PALOS VERDES, Calif. - Sun Devil Women's Golf completed the first round of the 2025 Therese Hession Regional Challenge on Sunday.
No. 7 Arizona State (+2/286) is currently in sixth place after day one, sitting only four strokes off the pace set by No. 3 South Carolina and No. 4 USC. In a field featuring six of the Top-10 teams in the nation, Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye's team is firmly in contention for a team title early in the tournament. ASU is the only team with all four of their golfers in the Top-26 of the 88-golfer field.
Leading the way for the Sun Devils is the duo of Patience Rhodes and Beth Coulter. They find themselves in the Top-10, tied for eighth after shooting 70 (-1). Siuue Wu from Florida is the overall leader after posting a 66 (-4). After a slow start, Coulter finished her final 14 holes at four-under. Rhodes remained steady all day, but her best work came on the back nine where she went one-under. The trio of Isla McDonald-O'Brien, Grace Summerhays, and Paula Schulz-Hanssen are each tied for 26th after firing a 73 (+2) to start the tournament.
Final standings | Tournament Stats
Round breakdown
Patience Rhodes
Finish: T8th
Round: 70 (-1)
Birdies (3): Hole 7 (Par 5; 505 yards), Hole 15 (Par 3; 162 yards), Hole 16 (Par 5; 463 yards)
Beth Coulter
Finish: T8th
Round: 70 (-1)
Birdies (5): Hole 7 (Par 5; 505 yards), Hole 8 (Par 3; 147 yards), Hole 9 (Par 4; 350 yards), Hole 14 (Par 4; 405 yards), Hole 16 (Par 5; 453 yards)
Isla McDonald-O'Brien
Finish: T26th
Round: 73 (+2)
Birdies (4): Hole 9 (Par 4; 350 yards), Hole 10 (Par 4; 344 yards), Hole 15 (Par 3; 162 yards), Hole 18 (Par 4; 374 yards)
Paula Schulz-Hanssen
Finish: T26th
Round: 73 (+2)
Birdies (3): Hole 3 (Par 4; 374 yards), Hole 14 (Par 4; 405 yards), Hole 15 (Par 3; 162 yards)
Grace Summerhays
Finish: T26th
Round: 73 (+2)
Birdies (3): Hole 1 (Par 4; 360 yards), Hole 6 (Par 4; 319 yards), Hole 18 (Par 4; 374 yards)
Quotables
"A great start by Beth and Patience to lead us on day one," Coach Farr-Kaye reflected. "This is a tremendous field and not many mistakes will be made by other teams. We are still within striking distance of the team lead and will have to play our best to maintain pace."
Team Standings
| Place | Team | 1 | To Par |
| T1 | #4 USC | 282 | -2 |
| T1 | #3 South Carolina | 282 | -2 |
| 3 | #6 Oregon | 283 | -1 |
| 4 | #26 Florida | 284 | E |
| 5 | #31 California | 285 | +1 |
| 6 | #7 Arizona State | 286 | +2 |
Individual Standings
| Place | Player | 1 | To Par |
| 1 | Siuue Wu, Florida | 66 | -5 |
| T8 | Patience Rhodes | 70 | -1 |
| T8 | Beth Coulter | 70 | -1 |
| T26 | Grace Summerhays | 73 | +2 |
| T26 | Isla McDonald-O'Brien | 73 | +2 |
| T26 | Paula Schulz-Hanssen | 73 | +2 |
The Competition (Scoreboard Rankings)
The Therese Hession Regional Challenge features one of the most loaded fields of any women's collegiate golf tournaments in 2024-25. Six of the Top-10 teams in the latest Scoreboard rankings will be competing for the title at Palos Verdes Golf Club. #3 South Carolina, #4 USC, #5 Texas, #6 Oregon, and #8 Arizona join #7 Arizona State in highlighting the field. #26 Florida, #28 UCLA, #29 Ohio State, #31 California, #35 Clemson, and #39 San Jose State make it 12 of the Top-40 teams coming to Southern California. In total, the field includes 14 of the Top-50 teams in the nation.
In the Field (16 Teams): Arizona, California, Cal Poly, Clemson, Georgetown, Miami, Ohio State (Host), Oregon, Pepperdine, San Jose State, South Carolina, Texas, UCLA, USC
History at the Therese Hession Regional Challenge
The former Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge was renamed in honor legendary women's golf coach Therese Hession in 2022. This is Arizona State's second straight appearance in the event and third since 2020. The 30th edition of the event will be held at Palos Verdes Golf Club, a place Coach Farr-Kaye is very familiar with.
Back in 2020, Olivia Mehaffey (-5/208) put together three consecutive rounds under par on her way to a second-place finish. She continued her dominance of the Palos Verdes Golf Club, earning silver in a loaded field less than a year after capturing the 2019 Pac-12 Championship at the same location.
