Cowgirls, Tulsa begin fall seasons at Trinity Forest Invitational
The Greg Robertson era of Oklahoma State women’s golf begins on Monday at the Trinity Forest Invitational in Dallas.
Robertson, a former OSU teammate of Cowboy golf coach Alan Bratton and member of the 1996 Big Eight championship team, returns to Oklahoma State after a successful stint as the head coach Kent State.
Robertson and assistant coach Maddi Swaney will inherit a roster full of experienced players, but will use the fall to evaluate each member of the team.
“We are going to do a lot of observing this fall,” said Robertson. “We will get a chance to see everybody’s game and what everyone is all about, which will help us as we get into the spring.”
The fourth annual Trinity Forest Invitational takes place on Sept. 9-10 in Dallas, and pits the Cowgirls against three other Big 12 foes in the 11-team field. The links-style course has been the home of the Byron Nelson Invitational PGA Tour stop since 2018, and is a course the Cowgirls have never played before.
With the athletes returning to campus recently, Robertson has only had a couple of weeks to work with the team, but is encouraged by what he has seen so far from the Cowgirls.
“The one thing that has stood out is the girls are not afraid to work,” said Robertson. “If that continues throughout the year, then I think we are going to see some success.”
Tulsa will also make its debut in the event. Led by second-year coach Annie Young the Golden Hurricane come into the fall season looking to take another giant step from a 2018-19 season that saw the Tulsa women finish among the top-5 in 6 of 10 tournaments. Tulsa would like to duplicate last year’s season-opening tournament when the Hurricane claimed the team title at the Hobble Creek Fall Classic
Sophomore Lorena Tseng is coming off of an outstanding freshman season that saw her earn all-conference honors, place among the top-15 at eight tournaments and turn in the second-best stroke average for a Tulsa golfer in the 35-year history of the program with a 72.1 average.
Tseng is joined in the lineup for the Trinity Forest Invitational by just one returning player – junior Taylor Dobson. Dobson, from Broken Arrow, finished the 2019 season with a season-best 15th place performance at the American Athletic Conference Championships in April.
Rounding out the team of five for Tulsa this week are newcomers Haley Greb, a transfer from Colorado State, and freshmen Lilly Thomas and Alex Christeson. Sophomore Jasmine Zhang will play as an individual.
Greb spent two seasons at Colorado State, including her first when Tulsa’s Young was the Rams’ head golf coach. She had four top-15 performances during her CSU career and had a career-best 76.2 stroke average under the tutelage of Young during her freshman campaign.
Thomas led her Bentonville (Ark.) High School team to the Class 6A state title for three straight years and finished second individually as a senior. Christeson was a four-year first-team all-conference selection in northern California’s most competitive high school league.
Zhang played in just three tournaments a year ago for the Hurricane.
The Event
Event: Trinity Forest Invitational
Host: SMU
Date: Sept. 9-10, 2019
Site: Dallas, Texas
Course: Trinity Forest Golf Club
Par: 72
Yardage: 6,085 / 6,154
Format: 36-18; 5-Count-4
Live Scoring: GolfStat
The Field
Baylor
Central Arkansas
Colorado
Kansas State
Memphis
North Texas
Oklahoma State
SMU
Texas Tech
Tulane
Tulsa