Women's Golf Heads to Mason Rudolph Championship

By: Connor Smith

Tempe - Sun Devil Women's Golf continues the 2024-25 season when they head to Tennessee to participate in the 2024 Mason Rudolph Championship.

This year will be the 23rd edition of the Mason Rudolph Championship, held annually at Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin. Four of the top-10 ranked spring teams in the country will compete in addition to defending champions and host Vanderbilt. 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 last week turned heads. Arizona State will begin the first of three rounds over three days Friday morning at 7:15 AM MST on the 1st hole.

Live Scoring
2024-25 Statistics Homepage

Coach's Corner
"I look forward to seeing how we build upon our performance to open the season," Coach Farr-Kaye observed. "We played better each day of the tournament, but our goal this time is to get off to a stronger start. This has been a good week of practice and the team continues to get better."

Last Time Out
Sun Devil Women's Golf completed the ANNIKA Intercollegiate at Royal Golf Club in impressive fashion earlier in the month. Arizona State (-2/862) moved into fourth place at the conclusion of the three-day event, the second straight day they ascended the team leaderboard. Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye's squad put together a fantastic effort in a field featuring nine of the preseason Top-30 teams according to GOLF Channel. The Maroon & Gold posted the second best round of the final day (-9/279), trailing only tournament champion South Carolina. ASU was only the fourth team to break 280 in a round the entire week.

Three Sun Devils found themselves in the Top-15 in the first event of the year. Redshirt sophomore Patience Rhodes led the way, finishing in a tie for sixth place thanks to a consistent effort. It is Rhodes' second career Top-10 result, joining her third place effort at the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational last year. Junior Beth Coulter saved her best for last, shooting a 68 (-4) on the final day to move into a tie for ninth place. It is Coulter's third Top-10 finish as a Sun Devil. Fellow junior Paula Schulz-Hanssen matched Coulter with a team-best 68 (-4) today, allowing her to jump 10 spots into 14th place.

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 during their first tournament. Golfweek initially tabbed them as the No. 9 team in the country in their preseason rankings. GOLF Channel 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-150 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR), led by Beth Coulter at No. 69. 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 Mason Rudolph Championship once again features one of the most decorated fields in all of collegiate golf. Ranked teams include #2 Texas, #5 South Carolina, #9 Arizona State, #10 Northwestern, #11 Texas A&M, #12 Mississippi State, #14 Arizona, #19 Clemson, and host #23 Vanderbilt. In total, 11 of the GOLF Channel's preseason Top-30 teams in the country will be in Tennessee this weekend.

In the Field (16 Teams): Arizona State, Alabama, Arizona, Baylor, Chattanooga, Clemson, Georgia Southern, Kentucky, Lipscomb, Middle Tennessee State, Mississippi State, Northwestern, South Carolina, Texas, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt (Host)

The Format
Holes: 54
Days: 3 (Fri-Sun)
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 after recording the best finish by any Sun Devil in the opening tournament. She will be followed by a pair of juniors, Beth Coulter and Paula Schulz-Hanssen, out of the No. 2 and No. 3 slots respectively. Senior Grace Summerhays will make her 35th 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 second career start.

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

Tee Times
Arizona State will begin the Mason Rudolph Championship on Friday at 7:15 AM MST, with each of the five golfers beginning their round on Hole 1 every nine minutes. The Sun Devils will be paired with Mississippi State, and host Vanderbilt.
 

The course
Since opening in 1992, Vanderbilt Legends Club has made its mark in the world of golf by receiving national recognition and accolades. The par 72 North Course, stretching 6,491 yards for this tournament, was designed by Hall of Fame golfer Tom Kite and world-renowned golf course architect, Bob Cupp. The greens are well undulated with the promise of multiple hole locations and the bunkers are large and boldly shaped. The course path provides an inspired variety of holes playing through lush fields and around lakes and streams. It is widely recognized as among the finest in Tennessee, having served as the hosts of many local, regional, and national amateur and professional competitions.

History at Mason Rudolph Championship 
For the second consecutive season, Sun Devil Women's Golf will compete in the Mason Rudolph Championship. The 23rd edition of the event will be played at Vanderbilt Legends Club near Nashville, where host institution Vanderbilt is based. In 2023, Arizona State (-13/851) finished in fourth place as a team after posting a 285 (-3). The Maroon & Gold were the top finishing non-SEC team at the tournament played in the footprint of the league. The Sun Devils were led by sophomore Paula Schulz-Hanssen, who was fantastic on her way to a Top-5 finish. She completed the Mason Rudolph Invitational at 209 (-7), capping the event with a 69 (-3) to move into a tie for fifth. She was joined by Beth Coulter (T16th) and Grace Summerhays (T20th) in the Top-20 of a loaded individual field.

The Sun Devils matched what was then a program-low 54-hole score vs. par (-25) with a third-place finish back in 2017, their first appearance in the event since 2013. ASU also competed at the Mason Rudolph Invitational from 2007-09 and 2005. The Maroon & Gold will be tested with an early trip to the southeast part of the country, a potential landing spot for NCAA Regionals.

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
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)

Birdies by Sun Devil (2024-25 SEASON TOTALS)
Beth Coulter (13 birdies)
Paula Schulz-Hanssen (12 birdies)
Patience Rhodes (11 birdies; 1 eagle)
Isla McDonald-O'Brien (9 birdies)
Grace Summerhays (3 birdies; 2 eagles)
Total (48 birdies; 3 eagles)

Career appearances 
Grace Summerhays, 34 (31 stroke; 3 match)
Beth Coulter, 25 (22 stroke; 3 match)
Paula Schulz-Hanssen, 25 (22 stroke; 3 match)
Patience Rhodes, 12 (10 stroke; 2 match)
Isla McDonald-O'Brien, 1 (1 stroke)
Total 97 (86 stroke; 11 match)

Career Top-20 finishes 
Grace Summerhays, 14 (7 Top-10)
Paula Schulz-Hanssen, 11 (4 Top-10)
Beth Coulter, 9 (3 Top-10)
Patience Rhodes, 5 (2 Top-10)
Total 39 (16 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 Mason Rudolph Championship 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.