- Slug: Sports-ASU Farr-Kaye,810
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By JORDAN GARBERDING
Cronkite News
PHOENIX – New Arizona State women’s golf coach Missy Farr-Kaye has a frequent piece of advice for her players.
“She has always told us to control what you can and let go of what you can’t,” said Monica Vaughn, a junior on the team.
Farr-Kaye, who was named head coach of ASU’s women’s golf team in June after 13 years as a Sun Devil assistant, understands the meaning of letting go of something that cannot be controlled. She has also mastered how to take what she cannot control and turn it into something positively memorable.
Growing up, Missy always looked up to her older sister, Heather Farr, who originally led Missy into her passion for golf.
Their father religiously played golf at Papago Golf Course on the weekends.
“When Heather was 6 or 7 years old, she wanted to know where my dad was going at 5 o’clock every morning to get a tee time,” Missy said. “Finally, Heather talked my dad into letting her walk around with him and then eventually ended up begging him for golf clubs. Of course I had to do what my big sister was doing and the rest is history.”
Heather, 2 1/2 years older than Missy, set a good golf example for her sister – and more. At 13, Heather won the Arizona State Amateur. By 15, she was named the American Junior Golf Association Player of the Year. In 1982, Heather joined the ASU women’s golf team. In 1985, at age 20, she became the youngest player from a qualifying school to make the LPGA Tour.
Missy followed her sister into ASU’s golf program in 1985. In the summer of 1989, before Missy’s senior year, she got the news Heather had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Missy played professionally for about a year after she graduated, but stopped in 1991 to return to Arizona and be closer to her ill sister.
“It was like my whole world turned on its side, and playing golf didn’t seem as important as it used to,” said Missy. “I came back home after a year of going pro and got a job at Orange Tree Golf Resort, so I was still in the golf business but playing every week was really hard to focus on because Heather was so sick from previous breast cancer treatments. Everything just took a different route.”
Heather passed away in 1993 at age 28 after a four-year battle with cancer.
Missy is herself is two-time breast cancer survivor and stays involved in causes related to the disease that took her sister’s life. She is an avid contributor to the Val Skinner Foundation, a breast cancer charity whose launch was inspired by Heather’s battle with the disease. Missy not only found her passion for golf from Heather, she also learned from Heather how to deal with her cancer.
Missy spent the next several years devoting her time to golf. In September 2002, Missy returned to her and Heather’s alma mater to become an assistant coach for ASU’s team.
“When the opportunity to be the assistant coach came up, it was really such a normal transition for me. I thought, ‘Oh this would be such a great way to get back and help the program that has given so much to me,’” Missy said.
She served as an assistant to Melissa Luellen, who left Arizona State in June to become the women’s golf coach at Auburn.
Vaughn, who received WGCA First-Team All-American Honors and finished in fifth place at the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships in Florida in May, credits Farr-Kaye for much of her success.
“KK is very relaxed and easy to talk to, she has always been good at calming me down on the course. We have been through a lot together,” said Vaughn, who said the “KK” nickname is one that is used frequently for Farr-Kaye.
Missy has had a full career on and off the golf course. As a senior on the ASU golf team she helped Arizona State win the 1990 NCAA championship. Since the start of her assistant coaching career, Missy took part in helping the Sun Devils win the NCAA Individual Championship in 2008 and again in 2009 with the NCAA Team Championship.
“Winning a national championship both as a player and a coach was a thrill. It’s almost like I have come full circle,” Missy said. “My goal for this team is for us to work hard, whether it’s in the classroom or out on the golf course. We will be successful and make sure we are consistent with doing everything that we are supposed to be doing, and when we work hard our work will soon pay off.”
Vaughn and her fellow teammates are looking forward to Missy as their new leader.
“She may be head coach now, but she will always remain as KK to us,” Vaughn said.
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