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By Aya Abdeen
Cronkite News
TEMPE – As the Paris Olympics begin, Arizona State’s Missy Farr-Kaye’s fingerprints are all over the golf competition as the Sun Devils women’s coach. Five of her former Sun Devils will represent Tempe on the world stage in a show of the program’s longstanding success.
“Well I just think it’s such a great reflection of what we do, why we do it and why I do it,” Farr-Kaye said Wednesday. “And it’s great to see all the details, the things that we do every day in the grind and trying to help our athletes be successful on and off the golf course. It is wonderful to see them be so externally successful.
ASU’s Linn Grant, the Swede who became the first woman to become a two-time winner of the DP World Tour, and Alexandra Forsterling, a four-time Ladies European Tour champion, will join Spain’s Carlota Ciganda and Azahara Munoz and Italy’s Alessandra Fanali.
“It’s amazing,” Farr-Kaye said. “And there’s nobody better to (win two titles in the DP World Tour) because there’s nobody who has (done) that. There’s nobody that has that very confident strut that also (the male players have. … And it’s cool to see (her) do that so well. I know her family so well. They’re all so proud of their girl, and it’s such a great accomplishment.”
During her time at Arizona State, Munoz won an NCAA Individual championship in 2008 and contributed to the Sun Devils’ first NCAA title in 2009. She was also the two-time recipient of the Edith Cummings Munson award, a four-time First Team All-Pac 10 and earned All-American honors as a senior.
Fanali became an All-American as a sophomore, leading the Sun Devils to a top-three finish in the national rankings in the 2019-20 season. After turning professional in 2022, she finished as a runner-up in the Ladies Italian Open and the 2024 Magical Kenya Ladies Open.
“It’s fantastic. We’re so excited (to see the five Sun Devils alums competing in the Olympics),” Farr-Kaye said. “It’s amazing, and it really speaks to the level of our Olympic teams and how well (they do) across the board.”
Forsterling finished eighth in the race to Costa Del Sol standings and nearly won the Rookie of the Year award as a freshman. During her time at Arizona State, Forsterling shared the Match in the Desert individual title with Grant after firing a 68 in the opening round as a junior and won the 2021 German Grils Amateur Title. She also finished with a 2-1 record in the Nicklaus Cup as a senior.
“It’s fantastic. Not everybody knows (Alexandra Forsterling’s) story,” Farr-Kaye said. “She came here very good and had a great freshman year. At the end of the fall of her semester year (of her sophomore year), her father unexpectedly died in Germany. … It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever managed as a coach, and her senior year, she came back and was first-team All-American like, ‘Okay, now this is your lift. This is your job from here.’ It’s amazing because it’s made her stronger.”
Ciganda became the first player to win back-to-back Pac-10 championships in 2009 and 2010 and led the Sun Devils to an NCAA Championship in 2009. After turning professional in 2012, she won the LET’s Order of Merit title and also received Rookie and Player of the Year awards.
Farr-Kaye emphasizes the hard work these five alumni put into their efforts, both on and off the golf course.
“When we don’t measure success, although rings and national trophies help a lot of things, I’m so excited when each of them graduate and go on to have families, all become moms, and do all kinds of cool things,” Farr-Kaye said. “This is such a great external validation of how hard they work in what we do and what we pay attention to, and they don’t get enough credit for what amazing students they are.”
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