ASU has won the Regional Challenge team title twice (2006, 2009) and has had an individual medalist four times (Juliana Murcia in 2009, Carlota Ciganda in 2011, Monica Vaughn in 2016, Olivia Mehaffey in 2018).
A year ago, the final day of the Therese Hession Regional Challenge was cancelled due to rain. The tournament, which was originally scheduled for three stroke-play rounds from Feb. 4-6, was moved up a day due to the weather conditions. The format was also switched from traditional stroke-play to a bracket-style Match Play setup. Arizona State went 1-2 in their matches, defeating Pepperdine and losing to Texas and host Ohio State.
2024-25 Arizona State Women's Golf Schedule
Arizona State will be tested throughout the campaign as Coach Farr-Kaye built one of the nation's toughest slates once again. The Maroon and Gold will compete in a total of ten regular season events, five in the Fall and five in the Spring. The postseason begins April 15 at the Big 12 Championship, with NCAA Regionals and NCAA Championships scheduled for the month of May.
ANNIKA Intercollegiate – Sept. 9-11 (Lake Elmo, MN)
Mason Rudolph Championship – Sept. 20-22 (Franklin, TN)
Windy City Collegiate Classic – Sept. 30 - Oct. 1 (Wilmette, IL)
Stanford Intercollegiate – Oct. 18-20 (Stanford, CA)
Nanea Invitational - Oct. 28-30 (Kailua-Kona, HI)
Match in the Desert – January 27 (Gold Canyon, AZ)*
Therese Hession Regional Challenge – Feb. 2-4 (Palos Verdes, CA)
Darius Rucker Intercollegiate – March 3-5 (Hilton Head Island, SC)
Clover Cup – March 10-12 (Litchfield Park, AZ | Wigwam Golf Club)*
PING/ASU Invitational – March 28-30 (Phoenix, AZ | Papago Golf Club)*
Big 12 Championship – April 15-17 (Hockley, TX)
NCAA Regionals – May 5-7 (Columbus, Ohio; Lexington, Kentucky; Norman, Oklahoma; Lubbock, Texas; Charlottesville, Virginia; Gold Canyon, Arizona)*
NCAA Championship – May 16-21 (La Costa, CA; Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, Champions Course)
Italicized = Home Tournament
*Held in the state of Arizona
Empty the notebook
- Arizona State is one of ten teams that made the 2024 NCAA Championship and returns four members from that team.
- The Sun Devils will face a team in the Top-10 of GOLF Channel's preseason rankings a total of 28 times this year.
- Missy Farr-Kaye enters her ninth season as the Head Coach of Sun Devil Women's Golf. She is tied with Bobby Hurley (Men's Basketball) and Greg Powers (Hockey) as the second-longest tenured Sun Devil Athletics Head Coach. She trails only Zeke Jones, who is getting ready for his 10th year at the helm of the Sun Devil wrestling program.
- ASU has the chance to play in the state of Arizona up to four times this year. Regular season events have them playing Superstition Mountain Golf Club (Gold Canyon), Wigwam Golf Club (Litchfield Park), and Papago Golf Club (Phoenix). Should they qualify for a regional, the Sun Devils would compete at Superstition Mountain Golf Club a second time, serving as one of six regional hosts.
Top finishes in 2024-25
T2nd - Isla McDonald-O'Brien, Match in the Desert*
4th - Paula Schulz-Hanssen, Match in the Desert*
T5th - Beth Coulter, Stanford Intercollegiate
T5th - Patience Rhodes, Windy City Collegiate Classic
T5th - Patience Rhodes, Mason Rudolph Championship
T6th - Isla McDonald-O'Brien, Nanea Invitational
T6th - Patience Rhodes, ANNIKA Intercollegiate
T9th - Paula Schulz-Hanssen, Nanea Invitational
T9th - Beth Coulter, ANNIKA Intercollegiate
T10th - Beth Coulter, Windy City Collegiate Classic
T10th - Paula Schulz-Hanssen, Windy City Collegiate Classic
T12th - Patience Rhodes, Nanea Invitational
14th - Paula Schulz-Hanssen, ANNIKA Intercollegiate
T15th - Grace Summerhays, Match in the Desert*
T15th - Isla McDonald-O'Brien, Windy City Collegiate Classic
T16th - Paula Schulz-Hanssen, Mason Rudolph Championship
