Oklahoma State University Athletics
Karin Sjodin
February 24, 2005 | Cowgirl Golf
Junior Season (Fall 2004)
Karin is currently the top-ranked collegiate golfer in the country after winning two of the three tournaments she has competed in. She won the NCAA Fall Preview by one stroke over Louise Stahle of Arizona State, carding a seven-under-par 206. She also won the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational by nine strokes over teammate Annie Thurman, who finished second. In her only other tournament of the fall, Karin finished second to Kelly Froelich of Georgia at the Dick McGuire Invitational. Six of Karin's nine rounds this fall have been sub-par, including a pair of 67s in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Fall Preview. She has a 70.22 strokes per round average.
Sophomore Season (2003-04)
Karin competed in 11 of 12 tournaments her sophomore year, skipping the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate while playing for the Swedish National Team at the The Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship in Trinity, Texas. Karin had a second-place finish at the Dick McGuire Invitational, losing to New Mexico's Kailin Downs by three strokes, the difference in their final-day scores. In that tournament, Karin shot a 67, her best round of the season. She finished with nine sub-par rounds during her sophomore season. Karin was 4-0 at the Hooter's Match Play Tournament, including a 2 up win over Stanford's Kelly Husted. She finished third at the Bryan National Collegiate, carding a 69 during the second round. Karin finished second at the NCAA Championships, falling by one stroke to the individual champion. All four of her rounds at the NCAA Tournament in Auburn, Ala., were below par. Her four-round total of 279 was the lowest NCAA Championship total in school history, and it was the highest finish by a Cowgirl in NCAA Tournament history. Karin was named honorable mention All-American by the National Golf Coaches Association, and was on the NGCA All-Scholar team. She had 74.47 strokes per round average her sophomore season. Karin was named first-team All-Big 12 and first-team Academic All-Big 12 for her efforts in the classroom.
Freshman Season (2002-03)
Karin was named the Big 12 Conference's Newcomer of the Year after finishing fourth in the league with a 74.94 stroke average. She was also named second-team All-Big 12 and earned a spot on the Big 12 Championships all-tournament team after finishing as runnerup at the conference event. Karin also earned honorable mention All-America honors from the National Golf Coaches Association. She was second on the team in stroke average at 74.94 strokes per round, which ranked fourth in the Big 12 and 29th nationally. In the Spring, Karin had five top-10 finishes, including her second-place outing at the Big 12 Championships and a 10th-place finish at the NCAA West Regional, earning all-tournament honors at both. She finished 24th at the NCAA Championships, the highest finish by a Cowgirl freshman since Arantxa Sison finished 17th in 1992 In fact, her finish is the third-highest by a Cowgirl freshman in school history (Robin Hood finished 21st as a frosh in 1984). Karin was the individual medalist at the TOPY Cup, her first collegiate tournament, after carding a three-round score of 208, including a 65 during the first round. Both numbers rank as the lowest in OSU history. In all, she had seven top-10 finishes, including five top-five finishes. Karin was named the Big 12 Golfer of the Month for the month of September.
Amateur
This past October, Karin won the Women's World Team Amateur Championship in Puerto Rico, leading her Swedish National Team to the team title. During the summer of 2004, Karin played in both the St. Rule Trophy and the British Women's Amateur. Karin won several tournaments during her pre-collegiate days of playing golf in Sweden, including the 2002 Swedish Team Championship, the 2000 Swedish Junior Championship, the 2000 European Team Championship and the 2000 Telia Tour. She finished second at the 2002 European Team Championship in Russia and third at the 2002 Spanish Open Championship. This past summer, Karin led the Swedish team to second place at the European Team Championship, finishing third individually in the stroke-play portion of the tournament. Her lowest amateur round is a 63, shot at Delsjö Golf Klubb in Göteborg.
Personal
Born Aug. 8, 1983, Karin is the daughter of Gunilla and Per Sjödin. She has an older brother, Klas. Karin is majoring in international business at Oklahoma State. She played tennis for six years, soccer for four and handball for one season. Karin was named the fifth-best goalkeeper in her age group in Sweden in 1998.
