The women’s golf season is in full swing, with the roster of nine aiming to translate individual achievements into team success.
With new head coach Laura Ianello, the No. 4 team features two seniors, two juniors, four sophomores and a freshman.
Leaving the Big 12 as champions, the expectations of joining the SEC are on par. After a fourth-place finish at Folds of Honor Collegiate on Sept. 11, the team hopes to build on its performance later this week at the Mason Rudolph Championship tournament.
Leading the team on the green are seniors Tiffany Cao and Bohyun Park. Cao had a best of 70 last season, appearing in four events and 11 rounds. She was also named to the Academic All-Big 12 Team for a second time.
Park has had an illustrious career thus far. Her round was counted in 19 of 22 rounds played last year, eight of which were par or better, and went 3–0 in match play. With an All-American resume, Park led a Big 12 title effort in her freshman season with a third-place finish.
Juniors Angelo Heo and Cindy Hsu reached upperclassman status this year, hoping to also elevate their spots on the team.
Heo played in 25 rounds last season and had 16 of them counted in the team score, nine of which were par or better. She also carded a 66 in the second round of the NCAA Championships her freshman year to set a program record and was selected to the All-Big 12 Team.
Hsu also played in 25 rounds last season and had her score counted in 20, 13 of which were par or better. She was an individual medalist in the World Amateur Team Championships in 2023 and became the second freshman since 2000 to finish top 10 at the NCAA Championships.
The sophomore bunch includes Lauren Kim, Selina Liao, Farah O’Keefe and Emma von Hoffmann.
Kim was named All-Big 12 last year and had her round counted 21 of 25 times, 13 of which were par or better. She won the 2023 Canadian Amateur Championship, an event she competed in 2018 when she was 12.
Meanwhile, Liao was the top Longhorn at the Silverado Showdown and had 16 of 19 rounds counted last year, with four rounds that were par or better.
But it was O’Keefe’s achievements that flew off the scorecard last season. Named the Big 12 Player and Freshman of the Year, O’Keefe had her round counted in all but one of the 28 rounds played last season. She registered six-under-par in the second round of the NCAA Championships, tying a program record.
Von Hoffmann competed in the first five events last year, getting her best score of 71 twice and a best finish of 21st at the Boilermaker Classic.
Alisa Inprasit, the lone freshman on the team, was a member of the Thai National Golf Team and secured three wins and 17 top-10 placements in junior golf and professional events.
Starting Friday, the drive is back on for a coveted national championship — something Ianello has gotten before, but Texas has not, starting with the three-day Mason Rudolph Championship tournament hosted by Vanderbilt this weekend.