Oklahoma State University Athletics
Kelsey Vines Named Big 12 Player of the Year
May 01, 2013 | Cowgirl Golf
May 1, 2013
IRVING, Texas - For the fifth time in six seasons, a member of Oklahoma State's women's golf team has been named the Big 12 Player of the Year. Senior Kelsey Vines earned the honor for the second year in a row it was announced today by the league office. She was joined on the All-Big 12 squad by freshman Julie Yang, while Alan Bratton was named the league's coach of the year.
The selection makes Vines the third Cowgirl to win the award on multiple occasions. Maria Bodén was named the league's top player in 1999, 2000 and 2001 and Caroline Hedwall was named player of the year in 2009 and 2010.
The Austin, Texas native is currently ranked No. 5 in the country in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.
Vines has competed in 10 events this year and has finished outside the top 10 on just two occasions. Among her top-10 showings is her third victory as a Cowgirl, a four-shot triumph at the Hurricane Invitational. Additionally, she has three runner-up finishes to her credit, placing second at The Landfall Tradition, Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge and the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate.
Most recently, she finished fifth at the Big 12 Championship to lead the Cowgirls to their first league title since 2009.
Overall, OSU has won the award nine times in the 17-year history of the league with Annie Thurman-Young and Pernilla Lindberg being chosen in 2005 and 2008, respectively.
Yang earned first-team honors despite not joining the program until the spring semester. The Seoul, South Korea native has made six starts for the Cowgirls and earned her first career victory at the SMU Dallas Athletic Club Invitational, winning by seven shots. She earned her second career top 10 at the Big 12 Championship where she tied for seventh place.
Bratton's selection as the league's top coach is OSU's fifth overall and first since 2008. In his second year at the helm of the Cowgirl program, he has guided the squad to three victories, including the aforementioned league title.
The Player of the Year is automatically selected as the highest ranked individual from the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings following the league championship. The all-conference team was identified using the top 10 highest-ranked golfers according to the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings following the Big 12 Championship.
