Michael Pleasant is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Xavier College Preparatory for AZPreps365.com

 

Ashley Menne is the best girls golfer in Arizona, but you wouldn’t know that by the way she carries herself off the course.

Menne is currently a senior at Xavier College Prep high school in Phoenix. She is committed to Arizona State University, a program that has won eight national championships, most in the NCAA.

She is a three-time azcentral girls golfer of the year, and she likely is on her way to collecting the award for a fourth time.

Menne has been named American Junior Golf Association Player of the Year in the girls championship division.

She is a part of three straight Xavier golf state championships from 2016-2018. Throughout all the winning in her high school career, it wasn’t until this year that Menne realized she could really have a career in golf.

“Only at the beginning of this year that I really wanted to do that,” Menne said. “I always kept it in the back of my mind…I’m getting close to that future.”  

It hit Menne even more during her most recent competition at Pebble Beach, where she said that it was a surreal and amazing experience to play like the pros. From the media attention to playing at a Pebble Beach is just the start of experiencing the life of a pro golfer.

Despite all these accomplishments, she still has a level head and humble attitude off the course.

Menne is a straight-A student. She takes her education just as seriously as her golf career. Her education played a big role in choosing ASU.

“ASU has a pretty good and wide range education program," Menne said. “I really looked into that and took that into consideration.”

As important as education is, Menne also has a great connection with her teammates and coaches off the course.

Xavier sophomore Ivy Song said Menne is a really kind person and offers to help teammates any way that she can.

Head Coach Tui Selvaratnam has seen Menne grow from just an incoming freshman to a senior collecting many accolades.

“She has grown tremendously as a competitor,” Selvaratnam said. “She was a great competitor when she came as a freshman, but as the years have gone on, she has matured.”

Success at this level requires a great work ethic and that’s exactly what Menne has. Selvaratnam said that Menne separates herself from the competition because of  how hard she works.

“She practices and puts hours and hours in,” Selvaratnam said. “Hours into her short game, her irons and her drives…she figures out what goes wrong and how to correct it.”

Selvaratnam said that the most enjoyable part about coaching Menne has been how she has grown and become so much more talkative.

“She has become a wonderful young lady,” Selvaratnam said. “We have great conversations and it's great to see how she has grown up.”  

Menne will continue to showcase her growth on the golf course in Xavier’s next match -- a four-team event on Oct. 16 involving Horizon, Pinnacle and Cactus Shadows.