Texas women’s golf tied for sixth place alongside future SEC foes Georgia and LSU in the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate hosted at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. 

In a field that included 17 total schools, many of which are highly ranked, Texas finished with a final cumulative score of 864 for 12-above-par (+12), behind Arkansas (+7), South Carolina (+6), Auburn (+5), Northwestern (+4), and overall winner Arizona State (+3).

Superstar freshman Farah O’Keefe had an impressive three-day performance, finishing tied for first with a total score of 208 and 5-under-par. O’Keefe had 13 birdies across the tournament, including seven during her round on Tuesday and an incredible birdie putt on hole No. 18 during her final round. 

Also highlighting the tournament was freshman Selina Liao, who finished 11-above-par in only her second collegiate tournament of her career. She carded five total birdies, including two on the back nine during her second round. Across the three days, she finished tied for 66th.

Lauren Kim, who won the 2023 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship, finished at a respectable four-above-par and tied for 33rd. She finished two under and plus three for her first few days respectively, but suffered six bogeys in the final round, costing her 11 spots on the leaderboard. 

Cindy Hsu, a member of last year’s All-Big 12 Team as a freshman, had an up-and-down tournament but finished tied for 19th. She tallied an impressive 12 birdies throughout the event. 

Junior Bohyun Park, whose sophomore season included a tie for second at last year’s ANNIKA Intercollegiate and making the cut for last year’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur, had a strong plus-three start for her first round on Monday with three birdies. However, she struggled the next two days, finishing plus seven and plus 11 respectively. Park finished tied for 82nd with a final score of 21-above-par.

Texas went tied for fifth in birdies with 42 across the tournament, but struggled on par four holes, shooting an average of 4.17 and going 28-above-par on par fours overall. The Longhorns also finished at 3rd-worst on par fives, shooting an average of 5.09 and going plus four overall. The par fives were also some of the easiest on the course for the rest of the competitors, with the majority of schools averaging a birdie or better on each par five. 

Texas will take a few weeks off tournament play and then pick up again beginning on March 28th when they travel to Tempe, Arizona to compete in the Ping ASU Invitational. 

The Recap:

Farah O’Keefe: 71 + 67 + 70 = 208 (-5)

Cindy Hsu: 70 + 75 + 70 = 217 (+2)

Lauren Kim: 69 + 74 + 74 = 215 (+4)

Selina Liao: 74 + 75 + 75 = 224 (+11)

Bohyun Park: 74 + 78 + 82 = 234 (+21)