ASU Women's Golf: Sun Devils finish sixth at rain-shortened Stanford Intercollegiate

Arizona State women's golf was tied for sixth place after two rounds at the Stanford Intercollegiate Tournament with the hopes of pursuing victory this past weekend, but rain suspended the final round of play.

"We handled the weather quite well," head coach Missy Farr-Kaye said. "It was unfortunate that we could not complete the round but the course had become unplayable. I always like to finish."

The results from day two of play are considered the final standings for the tournament, which resulted in a sixth place finish for the Sun Devils.

From the first day of the tournament to the last, a constant element of bad conditions including rain and high winds hindered the ASU golfers and the other competitors in the field.

"We really did not have a bad second round," Farr-Kaye said. "We just did not finish strong enough. We were only two shots out of third."

As Farr-Kaye mentioned, ASU only came two strokes back of a top-three finish that featured dominant Pac-12 opponents at the top of the leader board, including UCLA, Stanford and California.

Junior Sophia Zeeb was ASU's top performer in the shortened tournament, tying for 16th with a 4-over-par on the score sheet while shooting a 71 and 75.

"Sophia is getting stronger and better every tournament," Farr-Kaye said. "She is really coming into her own on the golf course, and it is fun to watch."

Zeeb recorded the second-lowest round of her career for ASU with a 71 in round one despite unfriendly conditions.

"Friday it rained for six hours straight," Farr-Kaye said. "My team did a good job of managing the conditions. Now matter how great your rain gear is, you still get soaked. So it is important to stay mentally strong which I feel we did well."

Mentally strong is a term recognizably used throughout the golf world, but even the best players in the world have a hard time handling bad weather.

ASU's big three -- freshman Olivia Mehaffey, sophomore Linnea Strom and senior Monica Vaughn -- each placed outside of the top-15.

Mehaffey finalized her 18th place in round one by scoring four birdies in round two on Saturday.

As for Strom and Vaughn, they each finished outside of the top-25, with both tying for 31st individually.

Farr-Kaye praised the Sun Devils' competition amidst placing in another tournament with a very strong field.

"The field was quite strong so any finish in the top 10 would have been great," Farr-Kaye said. "I love when we get the chance to go up against some of the best teams in the country and especially the Pac-12."

ASU has all its focus on the final tournament of the fall season, which will begin Oct. 24 in Kona, Hawaii for the Pac-12 Preview Tournament.

"The only area I want to reinforce with my team is to finish strong," Farr-Kaye said. "Keep fighting until the last putt drops. "We only have four days to rest and recover and get ready for Hawaii. So it is important that we take care of ourselves and get caught up in school."