Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirl Golfers head to NCAA West Regional
May 03, 2005 | Cowgirl Golf
Seventh-ranked Oklahoma State
at the NCAA West Regional
QUICK FACTS
Thurs-Sat, May 5-7
New Mexico State University Golf Course
Las Cruces, N.M.
54-hole stroke play
par 72 • 6,319 yards
Oklahoma State Golfers
No., Name Class Height Handed Rds-Stks Average 1. Annie Thurman-Young Sr. 5-4 Right 27-1966 72.81 2. Karin Sjodin Jr. 5-8 Right 24-1773 73.88 3. Mallorie Underwood So. 5-7 Right 26-1984 76.31 4. Candie Herrera So. 5-5 Right 24-1874 78.08 5. Ali Griffin So. 5-7 Right 18-1437 79.83 Cowgirls to Compete in NCAA West Regional
Oklahoma State’s Cowgirl Golf team will travel to Las Cruces, N.M., to compete in the NCAA West Regional Golf Championships. The tournament will be held at the New Mexico State University Golf Course on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 5-7, with a practice round on Wednesday, May 4. OSU will take a starting five of Annie Thurman-Young, Karin Sjödin, Mallorie Underwood, Candie Herrera and Ali Griffin. Oklahoma State will look to advance to the NCAA Championships for the fifth consecutive season through regional play. The The top eight teams and top two individuals not affiliated with those eight teams will advance to the NCAA Championships, May 17-20, at the Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore. The West Regional tournament will begin at 7:30 a.m. MT each day on the 6,319-yard, par-72 course.
Oklahoma State wins Big 12 Championships
Cowgirl senior Annie Thurman-Young recorded three sub-par rounds, winning the individual title by 10 strokes and leading the Cowgirls to their fourth Big 12 Championship in five years. Thurman shot 70-71-71 for a 212 total, 10 strokes better than a pair of Texas Longhorns that finished in second place. OSU defeated UT by one stroke. Sophomore Candie Herrera earned all-tournament honors with her sixth-place finish, while junior Karin Sjödin and sophomore Mallorie Underwood both finished in the top 20. It was Oklahoma State’s 19th conference title overall, and the Cowgirls’ three-round total of 900 was the lowest team score in Big 12/Big Eight history. It also marked the third time in nine years of the Big 12 Conference that the winning margin was one stroke.
More on Thurman-Young’s Performance
Annie Thurman-Young became the first golfer in the league to win back-to-back individual titles since the late 1980s, when Oklahoma State’s Eva Dahloff garnered medalist honors in 1987, ‘88 and 1989 in the Big Eight days. Thurman-Young is just the third women’s golfer to earn back-to-back titles in Big Eight/Big 12 history, the others being the aforementioned Dahloff and former Cowgirl Alicia Ogrin in 1978 and ‘79. Thurman-Young is the sixth golfer in league history to win multiple individual titles. The others are all Cowgirls: Ogrin (1978-79), Val Skinner (1980, 82), Robin Hood (1984, 86), Dahloff (1987-88-89), and Maria Bodén (1999, 2001). OSU has had the individual medalist 21 times in the sports’ 30 years of league championship play.
Oklahoma State at the NCAA Regionals
The Cowgirls are competing in their 13th consecutive NCAA Regional Tournament, and have advanced to the NCAA Championships six times through regional play. The Cowgirls have finished in the top five in three of the last four NCAA Regional tournaments, including a second-place finish at the 2003 event in Tempe, Ariz. OSU has finished in the top five on four occasions at the NCAA Regional Championships, and has two other top-10 finishes. Last year, the Cowgirls won a one-hole playoff over Florida to gain the final spot for advancing to the NCAA Championships.
OSU vs. the Field
Oklahoma State is 25-9 overall vs. the competition in the West Regional this season, good for an 73.5 winning percentage. OSU is 1-3 vs. Tennessee and 1-2 against UCLA and Georgia. However, vs. the rest of the field, the Cowgirls are 22-2, with a 2-1 mark against Arizona, a 1-1 record vs. BYU, 4-0 vs. both Stanford and UNLV, 3-0 against USC and Oregon, 2-0 vs. Washington State and California, and 1-0 against San Franciso.
OSU Golfers Garner League Honors
Senior Annie Thurman-Young was named the Big 12 Conference’s Golfer of the Year, it was announced at the pretournament banquet. It is just the fourth time in the league’s nine-year history that a Cowgirl has garnered that award. Maria Bodén won the accolade thrice, from 1999-2001. Thurman and junior Karin Sjödin were both named first-team All-Big 12, the fourth time in league history that two Cowgirls have made the first team. It marks the second time each player has made the first team, and the third time they’ve both been named All-Big 12.
McGraw Named Big 12 Coach of the Year
In his first year at the helm of the Cowgirl Golf program, Coach Mike McGraw was named the Big 12 Conference’s Coach of the Year in a vote of the league coaches. It is the first time a Cowgirl coach has received the honor since 1999, when Ann Pitts garnered the accolade. Pitts won the award in both 1998 and 1999. In McGraw’s first season, the Cowgirls have won two tournaments and finished in the top three on four occasions. OSU has been ranked in the top-10 nationally all season long.
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.
Cowgirls Rank High Nationally
Based on the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Ratings Index, the Cowgirls rank among the best in the nation individually. Annie Thurman-Young and Karin Sjödin rank fourth and seventh, respectively, in the national rankings. In fact, Thurman-Young is the highest-ranked golfer playing in the West Regional. Mallorie Underwood ranks 89th nationally, while Candie Herrera is No. 225 and Ali Griffin ranks 364th nationally.
OSU Strength of Schedule Ranks in Top 10
Based on the Golfweek/ Sagarin Performance Ratings Index, Oklahoma State’s schedule this season is the eighth-toughest in the nation. The only Big 12 school ranked ahead of the Cowgirls is Texas, which is in the No. 2 spot. Arizona is first, while Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Florida round out the top-five teams 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 28 times.. Over 50 percent of OSU’s opponents throughout the course of the season have been foes ranked in the top 25 nationally.
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 eight of the nine tournaments she has competed in this year. Her best performance by far was winning her second-consecutive Big 12 Championship. 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.
