(Cle Elum, WA) Sun Devil Women’s Golf has qualified for the 2024 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship out of the Cle Elum Regional.
By virtue of their fourth place finish, No. 13 Arizona State (+21/885) has earned one of five berths to the NCAA Championship from the Cle Elum Regional. ASU will be one of 30 teams competing for the national title from May 17-22 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California. The Maroon & Gold will be making their 38th appearance in the NCAA Championship, the most by any program in the nation.
This is the sixth championship that ASU has advanced to under Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye in the past seven years, who was at the helm when the 2017 team captured the program’s eighth National Championship. Arizona State is one of only five programs in the country to make the NCAA Championship at least 21 times since 2000 (24-year span). They are joined by USC, Duke, Stanford, and UCLA on this exclusive list.
The Sun Devils are advancing to the 2024 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship thanks to a total team effort over the three days at Tumble Creek Club in Cle Elum. Battling challenging conditions in the Pacific Northwest throughout the week, Arizona State had to show grit and determination in order to secure their spot. With the season on the line, Coach Farr-Kaye’s team came through in the clutch, putting together a solid third round effort (+6/294) to comfortably advance to the next stage of the postseason. ASU is joined by Stanford, Duke, Virginia, and San Jose State in making it out of the Cle Elum Regional.
“We are so proud of this team and how hard they fought,” Coach Farr-Kaye mentioned after the round. “The conditions remained difficult today. Still high winds and very cold with wind chill in the 40s. We had a good meeting last night and they talked about how they were going to compete today. They all did a great job.”
Three Sun Devils found themselves in the Top-20 when it was all said and done, led by senior Ashley Menne. She ensured her team would not miss out on a NCAA Championship appearance, coming through with the best result of any Sun Devil. Menne earned a tie for 9th, her 14th Top-10 and 25th Top-20 finish of her career. The regional included ten of the Top-50 individuals in the latest Clipp’d rankings and Menne tied or beat out four of them.
Not far behind Menne was sophomore Beth Coulter, as she ended in sole possession of 12th place. Coulter was the most consistent Sun Devil throughout the week, never falling out of the Top-20 at any point. This is her eighth career Top-20 finish as she gets ready to make her NCAA Championship debut. The third Sun Devil in the Top-20 was Paula Schulz-Hanssen, who carded the best round of the day for ASU. Her 70 (-2) was a big reason why the Maroon & Gold were able to create separation from the fifth-place cutoff. Schulz-Hanssen moved up 23 spots on the leaderboard over the final 18 holes and into a tie for 19th. Contributions from Patience Rhodes and Grace Summerhays were critical throughout the week, with each providing counting scores on multiple occasions.
“We all knew that today was going to decide whether this will end our season or not, so I just had a mindset of all or nothing,” sophomore Paula Schulz-Hanssen reflected. “Every shot I hit, I hit with confidence and belief. That really helped me and I’m so excited to go to Nationals!”
ROUND BREAKDOWN
Ashley Menne (+3/219/T9)
TODAY’S ROUND: 73 (+1)
BIRDIES (2): Hole 3 (Par 4; 320 yards), Hole 15 (Par 5; 483 yards)
NOTABLES
— 25th career Top-20 finish
— Advances to her third career NCAA Championship
Beth Coulter (+4/220/12)
TODAY’S ROUND: 75 (+3)
BIRDIES (2): Hole 14 (Par 5; 528 yards), Hole 15 (Par 5; 483 yards)
NOTABLES
— 8th career Top-20 finish
Paula Schulz-Hanssen (+7/223/T19)
TODAY’S ROUND: 70 (-2)
EAGLES (1): Hole 14 (Par 5; 528 yards)
BIRDIES (3): Hole 4 (Par 5; 525 yards), Hole 5 (Par 4; 380 yards), Hole 18 (Par 5; 485 yards)
NOTABLES
— Moved up 23 spots on the leaderboard over the final 18 holes
— 10th career Top-20 finish
— Recorded one of two eagles by a Sun Devil at the event
–It was her fourth eagle of the season
— Only 14 total eagles over the three days
Patience Rhodes (+9/225/T24)
TODAY’S ROUND: 76 (+4)
Grace Summerhays (+15/231/T44)
TODAY’S ROUND: 78 (+6)
NOTABLES
— Advances to her second career NCAA Championship (T40 in 2022)
QUOTABLES
“Coming off a year of not getting to nationals, it feels really great,” Coach Farr-Kaye added. “To be able to have Ashley Menne get to play in one more NCAA Championship is special.”
