10th Ranked Cowgirl Golf Squad Beginning Spring Season In Palos Verdes

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Oklahoma State University

Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge

10th Ranked Cowgirl Golf Squad Beginning Spring Season In Palos Verdes

February 09, 2018 | Cowgirl Golf

PALOS VERDES, Calif. - Four of the eight best career stroke averages in Oklahoma State women's golf history return to a veteran Cowgirl lineup with one mission in mind – getting home to Karsten Creek for the 2018 NCAA Championships in May.

That mission begins on Sunday at one of the year's toughest events, the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes, California. The 10th ranked Cowgirls will take on 16 other top-50 squads, including six of the top-10 teams in the country according to Golfweek.

The four Cowgirls - Kenzie Neisen, Alexis Sadeghy, Emma Broze and Chih-Min Chen - will join up with talented freshmen Stephanie Astrup and Emma Whitaker with the hopes of a record 11th Big 12 Championship, which would more than double the next closest league foe.

Neisen, a two-time Big 12 individual champion, currently boasts the fifth-best career stroke average in school history at 73.48. The senior won her second Minnesota Women's State Open over the summer and was named a WGCA All-American Scholar following the 2016-17 season.

A two-time All-Big 12 Conference selection, Broze help her team finish seventh at the Stanford Intercollegiate with a clutch final round 2-under 71 in the fall. Despite an injury, Broze put up a 73.56 season stroke average last season, which is the 12th best single-season average in Cowgirl golf history.

An Oklahoma native, Sadeghy secured the 2017 Women's Oklahoma Golf Association State Amateur Championship and the 2017 WOGA Stroke Play Championship in record fashion, which helped her enter her senior season with momentum. The Academic All-Big 12 honoree posted clutch postseason rounds at the Big 12 Championship and the NCAA Regional in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and recorded the 17th lowest single-season stroke average in school history as a junior.

Chen, now a junior, was honored as a WOGA All-American Scholar and an Academic All-Big 12 selection last season. The 2015-16 Big 12 Freshman of the Year was able to help OSU claim a top five spot at the Landfall Tradition in the fall posting 2-over 144. Chen owned a 75.41 stroke average last season but remains in the top ten in career stroke average in the program's history at 74.41.

After a standout career in Stillwater, Maddie McCrary turned pro after claiming conditional LPGA status for 2018. McCrary notched her first career victory at the Windy City Collegiate Classic and boasted a 70.38 stroke average in the fall. She finished her stellar career ranked third in program history with a career stroke average of 73.24 and as a three-time All-Big 12 selection.

A pair of newcomers look to fill McCrary's vacancy in the Cowgirl lineup. Astrup arrived in Stillwater with a World Amateur Golf Ranking of 369 and a Golfweek world amateur ranking of 395, and is a veteran of high-level events all over the globe. Whitaker is a four-time Kansas 5A state champion who was ranked as the best golfer in her state according to Golfweek and Junior Golf Scoreboard.

The Event
Event: Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge
Host: Ohio State
Date: Feb. 11-13, 2018
Site / Course: Palos Verdes Golf Club / Palos Verdes, Calif.
Par / Yardage: 71 / 6,017
Format: 3 rounds of 18-hole stroke play
Live Scoring: Golfstat.com
Cowgirl Golf Notes

The Cowgirls
1. Kenzie Neisen
2. Stephanie Astrup
3. Chih-Min Chen
4. Alexis Sadeghy
5. Emma Whitaker

The NGRC Field (Golfweek Top-50 Ranking)
Alabama (2)
Arizona (41)
Arizona State (13)
Baylor (43)
Duke (4)
Florida (20)
Northwestern (12)
Ohio State
Oklahoma State (10)
San Diego State (49)
Stanford (5)
Tennessee (33)
Texas (7)
UCLA (1)
UNLV (39)
USC (9)
Wake Forest (26)
Washington (17)