Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirl Golf prepares for NCAA Championships
May 18, 2003 | Cowgirl Golf
No. 2 Ranked Oklahoma State advances to
the NCAA Championships for the third consecutive season
QUICK FACTS
Tuesday - Friday
May 20-23
Kampen Course of the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex
West Lafayette, Ind.
72-hole stroke play
par 72 • 6,225 yards
Oklahoma State Golfers
No. Name Class Height Handed Rds-Stks Average Hometown (high school) 1. Annie Thurman So. 5-4 Right 29-2164 74.62 Highland, Utah (Lone Peak 2. Karin Sjödin Fr. 5-8 Right 29-2169 74.79 Gothenburg, Sweden (Burgårdens) 3. Christi Cano Sr. 5-2 Right 29-2187 75.41 San Antonio, Texas (Thomas Edison) 4. Linda Wessberg Sr. 5-9 Right 29-2188 75.45 Västra Frölunda, Sweden (Burgårdens) 5. Jenny Karr So. 5-8 Right 26-2002 77.00 Scottsdale, Ariz. (Granite Hills) Cowgirls to Compete in the NCAA Championships
Oklahoma State’s Cowgirl golf team will travel to West Lafayette, Ind., this week to compete in the NCAA Championships. There will be practice rounds on Sunday and Monday, May 18-19. Championship play will begin on Tuesday, May 20. The Cowgirls will be paired with Georgia and Kent State during the first round of competition and will tee off beginning at 1:10 p.m. CST on Tuesday. The tournament will be played on the Kampen Course of the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex. The course plays to a par 72 at 6,225 yards. The championships are a four-day, 72-hole event with play beginning each day at 8 a.m.
Oklahoma State Finishes Second at the NCAA West Regional
Oklahoma State had its best finish in school history at an NCAA Regional earlier this month as the Cowgirls finished second at the NCAA’s West Regional in Tempe, Ariz. In the 11 previous NCAA Regional Championships, OSU’s highest finish was a fourth-place outing at both the 1994 NCAA West Regional and the 2001 NCAA Central Regional. Four Cowgirls finished in the top-10 individually, with Christi Cano, Karin Sjödin, Annie Thurman and Linda Wessberg all finishing tied for 10th with an identical three-round score of 220. Oklahoma State finished with a 16-over-par 880, 10 strokes behind Southern California and 12 strokes ahead of UCLA. OSU shot even par during the first round, then carded a 14-over 302 during the windblown second round. The Cowgirls had the best round of the day during the final round, carding a two-over 290. The Cowgirl golfers had five sub-par rounds, including two by Cano, who sandwiched a 78 between a pair of one-under 71s. Wessberg had the best individual round by a Cowgirl during the tournament with a two-under 70 during the opening round.
Cowgirls win Third Straight Conference Title
Oklahoma State came from five strokes back to defeat the Missouri Tigers by one stroke and win its third-consecutive Big 12 Conference Championship two weeks ago in Columbia, Mo. The Cowgirls shot a 296 during the second round and cut the five-stroke lead to just one entering the final round. OSU shot a final round 304, two strokes better than Mizzou. Cowgirl freshman Karin Sjödin finished second individually with a three-round score of 223, three strokes back of the individual medalist. Senior Christi Cano and sophomore Annie Thurman finished fourth and seventh, respectively, to each earn all-tournament honors. It was Oklahoma State’s 18th conference title in 28 years as a member of either the Big Eight or the Big 12 Conference.
Sjödin Named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year
Cowgirl Karin Sjödin was named the Big 12 Conference’s Newcomer of the Year, it was announced following the first round of the Big 12 Championships. The freshman from Gothenburg, Sweden, currently has a 74.96 strokes per round average, and has five top-five finishes in nine tournaments this season. It was the third time in the seven-year history of the league that a Cowgirl freshman has won the award as the top newcomer.
Three Named to All-Big 12 Squads
Sophomore Annie Thurman was one of five golfers named to the first-team of the All-Big 12 squad, it was announced following the first round of the Big 12 Championships. She currently leads the team and is third in the Big 12 with a 74.77 strokes per round average. Freshman Karin Sjödin and senior Linda Wessberg were both named second-team All-Big 12 as they rank seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Big 12 in stroke average. Thurman is the 11th Cowgirl to earn first-team All-Big 12 honors in the seven-year history of the league, while Sjödin and Wessberg make up the 14th and 15th All-Big 12 honorees from OSU. It was Wessberg’s fourth overall honor (first team in 2000 and 2002, second team in 2001 and 2003). Maria Bodén is the only Cowgirl to earn first-team All-Big 12 honors all four seasons.
Trio Make Big 12 All-Tournament Team
Freshman Karin Sjödin, sophomore Annie Thurman and senior Christi Cano all finished in the top-10 individually at the Big 12 Championships, garnering All-Tournament honors. It was the second time in the history of the Big 12 that three Cowgirls finished in the top 10 (Maria Bodén, Emma Zackrisson and Linda Wessberg completed that feat in 2001). In the seven-year history of the tournament, 15 Cowgirls have made the All-Tournament squad.
