Cowgirls roll to 26-shot win in Hawaii
WAIKOLOA, Hawaii – The Oklahoma State women’s golf team raced away from the field for a 26-shot, wire-to-wire victory in the Anuenue Spring Break Classic at the Waikoloa Kings’ Course in Hawaii.
OSU fired a final round 285 – the team’s best round of 2018-19 – to claim its first win of the season, the program’s seventh in the Aloha State and the 93rd overall in Cowgirl golf history.
Led by freshman Han-Hsuan Yu, the Cowgirls claimed second place and had two players tied for third. Yu posted a five-birdie day to earn runner-up honors at 1-over 217, while Michelle Forsland and Lianna Bailey tied for third at 6-over 222.
For sixth-year head coach Courtney Jones, this is her 12th win as the Cowgirl skipper, and the 26-stroke margin of victory surpassed the 20-stroke win at the 2016 SMU/DAC Invitational for the largest in her tenure.
Freshman Sara Camarena tied for fifth place to claim the best finish of her young collegiate career thanks to rounds of 75-78-74 (+11) 227, while Emma Whitaker collected her first career top-10 finish after carding 85-72-72 (+13) 229.
Faith Hopkins posted a seven-birdie final round to finish the Anuenue with 12 overall birdies – tops at the tournament. The freshman earned the first top-20 finish of her career after shooting 84-80-70 (+18) 234.
Chih-Min Chen tied for 13th, while Stephanie Astrup finished in a tie for 31st.
The Cowgirls will look to carry this momentum into the ASU/PING Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., on March 29-31.
Team Leaderboard
1. Oklahoma State (+21) 301-299-285 – 885
2. Arkansas State (+47) 308-305-298 – 911
Individual Leaderboard
1. Kaylee Shimizu, Utah Valley (E) 72-70-74 – 216
2. Han-Hsuan Yu, Oklahoma State (+1) 74-73-70 – 217
T3. Michelle Forsland, Oklahoma State (+6) 73-76-73 – 222
T3. Lianna Bailey, Oklahoma State (IND) (+6) 74-72-76 – 222
Other Cowgirls
T5. Sara Camarena (+11) 75-78-74 – 227
T10. Emma Whitaker (+13) 85-72-72 – 229
T13. Chih-Min Chen (+14) 79-81-70 – 230
T20. Faith Hopkins (+18) 84-80-70 – 234
T31. Stephanie Astrup (+23) 77-82-80 – 239