Texas clinched its first top-five finish of the season at the Schooner Fall Classic in Norman, Oklahoma, over the weekend, finishing No. 4 overall behind the play of freshman Kaitlyn Papp and sophomore Emilee Hoffman. Both players ended their weekend tied for No. 6.
After rocky first- and second-round performances, Papp and Hoffman fired off twin scores of 64, good for 7-under-par, at the Belmar Golf Club in the final round, setting personal collegiate low-round records. The performances also broke the school record for the best 18-hole score after Hoffman birdied six of her last seven holes to tie Papp.
“I played great today and had a lot fun,” Hoffman said. “It was just a solid round. I had a lot of chances at birdie today and a lot of putts fell. It’s a great feeling to put together a low round like this. When everything clicks, it’s a nice feeling to see that hard work in certain areas is paying off.”
Papp’s 64 was her second bogey-free round this season. The first was in her first collegiate round ever, when she shot a 2-under par 70 at the Dick McGuire Invitational.
“I didn’t make any bogeys so I was really happy with that,” Papp said. “I just played steady all day and if I faltered a little bit, I made it up and down.”
In round one of the tournament, junior Maddie Luitwieler had her first career hole-in-one on the par-three 17th hole. There was a sizable gallery present to witness the feat.
“I didn’t see it go in but there was a crowd behind the green and a guy held his hands up like a football field goal sign and everybody started going crazy,” Luitwieler said. “I could see Emilee (Hoffman) in the other fairway and she freaked out too. The chain reaction of our spectators and teammates was really awesome.”
Luitwieler tied her best college round with an even par 71 on day one, and ended the tournament at 9-over par for a solo No. 54 finish. Sophomore Greta Voelker shot back-to-back 1-under par 70s in the final two rounds to finish tied for No. 26 individually. Sophomore Maren Cipolla tied for No. 55 at 10-over-par.
The Longhorns will now look to carry their momentum to Minneapolis at the Annika Intercollegiate, beginning on Oct. 1. Senior Sophia Schubert and freshman Agathe Laisne are set to return to the lineup after competing in France the past two tournaments.
