaye (@missymkaye) and Coach Tatman (@CoachMikayla_) on X as well.