Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirl golfers head to Austin for Big 12 Championships
April 20, 2005 | Cowgirl Golf
Seventh-ranked Oklahoma State
at the Big 12 Championships
Oklahoma State Lineup
No., Name Class Height Handed Rds-Stks Average
1. Annie Thurman Sr. 5-4 Right 24-1754 73.08 2. Karin Sjodin Jr. 5-8 Right 21-1543 73.48 3. Mallorie Underwood So. 5-7 Right 23-1753 76.22 4. Candie Herrera So. 5-5 Right 21-1647 78.43 5. Ali Griffin Fr. 5-7 Right 15-1186 79.07
Cowgirls to Compete in Big 12 Championships
Oklahoma State’s Cowgirl Golf team will travel to Austin, Texas, to compete in the ninth annual Big 12 Golf Championships. The tournament will be held at the University of Texas Golf Club on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 22-24, with a practice round on Thursday, April 21. OSU will look to win its fourth league title in five years after having won the 2003 tournament by one stroke over Missouri, the 2002 championship by three strokes over Oklahoma, and the 2001 title by six strokes over runnerup Texas. Oklahoma State has won four of the eight Big 12 Championships, and has won 18 conference titles in all. The Cowgirls will compete in Group 2 on Friday along with Iowa State and Colorado. The tournament will begin at 8 a.m. each day on the 6,323-yard, par-72 course.
Cowgirls Earn Academic Accolades
Three Cowgirls earned Academic All-Big 12 honors, it was announced earlier this week. Junior Karin Sjödin and sophomore Ali Griffin were named first-team Academic All-Big 12, while sophomore Mallorie Underwood earned second-team accolades. Sjödin is majoring in general business, while Griffin is majoring in journalism & broadcasting. Underwood has not declared a major.
Oklahoma State at the Big 12 Tournament
Oklahoma State’s women’s golf team has finished in the top five in all eight Big 12 Championships, including victories in 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2003. In three of the four years that OSU won the team title, a Cowgirl won individual medalist honors as well. In both 1999 and 2001, Maria Bodén won the individual title and, in 2002, Emma Zackrisson took home the individual trophy. Karin Sjödin finished tied for second at the 2004 tournament, and Annie Thurman-Young was the individual medalist last year.
OSU vs. the Field
Oklahoma State is a perfect 16-0 overall vs. the Big 12 opponents this season. OSU is 3-0 vs. Texas and Texas A&M, 2-0 against Texas Tech, Baylor and Kansas, and 1-0 vs. Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Over the last five years, Oklahoma State is an impressive 138-20-1 (87.1 percent) vs. the Big 12 Conference. That includes a 46-7 mark in 2000-01, a 35-7 record in 2001-02, a 22-3 mark in 2002-03, and a 16-3-1 mark last season.
Cowgirls Rank High in the Big 12
Based on the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Ratings Index, the Cowgirls rank among the best in the Big 12 individually. Annie Thurman-Young and Karin Sjödin rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in the national rankings. Mallorie Underwood ranks 10th in the Big 12 and 94th nationally, while Kyla Welsh ranks 27th in the league and 227th nationally. Candie Herrera and Ali Griffin both rank in the top 45 in the league and in the top 350 nationally.
OSU Strength of Schedule Ranks No. 5 Nationally
Based on the Golfweek/ Sagarin Performance Ratings Index, Oklahoma State’s schedule this season is the fifh-toughest in the nation. The only Big 12 school ranked ahead of the Cowgirls is Texas, which is in the top spot. Arizona, Vanderbilt and Duke round out the top-four teams ahead of with the strongest strength of schedules. Oklahoma State has played in the same tournament as the other top-10 teams in the country a combined 30 times. The Cowgirls have competed against all other teams in the top 25 a combined 61 times. Over 50 percent of OSU’s opponents throughout the course of the season have been foes ranked in the top 25 nationally.
OSU at the Tournament
In the 29 year history of the Big Eight/Big 12 Tournament, Oklahoma State has won the team title an impressive 18 times, including six consecutive from 1984-89. Nineteen Cowgirls have won individual medalist honors, including nine consecutive from 1982-90. Excluding the inaugural season of each league (1976 for the Big Eight, 1997 for the Big 12), OSU has never finished lower than third place, and has finished either as champion or runnerup on 24 occasions.
