Hosts Arizona State use ‘birdie goal’ to climb into contention at women’s NCAA Championship

May 22, 2022

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Coaches have different tactics to motivate their players.

After the Arizona State women made just nine birdies in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Div. I Women’s Golf Championship – well off the mark of their usual 18-20 – Missy Farr-Kaye decided to pull out the big guns for Saturday’s second round: dessert. The Sun Devils had a “birdie goal” of 20 they had to meet, which they achieved on the last hole of the day.

The reward? Ice cream.

“It gets them in that mode of being aggressive and assertive,” explained Farr-Kaye. “When you feel that you can make birdies, you don’t worry about a bogey here or a bad shot. It changed our whole tone.”

Leaderboards: Team | Individual

That it did. ASU was in 16^th place out of 24 teams after the first round and now sit T-8 with USC at 16 over following Saturday’s round of 2 over as a team. The Sun Devils were led by sophomore Ashley Menne, who shot a 4-under 68, which tied Texas’ Bohyun Park, Oklahoma State’s Maddison Hinson-Tolchard and San Jose State’s Natasha Andrea Oon and Kajsa Arwefjall for the low round of the day.

“Everything just felt better today, my driver and putting was really good. The weather really made a difference,” said Menne. “Yesterday was gusting like 20-mph winds and it was hot and pace of play was just not it. Just everything today was awesome. I think my team also played really great. We had good energy throughout the entire round.”

Despite playing for the host school, the Surprise, Arizona, native doesn’t feel any pressure as Grayhawk hosts for the second of three years.

“Honestly, this year feels almost more relaxed than last year. I think everything’s kind of settled in a bit and people are used to having it in Arizona,” explained Menne. “I don’t know, it feels like home for me, too. I’m not really honestly phased. It almost doesn’t feel like a tournament, that sounds crazy, but it’s true.”

Stanford leads at 5 over, followed by Oregon at 9 over. On Sunday the field gets whittled from 24 to 15 teams.