Arizona State senior Alessandra Fanali was not able to play at all last summer due to a back injury she suffered at the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships in May.
“I was not feeling good at all,” Fanali recalled of the tournament at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale.
“When I came back in the fall, I was trying to go back to what I was doing in the spring. I’ve been working a lot in the past year. I stayed in Arizona during the winter break to practice even more.”
Fanali has also worked very hard on the mental side of the game, taking one shot, one hole and one day at a time, and not worrying much about what’s coming next, Sun Devils head coach Missy Farr-Kaye said.
“She’s really been focused,” said Farr-Kaye. “She’s just really started to find her rhythm in that and focus on what’s at hand. And so instead of it being a bit too big of a picture, it’s much smaller. It’s wonderful to see because she’s such a fantastic player that has struggled for a little while.”
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Fanali was fantastic for the Sun Devils at this week’s Chevron Silverado Showdown, a major college tournament in its eighth year on the North Course at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa.
She was tied for first place after shooting a 3-under-par 69 in Round 1 on Monday. She was alone in second place, three shots off the lead, after carding a 71 in the Round 2 on Tuesday.
In Wednesday’s final round, Fanali finished as the low individual medalist with a 69 and won by a three-stroke margin in a field of 16 teams.
“She’s been a beautiful ball striker for a long time,” said Farr-Kaye. “This a huge, huge win for her.”
It marks Fanali’s first collegiate win. It’s also her second top-five finish at Silverado, a par-72, 6,192-yard layout. She tied for fifth place last year with rounds of 70, 73 and 73 for an even-par 216 total.
“I really love this place,” said Fanali, who is from Fiuggi, Italy. “It’s very special for me. It means a lot. I still don’t believe it yet.”
Fanali was honored as the individual champion and San Jose State as the team champion during ceremonies outside the golf shop area in the early afternoon.
It’s been a super spring for San Jose State, as the Spartans have now won three tournament titles.
San Jose State won by a two-shot margin in the team scoring. The Spartans shot 287-290-293 – 870. In second was Oregon, 288-297-287 – 872.
“How fun to do it in this beautiful resort at Silverado. It’s just amazing,” said San Jose State head coach Dana Dormann. “We know that it’s a championship course. I’m really proud that we were able to pull it out. It takes your whole game to play well here. Probably the biggest challenge is going to be driving it in the fairway. It was great to be able, under pressure conditions, to pull off a few putts, a few difficult drives.
“We’re having a great year. We’ve had a lot of close battles, a few that we’ve won, a few that we’ve lost, and just building the grit to be ready to get there and fight it out in the postseason.”
Texas A&M and Arizona tied for third.
Southern California was fifth, Oregon State was sixth, Arizona State and Northwestern tied for seventh, and Colorado, Washington and San Diego State tied for ninth.
Iowa State was 12th, UC Berkeley and TCU tied for 13th, BYU was 15th and Washington State was 16th.
Dormann said there is great team chemistry with the Spartans.
“Everybody’s just lifting each other up. It’s awesome,” she said. “Rather than kind of competing against each other, which can happen sometimes, it’s all about learning from each other and lifting each other up. It’s been really, really great.”
Fanali completed the three-day, 54-hole event with a 7-under 209 total.
Caitlyn Macnab of TCU finished second, shooting 74-68-70 for a 4-under 212 total.
Antonia Malate of San Jose State, the 36-hole leader, took third place, shooting 69-68-76 for a 3-under 213 finish.
Tying for fourth place were Alexandra Forsterling of Arizona State, at 75-72-67 – 2-under 214, and Hailee Cooper of Texas A&M, at 69-73-72 – 2-under 214.
Finishing in a tie for sixth place were three players: Chayse Gomez of Oregon State, 75-73-67 – 1-under 215; Carolina Melgrati of Arizona, 75-71-69 – 1-under 215; and Kajsa Arwefjall of San Jose State, 71-73-71 – 1-under 215.
In ninth place was Hailey Schalk of Colorado, 74-71-71 – even-par 216. Four players were tied for 10th.
“I felt comfortable the first day already,” said Fanali. “It was tough to read the breaks (Tuesday), but I kept it going. Today was kind of the same, but I hit so many shots pretty close. So that made me make some birdies.”
She had four birdies during the final round, on the par-4, 309-yard fourth hole, the par-3, 138-yard 11th hole, the par-3 155-yard 15th hole, and the par-5, 485-yard 16th hole.
Her only bogey of the day was on the par-3, 180-yard seventh hole.
“I never won an individual tournament in college. That’s my first time and it feels good,” she said. “I actually played very good here last year. I think it’s pretty tight off the tee. You have to be able to spin the ball to let it land on the green, in the right spot, and keep it there. If you play from the rough, it doesn’t help. My long game has always been very good, so I was just confident in that. And I rolled some putts in, too, so that’s good.”
The final round was a shotgun start at 8 a.m.
“It’s cold in the morning and it gets very tough,” Fanali added. “I was just trying to make some pars on the first three holes and then let it go. I was actually playing very good. It’s just being confident. My short game is pretty good.”
Temperatures soared into the low 80s, with sunny skies during the day.
Fanali had three top-10 finishes and was a First Team All-Pac-12 Conference selection as a junior in 2021.
She had five top-20 finishes and was named Third-Team All-American by Golfweek and Honorable Mention All-American by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association as a sophomore.
She had four top-30 finishes for the Sun Devils as a freshman.
“She played beautifully, and this tournament has been around the corner for her for a little while,” Farr-Kaye said. “So getting her to stay patient (has been key) because she’s just been so close to putting it all together. It’s awesome, because it’s a very hard golf course. You have got to hit greens. The bunkers are treacherous.
“She just has played so well. Everything that she’s worked toward is coming together, which is great. This is fantastic timing for a senior as we head into postseason and conference, regionals and nationals. It’s a lot of fun to watch. She looked like it was easy this week, which is usually what happens when things are going your way. She’s just hitting it beautifully and effortlessly. She’s decisive in her decision-making and she’s not questioning herself, ‘Should I hit this? Should I hit that?’ This golf course will bring out the questions in you.”
Fanali tied for 24th place at the PING/ASU Invitational March 25-27 at Papago Golf Course in Phoenix. She had rounds of 74, 68 and 75. The Sun Devils won the team title.
The Chevron Silverado Showdown is co-hosted annually by the University of Colorado and University of Oregon. Head coach Anne Kelly of Colorado and head coach Derek Radley of Oregon presented team and individual awards.
San Jose State assistant coach Kortnie Maxoutopoulis Barrett spoke on behalf of the victorious Spartans team, saying “This is our third win of the spring season and you guys have owned that title. You guys bond so well. We just have a great time together. This was all yours. Congratulations to this team.”
Stanford and UCLA did not enter teams in the tournament this year. This was the first year with Chevron as the tournament sponsor. It’s one of the final regular season events of the 2021-22 schedule.
“We’re really excited about the future of it. We love coming to Silverado. It’s a great, great facility and it’s just an awesome course and especially for college women golfers,” said Kelly. “There’s a good variety of length of holes. You have got to hit certain shots well. You’ve got to put your ball in play off the tee. You’ve got to think your way around this golf course. It’s really well bunkered and that’s a challenge as well.
“It’s a really great field this year. I consider it one of the best (tournaments) in college women’s golf. The community has just embraced us for all these years and we’re so thankful and fortunate to be here. The field is always very, very competitive. It’s usually the last regular season event before conference, so it’s a great tune-up for all the teams.”