OU Women’s Golf opens postseason play Friday
NORMAN – No. 19 Oklahoma opens postseason play this weekend at the 2018 Big 12 Women’s Golf Championship in Dallas, Texas. The 54-hole tournament will be played Friday and Sunday at the par-72, 6,215-yard Dallas Athletic Club.
Oklahoma will begin play in the top group, being paired with golfers from No. 7 Texas and No. 16 Oklahoma State. The Sooners tee off at 8:30 a.m. CT on Friday and will play 36 holes on the opening day, followed by the final round on Sunday. The tournament’s second round was originally scheduled for Saturday, but was moved to Friday afternoon in response to the weather forecast and expected rain.
The Sooners have their eyes on winning their fourth Big 12 title, previously capturing the conference crown in 2000, 2012 and 2014.
“We’re excited to start our postseason tournaments this week,” said OU head coach Veronique Drouin-Luttrell. “We’ve had great practices and are ready to go. To have a chance to play in the Big 12 Championship so close to home is fantastic and hopefully we have a lot of Crimson and Cream supporters out there cheering us on.”
Oklahoma enters the Big 12 Championship coming off of a strong regular season that included two tournament titles and six top-five finishes. The Sooners have claimed first or second place in four of their last five tournaments and boast the fifth-best average score against par in the country (+1.24).
The Sooners have found success from different golfers all season, displaying unprecedented depth throughout the OU roster. Oklahoma is the first school in conference history to have three different golfers earn Big 12 Women’s Golfer of the Month recognitions in one season. Kaitlin Milligan most recently won the honor in February, joining Julienne Soo (September) and Hannah Wood (November).
Seven different Sooners have claimed a top-10 finish this season, including five OU golfers securing at least one finish in the top five.
OU’s depth is evident by Drouin-Luttrell sending out her seventh different five-golfer lineup of the season.
Live scoring will be available on GolfStat.com and admission to the tournament is free.
OU LINEUP
1. Julienne Soo, junior: Captured the Clover Cup title with a 54-hole score of 211 (-5)…Has claimed five top 10 finishes this season…Tied for 14th at the Hurricane Invitational with a 225 (+1)…Took sixth at Battle at the Beach with a 210 (-3) to close the fall portion of the schedule…Tied for ninth place with a 2-under 214 at the Maryb S. Kauth Invitational…Named the Big 12 Women’s Golfer of the Month for the month of September after recording two top-10 finishes and shooting under par in five of six rounds…Her 204 (-9) at the season-opening Jim West Challenge is the fourth-lowest 54-hole score in program history…Secured ninth place at the Schooner Fall Classic with a 3-under 210…Dating back to last season, has finished at par or better in 34 of her last 54 rounds…Boasts 11 top-10 finishes in her career, all of which have come in her last 18 tournaments.
2. Hannah Wood, senior: Boasts four top-20 finishes over her last five tournaments, including a fifth place showing at the Clover Cup…Climbed 15 spots in the final day of the Hurricane Invitational to finish in 13th place…Placed in 20th at the Westbrook Invitational…Named Big 12 Co-Golfer of the Month in November after leading the Sooners to a second-place finish in the Battle at the Beach in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (Nov. 3-5) in the team’s only November tournament…Shot a 4-under 209 in Cabo to tie for fourth place and secure her second top-10 finish of the fall season…Earned sixth place at the 2017 Schooner Fall Classic while playing as an individual…Shot a 209 (-4) in the Schooner.
3. Valerie Tanguay, senior: Has claimed two top-five finishes in her last three tournaments…Secured fourth at the Clemson Invitational while competing individually with a 209 (-7)…Tied for second place at the Hurricane Invitational while competing in the event as an individual, shooting a career-best-tying 67 (-5) on the final day to finish with a 211 (-5)…Tied for 26th at the Jim West Challenge with a 216 (+3)…Owns nine career top-20 finishes, including three in the top 10.
4. Kaitlin Milligan, freshman: Tied for 17th with a 223 (+7) at the Hurricane Invitational…Named Big 12 Golfer of the Month for February…At the Westbrook Invitational, shot a 54-hole total of 199 (-17) – the lowest individual tournament score in OU history – to finish in second…The freshman had opened the event with a 62 (-10) in Sunday’s first round, marking the lowest 18-hole score in program history (previous low was 65), the best in Big 12 history and the lowest in NCAA Division I women’s golf this season…Finished in a tie for 13th with a 214 (+1) at the Battle at the Beach…Tied for 16th at the Schooner Fall Classic with a 1-under (212)…The first OU freshman to earn a top-20 finish since current seniors Ana Ruiz and Hannah Wood in 2014.
5. Sydney Youngblood, redshirt freshman: In the lineup for the first time September, coming back from a shoulder injury…Claimed ninth place at the Jim West Challenge with a career-low 209 (-4) in her first tournament back with the Sooners after a season-ending injury in 2016-17…Tied for 36th at the Schooner Fall Classic…Played in OU’s first three tournaments of 2016-17 before suffering a shoulder surgery and claiming a medical redshirt.