The Texas Women’s Golf team found itself in a familiar position at the annual Betsy Rawls Invitational as they trailed the leaders heading into the final round. Unlike the team’s last tournament, where the Longhorns turned a one-stroke deficit into a nine-stroke victory, Texas began Sunday eight strokes behind the leaders.
At this year’s Schooner Fall Classic, Kaitlyn Papp and her teammates would not settle for another runner-up finish, and the Longhorns captured their first tournament win of the season by nine strokes over Alabama.
Coming into the season ranked No. 3, the highest preseason ranking under head coach Ryan Murphy, the Texas Women’s golf team opened its season with a third-place finish at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate.
“This year was great, but I want to keep improving,” Cooper said. “I want to be First Team All-American again. I want to be First Team All-Big 12. I want to get Big 12 Player of the Year, and we, of course, want to win National Championships.”
For a college athlete, there is no greater feeling than winning a national championship, just as nothing compares to the sting of losing one. The Texas Longhorns men’s golf team felt the latter on Wednesday.
Winning championships takes hard work, patience and a little bit of luck. However, Texas seems to have figured out how to get the triad to fall into place for three consecutive years.
Freshman Cole Hammer led the Longhorns to their third second place finish this spring in the Texas’ final regular season event, the ASU Thunderbird Invitational.
One started at the front of the pack, only a couple of shots off the lead. The other barely made the final round of the tournament, winning a coveted spot in an 11-person playoff to finalize the top 30.
