Short a player, Tulsa drops to last in AAC Championship

PALM COAST, Fla. – Tulsa’s Anneke Strobach finished in 12th place individually at the American Athletic Conference Women’s Golf Championship Tuesday but the short-handed Golden Hurricane dropped from sixth to last as the pressure of having just four golfers instead of the customary five proved difficult.

Strobach carded a final round 75 Tuesday to finish the tournament with a 5-over par 223 score. Tulsa will now concentrate on finding a coach to replace Emilee Klein, who resigned in late March to deal with personal issues. TU officials have said they expect to hire a new coach to rebuild the once proud program no later than June 1.

As a team, Tulsa turned in a final round of 310 for a total score of 930 on the par-72 Conservatory course at the Hammock Beach Resort. Tulsa spent the first two days in sixth place after rounds of 305 and 315.

Behind Strobach, Tulsa’s Olivia Jackson shot 81 to drop from fourth to 25th place. Johanna Samuelsson turned in her best round of the tournament and the best Tulsa round of the day with a score of 74 to finish 35th at 234. Nicole Marquardt shot 80 to finish at 245 in 46th.

The nation’s 23rd-ranked Houston Cougars captured The American’s automatic bid to the NCAA Regional with a winning score of 870, beating second place UCF and East Carolina by 14 strokes. Wichita State’s Taryn Torgerson set a conference record with her final round 64, winning the conference individual crown with a birdie on the first playoff hole.

Team Results

1. Houston                      291-302-277=870

T2.      UCF                          293-305-286=884

T2.      East Carolina               296-303-285=884

4. Memphis                    296-301-288=885
5. Wichita State               302-316-287=905
6. Cincinnati                   306-318-290=914

T7.      SMU                          311-318-286=915

T7.      Tulane                        310-311-294=915

9. South Florida               314-311-299=924
10. Tulsa                          305-315-310=930

Tulsa Individuals

T12.    Anneke Strobach          73-75-75=223

T25.    Olivia Jackson             73-74-81=228

35. Johanna Samuelsson     80-80-74=234
36. Nicole Marquardt          79-86-80=245

Top-5 Individuals

T1.      Taryn Torgerson, Wichita State    70-77-64=211 (-5)*

T1.      Dorthea Forbrigd, ECU               74-70-67=211 (-5)

3.        Megan Thothong, Houston           73-72-68=213 (-3)
4.       Leonie Harm, Houston                70-77-67=214 (-2)
5.        Kaeli Jones, UCF                       71-75-69=215 (-1)

*Won playoff