ASU women battle weather to win Wildcat Invite title

Through wind, rain and chill, the Arizona State women logged their first team victory of the season at the Arizona Wildcat Invitational. Those weren’t the kind of conditions you might expect at Tucson’s Sewailo Golf Club, but the Sun Devils handled them admirably, going 2 under as a team in the final round and outscoring every other team by at least eight shots.

It was a grit-your-teeth-and-score kind of day and Missy Farr-Kaye’s squad handled it well.

"Wow, what a day with 20 mph winds and a wind chill of 45 degrees," she said. "I challenged my team last night to figure out who they want to be on the golf course. Today they answered that challenge and then some. I am very proud of each and every one of them for their resilience and fight today. This is a big win for us and I am so happy for this team."

Arizona State moved four spots up the leaderboard in the final round, jumping Pac-12 opponents Oregon and Arizona. The Sun Devils’ 22-over 886 total left them with a seven-shot margin of victory on runner-up Oregon.

Individually, Alessandra Fanali earned her highest finish of her collegiate career with a tie for second overall (2-over 218). It was Arizona State’s best individual finish, but three of Fanali’s teammates finished inside the top 20 – including Sofia Anokhina at T8 and Alexandra Forsterling and Raquel Olmos in a tie for 18th.

Anokhina played truly inspired golf on Tuesday, especially given the conditions. She eagled her final two holes for a 5-under 67.

San Diego State’s Gioia Carpinelli won the individual title with rounds of 70-75-70 for a 1-under 215 total.

Information from Arizona State Athletics used in this report