College Golf Museum: 1995 ASU Autographs
We tend to connect best to history through tangible items. It’s one thing to read about past exploits, but seeing a physical artifact helps bridge our minds to a given moment and unlock the ineffable wonder. How do you properly describe what it feels like to hold a medal won in a competition held before your oldest living relative was born? What words do you use to give weight to the delicate feeling of turning the pages of a tournament program that hasn’t ever been scanned? Even souvenirs so modern it feels blasphemous to call them “relics” are hefty beyond their mass, weighed down by their significance to the history of this great sport. As we take a stroll through the college golf museum, hopefully the pictures below plus a healthy dose of context will provide the perfect extra 1,000+ words.
Join me today in examining a cool signed photo of the 1994-95 Arizona State women’s team who would go on to cap off their undefeated season with a three-peat as NCAA champions.
*NOTE: underlined text provides a link to references or sites with more information
ARIZONA STATE’S DYNASTY RUN
The 1990s was a decade of Sun Devil dominance in women’s college golf. Arizona State didn’t win everything, but it sure seemed like they did as Coach Linda Vollstedt led her teams to six NCAA team championships, three NCAA individual titles, and 60+ combined team and individual victories. Our museum piece today puts us right in the middle of this epic dynasty run.
1994-95: THE UNDEFEATED SEASON
Coming into the 1994-95 season, Arizona State was the two-time reigning NCAA and Pac-10 champions. Although they had lost the reigning NCAA individual champion, Emilee Klein, to graduation, they still had a powerhouse team that included the two-time Pac-10 individual co-medalist1 (and last year’s collegiate Player of the Year), Wendy Ward, as well as 1993 NCAA West Regional medalist, Linda Ericsson. Expectations could not have been higher, and yet this Sun Devil team managed to do something that had never never been done in women’s OR men’s collegiate golf, and as of the 2024-25 season still has not been repeated.
At the time of this signed newspaper article printing, Arizona State had already taken home team trophies from all six of the tournaments they had played in this season, as well as medalist honors from 5 of those. The Sun Devils extended both streaks at their home Ping/ASU Invitational tournament held at Karsten GC. For Wendy Ward, it was her third individual (co-)medalist honors of the season, putting her one behind teammate Heather Bowie. The team win was extra special for Coach Vollstedt as she earned her 50th coaching victory in the final regular season tournament at home.
ASU continued to roll in the post-season. Wendy Ward earned her third consecutive Pac-10 individual (co-)medalist honors2 to lead the Sun Devils to their third consecutive team Pac-10 championship. Then, Ward earned her 5th individual (co-)medalist honors of the season (9th career) at the NCAA West Regional, putting her on top of the team record books for most wins in a season. Since there were no protocols for resolving a team tie, the #1 ranked Sun Devils and the #2 ranked San Jose State Spartans shared the team title which kept ASU’s undefeated season alive going into the NCAA championships.
ASU THREE-PEAT
The Sun Devils returned to the Landfall GC in Wilmington, NC in high spirits; after all, they had trounced the field at the NCAA Fall Preview the previous November by 35 strokes behind Ward and Bowie’s 1-2 finish. Coach Vollstedt did make one change in the lineup, however, when she subbed in Kristel Mourgue d'Algue. This proved fortuitous as the senior from France overcame a 4-shot deficit in the final round to eclipse San Jose State junior Vibeke Stensrud from Norway to become the 1995 NCAA individual champion. Stensrud came to the 72nd hole needing a birdie to tie d’Algue but failed to get up and down out of the greenside bunker and fell back into a tie for 2nd with Wendy Ward. Kristel had played as the #6 player for ASU most of the season, but ended up leading the Sun Devils in successfully capturing the three-peat team title by an incredible 26 strokes - the most since Tulsa won the inaugural NCAA championship by 36 shots. ASU finished their undefeated season with a 10-0-1 record as a team and 10 individual (co-)medalist honors.
“This team has been under a tremendous amount of pressure all year but you know they really kind of thrived on it,” Arizona State coach Linda Vollstedt said. “There has been so much magic all year long.”
-Tulsa World (May 1995)
AWARDS
Unsurprisingly, the Sun Devils also took home many awards after the season. Among them, Wendy Ward repeated as the National Player of the Year, the first player to do that since the National Golf Coaches Association (later Women’s Golf Coaches Association) started presenting the award in 1987. Heather Bowie became the first player in ASU history to receive the Edith Munson Award presented to the a player that was both an All-American player and academic scholar. Four of the ASU players were named First-Team All-Americans - Booth, Bowie, d’Algue, and Ward - which was a first in NCAA women’s golf history. Coach Vollstedt took home nearly every award imaginable for a head coach: conference (Pac-10), Regional, and national coach of the year honors as well as Golfweek’s Coach of the Year award.