OSU Achieves No. 1 Ranking
For the first time since, 1987, Oklahoma State achieved the top spot in the national rankings this season. Last fall, the Cowgirls were ranked No. 1 according to the Golfweek/ Sagarin Peformance Index released on Oct. 1. It was the second time in school history that the team has reached the top spot. The Cowgirls achieved a No. 1 ranking following a 33-stroke win in the Big Eight Championships in the spring of 1987.
Oklahoma State one of top Programs in Collegiate Golf
Based on the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, Oklahoma State has the top overall golf program in the country. Entering the NCAA Championships, OSU’s women’s team is ranked No. 2 nationally, whilethe men are ranked fifth overall. That’s followed by Texas’ golf program, which has the men ranked fourth and the women fifth. Florida (men - second, women - 10th), Arizona (women - sixth, men - seventh) and Wake Forest (men - third, women - 14th) round out the top-five schools.
Three Cowgirls Earn Academic Accolades
Jenny Karr, a sophomore for the OSU Cowgirls, has been named first-team Academic All-Big 12, it was announced Wednesday. Fellow sophomore Annie Thurman and senior Linda Wessberg have been named to the second team. The honor is Wessberg’s second such accolade.
Cowgirls Fare Well at Kampen Course
Oklahoma State played well last fall at the NCAA Fall Preview, carding a three-round total of 892 and finishing second behind Arizona. The Cowgirls led by two strokes after the first round, but faltered during the second, recording a 306 team score, but still led by one entering the final round. However, OSU dropped six strokes to the Wildcats during the final day and ended with a runnerup finish. Cowgirl freshman Karin Sjödin continued her spectacular play with a 68 during the first day, her third sub-70 score in four rounds as a collegian. She ended up finishing tied for fifth with a 221 score. Senior Christi Cano and sophomore Annie Thurman both tied for 10th with a 222, while senior Linda Wessberg carded an 81 during the second round and settled with a 230, good for 35th place. Sophomore Jenny Karr got better each round, finishing with a 77 during the final day. For the tournament, Oklahoma State finished nine strokes ahead of Vanderbilt, 10 in front of Duke, 12 ahead of Auburn and 17 in front of Texas.
Cowgirls at the Top
Oklahoma State has won three tournaments this season, and had four more top-five finishes. The Cowgirls won the TOPY Cup, a very prestigious tournament in Japan, by 25 strokes over their nearest competitor. OSU then finished second at the NCAA National Preview, held at the site of this year’s 2003 NCAA Championships, three strokes behind Arizona. The following tournament, the Cowgirls finished second to top-ranked Duke by one stroke at the Franklin Street Trust/Tar Heel Invitational. Oklahoma State had a fourth-place finish at the first tournament of the spring season, the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge. The Cowgirls finished behind Pepperdine, USC and Arizona. Six weeks later, OSU won the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational in Austin by six strokes over host-school Texas. The Cowgirls took home their third-consecutive and fourth overall Big 12 title with a one-stroke win over Missouri in Columbia, Mo., and followed that up with a runnerup finish at the NCAA West Regional.
OSU Enjoys National Success
Oklahoma State has four starters ranked in the top-60 nationally, according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. Sophomore Annie Thurman ranks 26th nationally with a 73.01 rating. Freshman Karin Sjödin ranks 29th, while senior Linda Wessberg is 48th. Senior Christi Cano ranks 56th, while sophomore Jenny Karr ranks 122nd.
OSU’s History at the NCAA Championships
This will mark Oklahoma State’s third consecutive and 12th overall appearance in the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships which began in 1982. OSU has had seven top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships, as well as three top-five finishes. Oklahoma State’s top finish is third, accomplished in 1982 and equalled in 1989. The Cowgirls finished fifth at the 2001 NCAA Championships. OSU has reached the NCAA Championships in each of Amy Weeks’ three years as head coach of the Cowgirls. OSU finished 18 strokes back of national champion Georgia in 2001, and finished 13th at last year’s championship in Auburn, Wash. Last season’s 1189 was also the lowest 72-hole score by an OSU Cowgirl golf team in school history.
OSU vs. the Field
Oklahoma State is 44-26 overall vs. the other participants in the NCAA Championships this season, good for a 62.9 winning percentage. That mark includes a 13-16 record against those teams ranked in the top 10, a 30-25 mark vs. teams in the top 20, and a 36-25 record against those teams in the top 25. The only loss OSU has to a team outside the top 18 was to Kent State at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic. Over the last three years — the Amy Weeks’ era — Oklahoma State is 404-118-4 (77.2 percent) vs. the nation. That includes a 147-42-2 mark in 2000-01 and a 151-47-1 record last season.
