The No. 5 women’s golf team kicked off the fall season at the Annika Intercollegiate tournament in Minnesota, finishing sixth with rounds of 288-280-289. The Longhorns concluded their fall campaign with an eighth place finish at the Stanford Intercollegiate. The team returns to competition in the spring with the Northrup Grumann Regional in Palos Verdes, California. Here are a few underclassmen to watch for in the spring:
Lauren Kim
Canadian freshman Lauren Kim came to Austin as the 2023 Canadian Women’s Amateur Champion and the youngest player to make the cut at the 2018 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship. In her first season with Texas, Kim clinched the No. 1 seed in the championship match at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup. She earned a score of 205 and shot 11-under-par and made a par on the fourth playoff hole, defeating sophomore and Texas A&M Aggie Adela Cernousak. Kim, the 32nd Ranked Amateur in the world, was named 2023 Rolex Junior All-American by the AJGA and has committed to compete in the 2023 Patriot All-American Invitational from December 29-31.
Cindy Hsu
Sophomore Cindy Hsu finished her first year at Texas by becoming the second freshman to finish in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships. This season, Hsu played two tournaments and finished T23, shooting a 1-under total score of 71-71-73 and T29 with a 4-over score of 76-70-74. Hsu then quickly jumped to T1 with a 10-under score at the 2023 World Amateur Team Championships. Ultimately, she earned the individual title, ending with rounds of 72-68-66-69 for 13-under.
“We watched Cindy win the junior World Championships when we recruited her and now she’s added a World Amateur title,” Texas head coach Ryan Murphy said in a Texas Athletics news release. “Simply incredible. I am just so proud of Cindy and the work that she puts into her game. Cindy has a great mentor in Candie Kung and I’m not sure that friendship can be overstated. They’ve done great work together in an effort to elevate Cindy’s game further and we are watching the fruits of that labor now. I’m just really proud of Cindy. She deserves this victory!”
Farah O’Keeffe
Freshman Farah O’Keefe was the No. 1 player from Texas on the Junior Golf Scoreboard and a 2022 UIL Team and Individual State Champion in high school. In her first collegiate season, the Austinite tied for two titles in program history. She finished T5 and made 11 birdies in her first tournament, including six in her second round. She then earned the T2 spot in her next tournament after rounds of 64-71-71 for 9-under. The September Big 12 Women’s Golfer of the Month competed in all the tournaments Texas played in the fall season and finished in the top 25 in all four of her events, with a 70.42 stroke average. Her game has also earned her a spot on the final Annika Award fall watch list, which honors the top female Division I collegiate golfer.