(San Francisco, CA) Sun Devil Women’s Golf junior Ashley Menne was named Pac-12 Women’s Golfer of the Week, the conference announced on Tuesday as part of their weekly awards.
Menne becomes the second Sun Devil to win the Pac-12 Golfer of the Week honor, which was created by the conference coaches prior to the start of the 2023 Spring season as an additional way to honor the outstanding golfers in the league. The Pac-12 features the top individual and team talent in the country, which makes this award for Menne even more impressive. This is the second consecutive week that a Sun Devil has won the award, as Amanda Linner took home the honor last week.
“Ashley did a great job of leading us at the PING/ASU Invitational,” Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye remarked. “There is a lot of pressure when playing in your home tournament and she handled it extremely well.”
The local standout was the highest finishing Sun Devil at the PING/ASU Invitational, ending in a tie for sixth in the 90-golfer field. She shot under par each of the final two days, securing her ninth career Top-10 finish. Her 68 in the second round of the event was bogey-free, as she climbed 33 spots up the leaderboard. Menne capped the event with a 71 (-1) on the last day and finished tied for fourth in par-four scoring average (3.9).
“She did a great job of maintaining her focus despite how much she has going on,” Farr-Kaye added. “Now she is in Georgia and will represent us well at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.”
Among the 48 Pac-12 golfers to compete at the PING/ASU Invitational, none finished better than Ashley Menne. In fact, she beat out 18 of the Top-100 individuals in the latest Golfstat rankings. Arizona State finished the best out of the nine Pac-12 teams at the PING/ASU Invitational, earning second place. That was good enough to beat out No. 5 Oregon, No. 6 Mississippi State, No. 8 Texas and a total of six Top-15 teams.
Not only does the team continue to move up in the national rankings, Ashley Menne is making a climb on her own. She is currently ranked No. 24 in the nation by Golfweek and came in at No. 37 in the country in the latest Golfstat rankings and stands to improve upon that after her finish at the PING/ASU Invitational.
Prior to this season, only a Pac-12 Golfer of the Month was awarded. In the Coach Farr-Kaye era, Arizona State has had six individuals win Pac-12 Golfer of the Month. Highlighting that group is Alexandra Forsterling, who accomplished the feat twice last season, becoming the first Sun Devil to accomplish the feat multiple times in a season. Linner joins an exclusive group, as previous winners of a Pac-12 in-season honor include All-Americans Linn Grant (March, 2020), Olivia Mehaffey (April, 2019), Linnea Strom (April, 2016), and Monica Vaughn (February, 2016).
SUN DEVILS IN THE RANKINGS
The Sun Devils have faced one of the nation’s toughest schedules so far and still have managed to stay in the Top-25 all season. All three major national rankings have Arizona State at No. 11. ASU has already climbed several spots since the start of the Spring, making one of the biggest ascents of any team. Coach Farr-Kaye’s team has a huge opportunity to move up in those rankings with another strong performance at the PING/ASU Invitational.
TEAM RANKINGS (AS OF 3/28)
Golfweek/Sagarin: 11th
WGCA: 11th
Golfstat: 11th
MENNE SET FOR AUGUSTA NATIONAL WOMEN’S AMATEUR
Sun Devil Women’s Golf standout Ashley Menne will represent Arizona State on an International stage at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA). The 2023 edition will once again give female amateur golfers the opportunity to play the iconic Augusta National Golf Course. This is the second consecutive year Menne has qualified for this prestigious event, doing so based on her standing in the United States amateur rankings.
The first 36 holes will be contested over two days on the Island and Bluff nines at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., March 29 and 30, 2023. The entire field will then play Augusta National for an official practice round Friday, March 31. The final round will take place at Augusta National on Saturday, April 1 and will feature the competitors who made the cut.
UP NEXT
Silverado Showdown – April 3-5 (Napa, CA)
The final regular season tournament is another familiar one for ASU, as they return to the Silverado Showdown at Silverado Resort & Spa. Colorado and Oregon host the event that the Sun Devils have had past success at. In 2022, Alessandra Fanali won the final regular season tournament of her career, becoming the first Sun Devil to win the Silverado Showdown. This represents the final tune-up before the postseason run begins.
2023 NCAA WOMEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
Arizona State University and the Thunderbirds will host the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships for the third consecutive year, taking place at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale May 19-31. This is the final of successful three-year run as the host school of the most prestigious event in all of college golf. Don’t miss your last chance to check out the top individuals and teams in the nation square off for the ultimate prize in your own backyard.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Connor Smith
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