OU women begin spring season at Moon Golf Invitational
The No. 24-ranked Oklahoma women’s golf team returns to action for the first time since November when it opens the Moon Golf Invitational on Monday. The two-day, 54-hole event is hosted by Louisville at the par-72, 6309 yard Duran Golf Club in Melbourne, Fla.
This will be the Sooners first appearance at the Moon Golf Invitational and are coming off three top-5 team finishes in the fall season.
“We are excited to get back into competition mode,” said OU assistant coach Ryan Sirman. “The girls have had a strong week of practice and their games are ready to go. It’s essential for us to go out and bring infectious energy, control the controllables and keep trusting the process.”
The OU squad is led by senior Julienne Soo, who will be competing for the first time since being selected to take part in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April. Soo finished tied for ninth in the team’s last appearance at the Battle at the Beach.
A pair of young Sooners have shown significant strength in OU lineup all season long as sophomore Kaitlin Milligan collected three top-ten finishes in the fall 2018 season while freshman Libby Winans has posted two top-10 finishes in her rookie season thus far.
Oklahoma is joined in the field by Louisville, Augusta, Campbell, FIU, Kansas, Kennesaw State, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Old Dominion, Seminole State, South Florida, Texas A&M and UCF.
The event begins with 36 holes on Monday using a shotgun start at 7 a.m. CT. The Sooners tee off on hole No. 1 paired with golfers from Louisville and Michigan.
Live scoring will be available on Golfstat.com.
OU LINEUP
- Julienne Soo, senior: Tied for sixth at the Battle at the Beach to pick up her 14th top-10 finish … Tied for seventh at the Jim West Invitational… Posted a 69 and 67 at the Jim West for a total of 17 career round in the 60’s…Closed out the Schooner Fall Classic with a 6-under 66, tying her career 18-hole low…Qualified for stage 1 of Q-School…A Golfweek All-America Team Honorable Mention…Finished her junior season with a stroke average of 72.27 – tied with Chirapat Jao-Javanil’s 2012-13 campaign for the lowest in program history (both golfers took exactly 2,457 shots in 34 rounds)…Claimed 19th place in the 2018 NCAA Championships – the second-highest finish by a Big 12 golfer in the field…Named to the All-Big 12 Team in 2017 and 2018…Also named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team and Academic All-Big 12 Team.
- Kaitlin Milligan, sophomore: Tied for 12th at the Battle at the Beach to earn her fourth top-20 finish of the fall … Tied for 10th at the Jim West Invitational, picking up her with third straight top-10 finish…Carded a 2-under 142 to tie for sixth at the 36-hole Magnolia Invitational…Tied for fifth in the Schooner Fall Classic, posting a 205 (-8) and finishing her last two rounds with a 66 (-5) and 68 (-3)…Competed in every event her freshman season…Her 117 birdies were the second most in the 2017-18 by a Division I freshman and ranked in the top 20 among all DI golfers…Owns the program and Big 12 record for lowest round, firing a 62 (-10) in the first round of the 2018 Westbrook Invitational…Took second place at the Westbrook Invitational after shooting a 54-hole total of 199 (-17), good for the lowest individual tournament score in school history.
- Karen Arimoto, senior: Played in the individual spot at the Schooner Classic in the fall…Competed in two events last season…Played as an individual at the 2017 Schooner Fall Classic, finishing tied for 61st place (225, +12)…Has competed in seven career events.
- Libby Winans, freshman: Back-to-back top-ten finishes at the Schooner Fall Classic and Magnolia Invitational…Carded a 206 (-7) and finishing tied for seventh at the Schooner Fall Classic…Opened her career with a 222 (+6) at the Minnesota Invitational and tied for 29th place…Won the 2018 Texas 6A State Championship while also capturing district and regional crowns at Plano East High School…Advanced to the match play portion of the 2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship and the round of 32 in the 2018 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship.
- Sydney Youngblood, sophomore: Carded a career-low 64 (-7) at the Schooner Fall Classic…Competed in all postseason events in 2018, including the NCAA Championships…Finished in 24th place at the NCAA Austin Regional, shooting a 219 (+3) …Best finish of her freshman year was a ninth-place showing at the 2017 Jim West Challenge with a career-low 209 (-4).