The North Texas women’s golf team finalized their fall schedule with chilly and rainy weather conditions at the Cowgirl Classic hosted by Oklahoma State. The Mean Green finished at fifth place shooting +65 despite entering the final day in fourth place.
Before the tournament began, the team was ranked sixth in the country in Golfweek’s national poll.
North Texas shot 35-over-par Friday as temperatures reached into the 40s. The team was surpassed by No. 10 Kansas State who finished six strokes ahead of North Texas for the tournament at +59.
“Today certainly wasn’t good for us,” head coach Michael Akers said following the weekend tournament. “[Junior Katie Finley] is the only player on our roster with experience in cold conditions. It is nice to play poorly and still finish in fifth. The only way you can get better at playing in these kinds of conditions is to practice it and get some more experience. We have an extremely good team that has yet to reach our potential.”
Senior Lauren Cox led North Texas tying for 10th place shooting +8. Junior Audrey Tan completed the tournament tied for 20th place at 16+.
North Texas was one of the two competing schools in the tournament not part of the Big 12 conference. Brigham Young was the other non-Big 12 member who stands at No. 39 in the nation. Seven teams, including North Texas, who participated in the tournament were ranked with No. 1 Baylor, No. 5 TCU, No. 7 Oklahoma State, No. 8 Iowa State, No. 10 Kansas State and No. 11 Kansas.
“It’s been a group effort build-up since last spring to where we’ve come to at this point,” Cox said. “For everyone it’s a great feeling to see the improvements and see everything come together like it has this fall.”
The Mean Green enter the offseason following invites to three Big 12 golf tournaments facing top-10 ranked opponents. In the Schooner Classic hosted by Oklahoma, North Texas finished in fourth place with Cox finishing tied for third place shooting -1. Cox also led North Texas tying for eighth place in the Betsy Rawls Texas-hosted tournament, where she shot -3.
The last tournament North Texas competed in during the 2020 spring season was a win at the Brigham Young-hosted Entrada Classic. Tan says the progress the team made since last spring and the mental side of the game is a focus for each player to carry into 2021.
“We have a lot to look forward to in the spring because of the hard work we’ve put in and the coaching staff helping us with the physical and mental aspect of the game,” Tan said. “The mental aspect is really emphasized within our team and it feels good to see the program really improve this fall.”
Featured Image: Senior Lauren Cox drives the ball in practice on Oct. 2, 2020. Image by Zachary Thomas
Article Originally Published by Preston Rios on North Texas Daily
Source: North Texas Daily