ASU AUTOGRAPHS
Kristel Mourgue d'Algue
Kristel picked the best time to capture her first collegiate victory at ASU when she won the 1995 NCAA individual championship. Prior to that, the Furman transfer had struggled to find the same success in US college golf as she had on the international stage, previously representing her home country of France in the 1994 World Amateur Team Golf Championships. Finding her confidence, Kristel went on to finish as the runner-up in the 1995 British Amateur (Royal Portrush GC) just a month after the NCAA championship. Incredibly, this was the second year in a row that a Mourgue d’Algue had finished 2nd at this championship as her mother - the highly successful Cecilia Mourgue d’Algue - had done the same in 1994 at Newport GC in England at the age of 48. Kristel went on to play on the Ladies European Tour.
Wendy Ward
Ward may have been disappointed to finish runner-up for the second year in a row at the 1995 championship, but the 1994 US Women’s Amateur champion had an unbelievable collegiate career. She was a three-time 1st team All-American, two-time Pac-10 individual champion (1993 and 1995), and earned three NCAA championship rings as a part of the 1993-95 three-peat teams. If that wasn’t enough, she was also a member of the Curtis Cup team in 1994 and Solheim Cup team in 2002, 2003, and 2005. Ward was inducted into the WGCA Hall of Fame in 2009.
Heather (Bowie) Young
Bowie (later Young) was a member of the 1994 and 1995 ASU championship teams. She then transferred to Texas and eventually won the 1997 NCAA individual championship as well as player of the year honors. She joined the LPGA Tour in 2000 and played on the 2003 Solheim Cup as a captain’s pick. After her playing career, Young spent five years as the assistant coach at Clemson before taking over head coaching responsibilities at Florida Atlantic starting in 2021. Heather was inducted into the WGCA Hall of Fame in 2018.
Kellee Booth
Member of both the 1996 and 1998 Curtis Cup and World Amateur Golf Team Championships teams for the United States, Booth was inducted into the Sun Devil Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019 as well as the WGCA Players Hall of Fame in 2020 in recognition for her four All-American honors, three team NCAA titles, and 1998 Honda Award for best collegiate golfer. One really cool fact is that her mother, Jane (Bastanchury) Booth, is also in the Sun Devil Athletics Hall of Fame as well as the WGCA Hall of Fame after playing for ASU 1966-69 and winning the AIAW (pre-NCAA organizer of women’s collegiate athletics) individual title in 1969.
Linda Ericsson
The Swedish native won several times on the Swedish Golf Tour as an amateur before playing at ASU. Ericsson was the 1993 NCAA West Regional individual medalist and was inducted in the ASU Athletic Hall of Fame as a part of the 1995 championship team. After college, she played professionally on the Ladies European Tour and Swedish Golf Tour.
Vinny Riviello
Vinny Riviello had the honor of representing the Mexican team in the 1994 World Amateur Team Golf Championships under the captaincy of her mother, Elvira Riviello - President of the Asociación Mexicana Femenil de Golf in 1993-94 - and then earned her spot on the team again in 1996. Vinny would go on to capture medalist honors at the 1996 Ping/ASU Invitational and be inducted in the ASU Athletic Hall of Fame as a part of the 1995 championship team.
Coach Linda Vollstedt
NOTE: most of this research can be credited to Coach Vollstedt’s incredibly detailed ASU profile.
Linda Vollstedt started out her ASU career playing under team coach Betty Graham from 1964-68. She was a member of the 1965 team which won the AIAW championship in Florida during their first dynasty run, and it’s fitting that she lead the team during its second run. After earning her undergrad (1969) and master’s (1971) degrees at Arizona State, Linda Vollstedt worked for 10 years as a math teacher at Alhambra High School (Phoenix) where she first took on the mantle of head golf coach. After a decade of dominance there - resulting in two state titles, two runner-up finishes, and four undefeated seasons - Coach Vollstedt was recruited back to her alma mater to start the 1980-81 season. Her first decade at the helm of the Arizona State women’s golf program resulted in 5 conference titles - never finishing lower than 4th - and accumulating six top 10 finishes at the NCAA championships, four of which were within the top 5. As written above, the 1990s was a decade of true dominance for the Sun Devils. After 21 years of making Sparky a respected symbol synonymous with success in college golf, Coach Vollstedt retired following the 2000-01 season.
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Ward lost a playoff to USC’s Jennifer Biehn in 1994, but was technically a co-medalist even though she didn’t take home the individual title
See previous note