Women’s golf season preview: Meet the Longhorns

Courtesy of Jack Myer/The Daily Texan.

Courtesy of Jack Myer/The Daily Texan.

JT Bowen, Sports Reporter

The Texas women’s golf team will tee off its 2022 campaign at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate tournament in Minneapolis this week.

Coming off of a Big 12 Championship in April, hopes are high for the eight-person roster, which welcomes three freshmen and a transfer this year.

Here’s a breakdown of head coach Ryan Murphy’s team heading into the season:


 

Tiffany Cao

A sophomore from Midlothian, Texas, Cao returns for her second season looking to take on a bigger role. Cao appeared in only two events as a freshman with her best performance coming at The Bruzzy tournament, where she shot a 72 in the opening and final rounds. 

 

Bentley Cotton

Westlake product Bentley Cotton enters her junior year as one of two Longhorns to play in all 12 events last year, posting an average round score of 73.95. Cotton was an integral member of the roster in 2021-22, especially down the stretch, posting fourth, 11th and sixth place finishes at The Bruzzy Tournament, the Big 12 Tournament and the NCAA Albuquerque Regional, respectively.

 

Sophie Guo

Senior Sophie Guo returns for her fourth year with much experience amongst a younger roster. Guo appeared in 12 events last season, netting an average round score of 74.68. Guo will look to return to her 2019-20 caliber of play, a season in which she broke the Texas single-season stroke average record at 70.71 as a freshman.

 

Angela Heo

Hailing from Murrieta, California, freshman Angela Heo will look to break into the five-person lineup early. Heo was highly touted on the recruiting circuit, ranked No. 6 in her class by Junior Golf Scoreboard. In her high school career, she chalked up three victories on the Future Champions Tour and six wins on the SCPGA Toyota Cup Tour.

 

Cindy Hsu

One of two international students to join the Longhorns in 2022, Cindy Hsu should be an impactful force in her first year. The freshman was a member of the Taiwan National Team in 2021 and recorded victories at the 2021 IMG Junior World Championships and 2021 Future Champions Challenge. 

 

Faith Kilgore

Faith Kilgore joins the team as a senior transfer from Colorado Christian University. Kilgore put together an impressive three years at Colorado Christian, and her 2021-22 season was her best yet, seeing her named Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Golfer of the Year. Kilgore shot a round average of 74.96 last season and will look to replicate her success for the Longhorns.

 

Emily Odwin

Coming to the Forty Acres from Barbados, Odwin joins the Longhorns and will aim to make an impact in her freshman year. Odwin was the 2020 Barbados Junior International Champion and is the first Barbadian to qualify for both the U.S. Women’s Amateur and the U.S. Girls Junior in the same year.

 

Bohyun Park

Sophomore Bohyun Park returns for her second season with the Longhorns and figures to pick up where she left off. Park burst onto the scene in her freshman campaign, leading the team’s Big 12 Championship effort with a third place finish and adding a 17th place individual finish at the NCAA Championship. As Texas’ top statistical performer last year, with an average season score of 72.65, Park should be at the center of Texas’success this season.