“Paula (Schulz-Hanssen) came through today with a great round,” Coach Farr-Kaye remarked. “I am so proud of her and her comeback today.”
“All five contributed and I am really excited to see what this young team can do next week at the National Championship,” Coach Farr-Kaye concluded. “We are ready to be out of our super cold weather gear. It will be nice to be in one of my favorite places on the planet, San Diego, next week.”
TEAM STANDINGS
| Place | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | To Par |
| 1 | #1 Stanford | 284 | 274 | 289 | -17 |
| 2 | #11 Duke | 282 | 288 | 295 | +1 |
| 3 | #24 Virginia | 289 | 296 | 291 | +12 |
| 4 | #13 Arizona State | 288 | 303 | 294 | +21 |
| 5 | San Jose State | 298 | 297 | 292 | +23 |
INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS
| Place | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | To Par |
| 1 | Rachel Heck (Stanford) | 72 | 65 | 71 | -8 |
| T9 | Ashley Menne | 72 | 74 | 73 | +3 |
| 12 | Beth Coulter | 70 | 75 | 75 | +4 |
| T19 | Paula Schulz-Hanssen | 73 | 80 | 70 | +7 |
| T24 | Patience Rhodes | 75 | 74 | 76 | +9 |
| T44 | Grace Summerhays | 73 | 80 | 78 | +15 |
THE COMPETITION
In order to secure their spot in the NCAA Championship, Arizona State had to navigate a Cle Elum Regional that featured 9 of the Clipp’d Top-50 ranked teams, including No. 1 Stanford, No. 11 Duke, No. 13 Arizona State, No. 24 Virginia, and No. 25 San Jose State. The regional also has its fair share of individual star power, with ten of the Top-50 individuals in the Clipp’d Player Rankings competing in Cle Elum. Virginia’s Amanda Sambach was the top-ranked player in the regional, coming in at No. 7.
THE FORMAT
In the third year of the new regional format, six sites were selected instead of the traditional four. For the second consecutive year, there is an increase in advancing teams, changing from 24 to 30. In order to clinch a berth in the NCAA Championship and advance to Carslbad, Arizona State had to finish in the Top-5 of the 12-team Cle Elum Regional. Five teams from each of the six regionals form the group that advances to play in the 2024 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship.
The other five regional sites were Auburn, Alabama, Bermuda Run, North Carolina, Bryan, Texas, Las Vegas, Nevada, and East Lansing, Michigan. Six of 11 Pac-12 teams earned a spot in the NCAA Championship, a testament to the strength of arguably the best conference in women’s golf. That included Stanford (Cle Elum) and USC (East Lansing), who each won their regional team championship.
TOP-30 TEAMS ELIMINATED
NCAA golf regional action annually is a time when several possible champion contenders don’t make it through to NCAA Championships. The following note puts into perspective how significant of an accomplishment this is for the Sun Devils. Five Top-30 teams in the latest Clipp’d rankings did not make the cut in 2024: Arizona (16), Florida (18), Georgia (23), UCF (27), and California (28).
CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN
SEC (8): Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
Pac-12 (6): Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC
ACC (6): Clemson, Duke, Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia, Wake Forest
Big 12 (3): Baylor, Oklahoma State, Texas
Big Ten (3): Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue
AAC (2): SMU, Tulsa
WCC (1): Pepperdine
MWC (1): San Jose State
UP NEXT
2024 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship (Carslbad, CA – Omni La Costa Resort & Spa)
For the first time since 2019, the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship will not be at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, as Arizona State’s extremely successful three-year run as a host has come to an end. The 2024 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship will take place near San Diego at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad from May 17-22. Now that they have advanced from a Regional, Sun Devil Women’s Golf will attempt to win the program’s NCAA record ninth national championship. Missy Farr-Kaye was in charge the last time that ASU won a title, defeating Northwestern at Rich Harvest Farms in Chicago for the 2017 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship. The program also brought home NCAA titles in 2009, 1998, 1997, 1995, 1994, 1993, and 1990. Seedings and tee times for the 2024 edition will be available on Friday, May 10.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Connor Smith
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