Agathe Laisne (ANWA photo)
Earlier this season, Texas spent time as the No. 1 team in the country. But how dominant are the Longhorns in the Big 12? Well, at this week’s conference championship, they swept the top four spots on the individual leaderboard on the way to a 37-shot victory.
The Texas women have now won three consecutive league titles, becoming just the second team in Big 12 Conference history to do so. Four golfers in the top 5 is also a conference record.
Three of those finishers – Agathe Laisne (first), Kaitlyn Papp (T-2), and Emilee Hoffman (fourth) – are a week removed from playing the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
The victory was also the fourth of the season for Texas, which is the most victories in a single season since the 1992-93 campaign. Texas led the field in birdies (39) and pars (165) at Golf Club of Oklahoma in Broken Arrow, Okla. The Longhorns opened with a round of 1-over 287, then went a combined 12 over in the next two rounds to finish at 13 over for the event.
Baylor was second at 50 over and Oklahoma was third another two shots back.
Sophomore Agathe Laisne, who made the cut at the ANWA, captured the individual title with a 2-over 218. She is the third Big 12 individual champion in program history, joining Heather Bowie [1997] and Madison Pressel [2011]. It marked Laisne's first collegiate career win.
“This means a lot,” she said. “I didn't play good my freshman year. It was kind of a struggle to come from Paris, France, and have to adapt to the United States. I saw my teammates were really good and they were winning tournaments. I tried to relax more and tried to enjoy it more.”
Texas earns the automatic qualifying spot into NCAA Regionals, though the team hardly needed it. Texas is No. 5 in the
Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.
“It was a fantastic week,” head coach Ryan Murphy said. “I am thrilled for Agathe to win this golf tournament – her first collegiate win. To finish 1-2-3-4 in the individual rankings was pretty sweet. We obviously have a good team and these tough conditions suited us this week. When the wind came, we handled it really well. That's really what separated us."
Information from Texas Athletics used in this report
ABOUT THE
Big 12 Women's Championship
54-hole women's championship of the Big 12
Conference. Team (best four scores out of five
players
each round) and individual competitions.
View Complete Tournament Information