No. 3 Texas women’s golf placed fourth at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate Tournament in Minnesota on Wednesday, tying with No. 10 Northwestern and behind No. 11 Wake Forest, No. 2 Oregon and No. 4 Southern California.
The Longhorns finished day one in ninth place after scoring a disappointing 13-over par. Junior Farah O’Keefe was the only Texas golfer to shoot on-par. The team proceeded to shoot nine-and-six under on days two and three. That combined 15-under score was the best among any squad over the last two days of the tournament.
O’Keefe was Texas’ best performer, tying with Northwestern’s Arianna Lau for fifth place individually. She shot a combined 4-under par across days two and three to go along with her even first round. After struggling somewhat at the end of last season, O’Keefe showed why she was named to the pre-season watchlist for the ANNIKA award, given to the most outstanding collegiate women’s golfer.
Seniors Angela Heo and Cindy Hsu tied each other for 10th place, both finishing 1-under. After shooting a combined 8-over on day one, the pair managed to work back to top ten finishes. Both had team-best single rounds, shooting five-under in rounds two and three respectively. This was Hsu’s 10th career finish in the top and Heo’s fourth.
Junior Selina Liao finished 8-over, tied for 36th place. She turned in a 5-over round on day one but managed to recover with one and two-over scores on the succeeding days. She shot three birdies in round three and could play a big role for the Longhorns if she could improve her hole-to-hole consistency.
Junior Lauren Kim also tied for 36th place, putting together a performance that is very unlike her. A fellow member of the pre-season ANNIKA watchlist, Kim performed as well as O’Keefe did for the burnt orange last season. Her 8-over score is worse than any finish she had last year and is more in-line with her semi-lackluster performances at the end of last season than it is with the blistering start she had. Still, the junior is talented and should be expected to rebound as soon as their next tournament.
The Longhorns did not have the start they wanted, but great days two and three pulled them through to a top-five finish at a tournament that featured five teams ranked in the top 11 of the last WGCA poll. If they can build on their last two rounds then they could easily win one of their next few tournaments and build the kind of momentum necessary to contend for a national championship.
The Longhorns continue their season with the Jackson T. Stephens Cup in Illinois on Sept. 15.
