With all Texas sports in the offseason, junior golfer Emilee Hoffman is spending the year’s dead period winning championships.
This past weekend, Hoffman won the historic Women’s Western Golf Association National Amateur Championship at the Mistwood Golf Club in Romeoville, Illinois, a suburb just outside of Chicago.
A birdie on hole No. 29 of the 36-hole match play final secured her the victory over the University of Illinois’ Tristyn Nowlin.
“I had hoped to play well and advance in this tournament,” Hoffman said in a Texas Athletics press release. “My best club this week was my driver. My putting has been a problem this year, but I have worked hard to improve and it paid off this week.”
Hoffman was consistently at the top of the leaderboard and found herself as the tournament’s top qualifier after shooting a 36-hole qualifying round 135. Every round Hoffman played, she triumphed and rode her wave of success to defeat some of the nation’s top golfers from Fresno, California, to Charlottesville, Virginia.
This achievement for Hoffman is one she’ll add to a growing number of accolades. Following her sophomore season in the spring of 2018, Golfweek named Hoffman an Honorable Mention All-American.
Hoffman was also an All-Big 12 selection following the 2017-2018 season. To add onto that, she earned a Big 12 All-Tournament team selection after placing second in the Big 12 Tournament held in Stillwater, Oklahoma. There, she led Texas to a eight-stroke team victory and was the biggest piece in bringing home a conference tournament championship.
In her freshman year participating in the tournament, Hoffman was a Big 12 All-Tournament team selection after placing second in that Big 12 Tournament as well.
After her impressive freshman season, Hoffman was chosen to to be one of the representatives for the United States in the World University Games. There, she helped bring home the gold for the red, white and blue and solidified herself as one of the country’s top amateurs.
According to World Amateur Golf Ranking, Hoffman is the 111th-ranked amateur women’s golfer in the world.
Hoffman has hit her stride out of season but will look to carry her hot clubs into more tournaments before beginning the 2018-2019 Texas women’s golf season.