2004 Big 12 Tournament Recap
Despite an outstanding performance by Annie Thurman, Oklahoma State was unable to win its fourth-consecutive Big 12 title, finishing third behind Texas and Texas A&M at the 2004 Big 12 Championships. Thurman carded a 69-68 for a two-round total of 137, seven strokes better than second-place Janice Olivencia of Texas. The tournament was reduced to two rounds due to rain, the first time since 1978 that the league tournament did not consist of three rounds. OSU was tied for sixth place after the first round, but moved up to third after shooting the second-best round of the day on day two. Individually, Karin Sjödin and Mallorie Underwood both finished tied for 30th place, each carding a 156, while Candie Herrera finished tied for 36th with a 157. Ashley Knoll finished with a 169.
The 2005 Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational
Sophomore Mallorie Underwood and senior Annie Thurman-Young both finished in the top-five individually, and the Cowgirls nearly took the team title, losing to top-ranked Duke by one stroke at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational last month. The tournament was played on the same course as this year’s Big 12 Tournament. Underwood carded a two-under-par 70 during the final round, tying her for second place, two strokes behind individual champion Stacy Lewis of Arkansas. It was the first top-five finish of Underwood’s career. Thurman-Young was consistent all tournament long, shooting 76-76-75 for a 227 total and a tie for fifth place, her seventh top-five finish of the season. Oklahoma State outdistanced third-place Texas by nine strokes and outscored Missouri, the Big 12’s third-best team, by 33 strokes. Junior Karin Sjödin finished in a tie for 18th place with a 232, while sophomore Ali Griffin shot a 233 and tied for 22nd place. Candie Herrera shot a 242 to round out the Cowgirl scorers.
On the Schedule Next for Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State will compete in one of three NCAA Regional sites, May 5-7. A total of 21 teams and three individuals will be selected to compete at each regional. The three regional sites are: East Regional — University Golf Course, Gainesville, Fla.; Central Regional — The Rawls Course, Lubbock, Texas; West Regional — NMSU Golf Course, Las Cruces, N.M. The top eight teams and top two individuals not affiliated with those eight teams at each regional site will advance to the NCAA Championships. The national championship event will be held at the Meadows Golf Course in Sunriver, Ore., May 17-20.
What a Fall
During the fall season, junior Cowgirl Karin Sjödin competed in three tournaments for Oklahoma State. She won two of the tournaments — the Mercedes-Benz NCAA Fall Preview and the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational — and finished runnerup at the Dick McGuire Invitational. During that nine-round span, Sjödin had a 70.22 strokes per round average. That included six sub-par rounds and three rounds in the 60s (a 69 and a pair of 67s). With her 206 at the NCAA Fall Preview — a school record, Karin now owns the best two tournament totals in school history.
Thurman-Young a Top Five Contender
Cowgirl senior Annie Thurman-Young has finished in the top five individually at seven of the eight tournaments she has competed in this year. She was runnerup to teammate Karin Sjödin at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational, finished fourth at both the Dick McGuire Invitational and the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, and finished fifth at the Mercedes-Benz NCAA Fall Preview, the Arizona Wildcat Invitational, the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational and the Bryan National Collegiate. Her worst finish of the year — in relation to her other placings — was a 13th place finish at The Landfall Tradition.
Annie, Karin Nos. 1-2 in Recordbook
Cowgirls Annie Thurman-Young and Karin Sjödin currently have a 73.08 and 73.48 strokes per round average, respectively. Should those numbers hold up, they would rank Nos. 1-2 in the top 25 single-season stroke averages in Oklahoma State history. Former Cowgirl Maria Bodén holds the school record for that category. She averaged 73.59 strokes per round her junior year in 1999-2000. Here is a look at the top-five single-season stroke averages. However, please note that the minimum rounds to qualify is 25.
OSU to Host League Tournament in 2008
Oklahoma State will host the 2008 Big 12 Women’s Golf Championships on Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla. Here is a look at the future host schools of the Big 12 league tournament: 2006 — Nebraska; 2007 — Baylor; 2008 — Oklahoma State.
