OU women’s team opens spring slate at Westbrook Invitational

Oklahoma is heading west to open the spring slate of its women’s golf season. The Sooners tee off Sunday in the ninth annual Westbrook Invitational at the par-72 6,252-yard Westbrook Village Golf Club in Peoria, Ariz.

The two-day, 54-hole, event will showcase a deep field that features six teams ranked in the top 50 of the most recent Golfstat rankings. The No. 33 Sooners are joined by No. 19 Illinois, No. 29 Mississippi State, No. 42 Tennessee, No. 44 Ohio State, No. 47 Denver, College of Charleston, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, UC Davis, UNLV and host school Wisconsin.

“We’ve played well in the past at this event and the course sets up really well for everyone’s game.” head coach Veronique Drouin-Luttrell said. “We love playing at Westbrook and are excited to get started there again this year.”

The Sooners have played at Westbrook three times in the tournament’s eight-year history, including each of the last two seasons. Last year, OU finished in second place after firing a 10-under 854 over three rounds, finishing one shot off the lead. The Sooners won the event in 2018, when the team broke the program record by shooting a 25-under 839 to beat Ohio State by one stroke. In 2015, Oklahoma finished tied for sixth.

Junior Kaitlin Milligan and sophomore Mikhaela Fortuna will try and lead the Sooners to their 51st all-time program win, as the two have found past success in Peoria. In 2018, Milligan broke the school record for lowest 54-hole score by shooting a 199, including a Big 12 record low-round of 62 en route to a runner-up finish at the tournament.

The Norman native finished in seventh place in the 2019 edition while Fortuna fired a 214 over 54 holes.

Oklahoma tees off at 9:30 a.m. CT Sunday with a shotgun start.

Live scoring will be available on Birdiefire.

OKLAHOMA LINEUP

1. Libby Winans:Broke the program record for lowest season scoring average by a freshman with a 72.59 average…Also owns the OU freshman record for par-or-better rounds with 15…Led the Sooners with a sixth-place finish in the 2019 Big 12 Championship, the highest finish in the tournament by an OU freshman since 2015…Named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team…Earned her first tournament win at the Clover Cup shooting a 214 (-2)…Tied for fifth in the Moon Golf Invitational to earn her second-best collegiate finish scoring a 211 (-5).2. Kaitlin Milligan: Has claimed a top-20 placement in 14 of her last 16 career tournaments, including a season-best second-place finish at the Illini Women’s Invitational…Ranked No. 19 in the country per Golfstat heading into Westbrook…Received an invitation to play in the 2020 Augusta National Women’s Invitational…Enters the tournament with five straight top-12 finishes…Finished in sixth place at the White Sands Invitational…Took fifth place at the Jim West Challenge…Secured 11th at the Schooner Fall Classic…Opened the season with a 12th place finish at the Minnesota Invitational…A 2018 All-Big 12 selection…Wrapped up her 2018-19 campaign ranked No. 43 in the national Golfstat rankings and No. 53 in the Golfweek collegiate rankings…Qualified for the 2019 NCAA Championships as an individual after winning the NCAA Norman Regional…Her 2018-19 season stroke average (72.40) is the fourth lowest in program history…Strung together eight straight top-20 finishes from Sept. 30 through March 31, including five in the top 10…Her 117 birdies in 2017-18 were the second most that season by a Division I freshman…Owns the program and Big 12 record for lowest round, firing a 62 (-10) in the first round of the 2018 Westbrook Invitational.3. Sydney Youngblood: Took ninth place at the Jim West Challenge…Tied for 20th at the Illini Women’s Invitational…Saw action in seven tournaments last season, firing a 73.60 stroke average…Claimed 36th place in the NCAA Norman Regional…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 2018 NCAA Regional, shooting a 219 (+3) in Austin, Texas.

   4. Mikhaela Fortuna: Claimed a 12th place finish at the White Sands Invitational after shooting a career-low 66 in the final round…Claimed a seventh place finish at the Schooner Fall Classic…Shot a career-best 54-hole score of 209 (-1) at the Schooner…Opened the season with a 12th place finish at the Minnesota Invitational…Took part in nine events as a freshman with a 74.27 stroke average…Collected three top-20 finishes in her rookie season…Tied for 16th at the Westbrook Invitational…Competed as an individual at the Schooner Fall Classic and posted two rounds in the 60s, finishing in a tie for 14th place.

   5. Ellen Secor: Making her second appearance in the OU lineup…Came to Norman from Colorado State, where she competed in 33 events over the last three seasons…Boasts five top-five career finishes and captured her first collegiate tournament title last season at the Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate… Claimed a victory at the 2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship…Named to the Mountain West Academic All-Conference Team in 2017.