TEMPE, Ariz. – After winning last week's Windy City Collegiate Classic, No. 3 Arizona State women's golf will compete in another two-day tournament on Monday, Oct. 9 and Tuesday, Oct. 10 – the Betsy Rawls Invitational hosted by the University of Texas in Austin, Texas.
LAST TIME OUT
Proving once again that some of the team's best play in recent history has happened in the Chicago area, ASU won the Northwestern-hosted Windy City Collegiate Classic last week (Oct. 2-3).
Linnea Strom (208/-5) led the individual field for the majority, ultimately finishing in second place in a closely contested race for the top spot. Strom's second-place finish was her second consecutive top-10 finish of 2017-18.
Olivia Mehaffey shot a career-low 65 in round one en route to her first top-10 finish of the season, her highest finish since last year's NCAA Regionals, ending the three-round tournament in sixth (212/-1). Roberta Liti (216/+3) finished just outside the top-10 in a three-way tie for 12th.
With the win, the Sun Devils have earned top-3 finishes in 10 of their last 11 tournaments, including the last four straight dating back to last season.
RANKINGS
After winning the Windy City Collegiate, the Sun Devils moved up a place in Golfweek's team rankings, from No. 4 to No. 3. Linnea Strom is now the No. 4 ranked women's collegiate golfer individually.
In world rankings, Strom and Mehaffey are at No. 11 and No. 14 among all women's amateur golfers.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Sun Devils hold two spots in the top-10 in lowest 18-hole team rounds of the tournament, shooting 286 (2012) and 287 (2009).
ASU won the tournament in 1980 and 1981, while the Sun Devils took home back-to-back individual crowns – Jeannette Kerr (1980) and Lisa Kluver (1981). They finished second in their last appearance in the tournament in Oct. 2013.
The 44th edition of the tournament will take place this year and in 2016, Kent State took home the team crown. In 1974, Texas head coach Pat Weis created the tournament and in 1977, it was renamed to honor Texas graduate and prolific golfer Betsy Rawls. Rawls won more than 50 tour championships between 1951-75, including four US Opens, and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame and Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
THE FIELD
The 15-team field features seven top-10 teams including No. 3 Arizona State, No. 10 Kent State, No. 11 Furman, No. 17 Texas Tech, No. 19 Texas, No. 20 Oklahoma, and No. 25 Clemson as well as Baylor, Houston, LSU, Miami, San Diego State, SMU, Texas State, and UNLV.
ASU has faced three of the teams already this season, including Clemson and Houston, who finished 9th and 10th at the Mason Rudolph Women's Championship in mid-September, as well as San Diego State, who finished tied for 12th at the Windy City Collegiate last week. The Sun Devils finished third and first, respectively.
THE VENUE
The tournament will take place at the University of Texas Golf Club in Austin, which will play par-72, 6,491-yards for this tournament. The championship-caliber course was created by Bechtol Russell Golf Design, overlooks Lake Austin, and borders the Balcones Natural Wildlife Preserve.
SCHEDULE
The teams will play 36 holes on Monday followed by the 18 holes on Tuesday, with a shotgun start at 8:30 am CT/6:30 am PT each day.
FOLLOW LIVE
Live scoring on Golfstat can be found at http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=14184 with tournament central here http://texassports.com/news/2017/9/7/womens-golf-betsy-rawls-invitational.aspx.
LAST TIME OUT
Proving once again that some of the team's best play in recent history has happened in the Chicago area, ASU won the Northwestern-hosted Windy City Collegiate Classic last week (Oct. 2-3).
Linnea Strom (208/-5) led the individual field for the majority, ultimately finishing in second place in a closely contested race for the top spot. Strom's second-place finish was her second consecutive top-10 finish of 2017-18.
Olivia Mehaffey shot a career-low 65 in round one en route to her first top-10 finish of the season, her highest finish since last year's NCAA Regionals, ending the three-round tournament in sixth (212/-1). Roberta Liti (216/+3) finished just outside the top-10 in a three-way tie for 12th.
With the win, the Sun Devils have earned top-3 finishes in 10 of their last 11 tournaments, including the last four straight dating back to last season.
RANKINGS
After winning the Windy City Collegiate, the Sun Devils moved up a place in Golfweek's team rankings, from No. 4 to No. 3. Linnea Strom is now the No. 4 ranked women's collegiate golfer individually.
In world rankings, Strom and Mehaffey are at No. 11 and No. 14 among all women's amateur golfers.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Sun Devils hold two spots in the top-10 in lowest 18-hole team rounds of the tournament, shooting 286 (2012) and 287 (2009).
ASU won the tournament in 1980 and 1981, while the Sun Devils took home back-to-back individual crowns – Jeannette Kerr (1980) and Lisa Kluver (1981). They finished second in their last appearance in the tournament in Oct. 2013.
The 44th edition of the tournament will take place this year and in 2016, Kent State took home the team crown. In 1974, Texas head coach Pat Weis created the tournament and in 1977, it was renamed to honor Texas graduate and prolific golfer Betsy Rawls. Rawls won more than 50 tour championships between 1951-75, including four US Opens, and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame and Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
THE FIELD
The 15-team field features seven top-10 teams including No. 3 Arizona State, No. 10 Kent State, No. 11 Furman, No. 17 Texas Tech, No. 19 Texas, No. 20 Oklahoma, and No. 25 Clemson as well as Baylor, Houston, LSU, Miami, San Diego State, SMU, Texas State, and UNLV.
ASU has faced three of the teams already this season, including Clemson and Houston, who finished 9th and 10th at the Mason Rudolph Women's Championship in mid-September, as well as San Diego State, who finished tied for 12th at the Windy City Collegiate last week. The Sun Devils finished third and first, respectively.
THE VENUE
The tournament will take place at the University of Texas Golf Club in Austin, which will play par-72, 6,491-yards for this tournament. The championship-caliber course was created by Bechtol Russell Golf Design, overlooks Lake Austin, and borders the Balcones Natural Wildlife Preserve.
SCHEDULE
The teams will play 36 holes on Monday followed by the 18 holes on Tuesday, with a shotgun start at 8:30 am CT/6:30 am PT each day.
FOLLOW LIVE
Live scoring on Golfstat can be found at http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=14184 with tournament central here http://texassports.com/news/2017/9/7/womens-golf-betsy-rawls-invitational.aspx.