T18th - Grace Summerhays, Nanea Invitational
T18th - Grace Summerhays, Windy City Collegiate Classic
T18th - Isla McDonald-O'Brien, Stanford Intercollegiate
T20th - Beth Coulter, Nanea Invitational
20 total Top-20 finishes; 11 Top-10 finishes by Sun Devils this year
*One-day, 18-hole event
Best rounds in 2024-25
67/-6 Isla McDonald-O'Brien (Nanea Invitational First Round/Oct. 28, 2024)
67/-5 Paula Schulz-Hanssen (Mason Rudolph Championship Third Round/Sept. 22, 2024)
67/-5 Patience Rhodes (Mason Rudolph Championship Second Round/Sept. 21, 2024)
68/-4 Isla McDonald-O'Brien (Mason Rudolph Championship Third Round/Sept. 22, 2024)
68/-4 Patience Rhodes (Mason Rudolph Championship First Round/Sept. 20, 2024)
68/-4 Beth Coulter (ANNIKA Intercollegiate Third Round/Sept. 11, 2024
68/-4 Paula Schulz-Hanssen (ANNIKA Intercollegiate Third Round/Sept. 11, 2024)
68/-4 Patience Rhodes (ANNIKA Intercollegiate First Round/Sept. 9, 2024)
68/-3 Beth Coulter (Stanford Intercollegiate First Round/Oct. 18, 2024)
69/-3 Paula Schulz-Hanssen (Windy City Collegiate Classic Second Round/Sept. 30, 2024)
69/-2 Beth Coulter (Stanford Intercollegiate Second Round/Oct. 19, 2024)
70/-3 Paula Schulz-Hanssen (Nanea Invitational First Round/Oct. 28, 2024)
70/-3 Patience Rhodes (Nanea Invitational Third Round/Oct. 30, 2024)
70/-2 Isla McDonald-O'Brien (Match in the Desert/Jan. 27, 2025)
70/-2 Patience Rhodes (Windy City Collegiate Classic Third Round/Oct. 1, 2024)
70/-2 Beth Coulter (Windy City Collegiate Classic Second Round/Sept. 30, 2024)
70/-2 Beth Coulter (ANNIKA Intercollegiate Second Round/Sept. 10, 2024)
70/-2 Patience Rhodes (ANNIKA Intercollegiate Third Round/Sept. 11 2024)
70/-2 Paula Schulz-Hanssen (Mason Rudolph Championship First Round/Sept. 20, 2024)
70/-2 Beth Coulter (Mason Rudolph Championship First Round/Sept. 20, 2024)
---> 70/-1 Beth Coulter (Therese Hession Regional Challenge First Round/Feb. 2, 2025)
---> 70/-1 Patience Rhodes (Therese Hession Regional Challenge First Round/Feb. 2, 2025)
70/-1 Paula Schulz-Hanssen (Stanford Intercollegiate First Round/Oct. 18, 2024)
70/-1 Isla McDonald-O'Brien (Stanford Intercollegiate First Round/Oct. 18, 2024)
70/-1 Isla McDonald-O'Brien (Stanford Intercollegiate Second Round/Oct. 19, 2024)
70/-1 Beth Coulter (Stanford Intercollegiate Third Round/Oct. 20, 2024)
26 total rounds of 70 or lower
Birdies by Sun Devil (2024-25 Season totals)
Paula Schulz-Hanssen - 67 birdies
Isla McDonald-O'Brien - 67 birdies
Beth Coulter - 54 birdies
Patience Rhodes - 51 birdies; 1 eagle
Grace Summerhays - 46 birdies; 4 eagles
Total - 285 birdies; 5 eagles
Career appearances
Grace Summerhays, 40 (37 stroke; 3 match)
Beth Coulter, 31 (28 stroke; 3 match)
Paula Schulz-Hanssen, 31 (28 stroke; 3 match)
Patience Rhodes, 17 (15 stroke; 2 match)
Isla McDonald-O'Brien, 7 (7 stroke)
Total 121 (110 stroke; 11 match)
Career Top-20 finishes
Grace Summerhays, 17 (7 Top-10)
Paula Schulz-Hanssen, 15 (7 Top-10)
Beth Coulter, 12 (5 Top-10)
Patience Rhodes, 8 (4 Top-10)
Isla McDonald-O'Brien, 4 (2 Top-10)
Total 56 (25 Top-10)
Fantastic five
Patience Rhodes, Grace Summerhays, Paula Schulz-Hanssen, and Beth Coulter all return having gained another year of valuable experience. Highly-touted incoming freshman Isla McDonald-O'Brien joins the program, forming a talented 2024-25 roster under the direction of Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye and Assistant Coach Mikayla Tatman.
How to follow
The Leaderboard for the Therese Hession Regional Challenge can be found at the following link. For the latest updates and information on the Sun Devil Women's Golf program, follow our Twitter/Instagram accounts (@SunDevilWGolf), like our Facebook page (facebook.com/sundevilwgolf/), and visit our website (sundevils.com). Find Coach Farr-Kaye (@missymkaye) and Coach Tatman (@CoachMikayla_) on X as well.