Monday, October 17
Austin, Texas
All Day
SMU
at
Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational
No. 20 SMU Set For Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational
Oct 13 | Women's Golf
| No. 20 SMU at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational | |
| Dates | Oct. 17 & 18, 2016 |
| Location | UT Golf Club // Austin, Texas |
| Live Scoring | birdiefire.com |
| SMU Notes | Tournament Notes (.pdf) |
| SMU W-Golf | SMU Mustangs | |
| @SMUGolfW | @SMUMustangs | |
The Week Ahead…
The SMU women's golf team travels to Austin, Texas, for the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational Oct. 17 & 18. The event will be held at the UT Golf Club and features seven teams from the Golfstat.com top 50 rankings, including SMU, which checks in at No. 20 this week. Live results can be found at Birdiefire.com.
Follow The Ponies...
Facebook: /SMUGolfW • Twitter: @SMUGolfW • Instagram: /MustangGolf • Snapchat: smumustanggolf
Representing The Mustangs…
Lindsey McCurdy, Brigitte Dunne and Kenzie Wright continue to represent the Mustangs this season, having played in both tournaments on SMU's season opening Tennessee road swing. Alex Celli and Ana Paula Ramirez join the line-up for the first time this season.
The Field…
Seven teams from this week's Golfstat.com top 50 will be in the field at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational, including a trio that rank in the top 15. Miami (No. 9), Texas (No. 14) and Kent State (No. 15) lead the group, while SMU enjoys a No. 20 ranking. Baylor (No. 30), Texas Tech (No. 33) and Notre Dame (No. 42) round out the top 50. Both Miami and Texas have a tournament win this season. SMU will also see American Athletic Conference foes Tulane and Tulsa in Austin.
In The Rankings…
In the first edition of the Golfstat.com rankings, the Mustangs check in at No. 20. SMU was also listed as the No. 9 team in the GolfWeek/Sagarin Rankings on Sept. 24. During the 2015-16 season, the team posted its highest ranking of 27th on March 31 following a tournament win at the 2016 Clover Cup. American Athletic Conference opponents UCF (No. 18) and East Carolina (No. 50) are also among Golfstat's top 50 Division I teams.
Last Time Out…
The Mustangs earned runner-up honors at the Mason Rudolph Championship Sept. 16-18, finishing second to only Alabama, which currently ranks No. 1 in the country. SMU carded a 1 under 287 on the final day, to bring its three-round total to 4 over 868.
Kenzie Wright fired a 66 in the event's final round to give her the highest finish for the Ponies at 2 under and tied for eighth. Faith Summers also finished sub par at 1 under placing her 11th. Lindsey McCurdy completed the trio of top 15 finishers for the Mustangs, coming in at tied for 12th.
Conference Favorites…
The Mustangs return a pair of All-American Athletic Conference selections from the 2015-16 season, including Freshman of the Year Brigitte Dunne and Lindsey McCurdy.
Dunne posted her best finish of the year placing fifth at The American Championship. She also posted a pair of top-10 finishes during the 2015-16 season finishing with a 74.41 average. McCurdy posted five top-10 finishes, including an event win at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational in September. In 32 rounds, she posted 10 rounds of par or better and shot in the 60s on three occasions.
New On The Scene...
The program welcomes three Mustangs to the Hilltop this season. Freshmen Ana Paula Ramirez, Faith Summers and Kenzie Wright are the newest additions to the 2016-17 roster. Both Summers and Wright played in the Ponies' first two tournaments, and we will see Wright and Ramirez at the Betsy Rawls Invite.
Mustangs In The Classroom...
Mustang returner Katie Page was honored by the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) as an All-American Scholar for the third consecutive year after achieving a cumulative grade-point-average above the required 3.50 following the 2015-16 school year. Page played in all 12 of the Mustangs' tournaments during the 2015-16 season, earning her best finish at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational in September. Her second top 10 finish came in October at the Alamo Invitational. In 35 rounds last season, Page registered a 75.77 scoring average and posted a low round of 69 at the Clover Cup in March. The Louisville, Kentucky, native is majoring in business with a sport management minor.
All six Mustangs from the 2015-16 roster also earned All-American Athletic Conference academic honors for posting a 3.0 or better grade-point-average last year.
Birdies On Birdies...
Lindsey McCurdy finished the 2015-16 season with a team-leading 80 birdies, placing her 5th on the single season list. She has 20 in two tournaments to start this season. Freshman of the Year Brigitte Dunne came in at sixth with 79 a season ago.
Making It Count...
American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and all-league selection Brigitte Dunne leads returners in scores counted from 2015-16 contributing to the Mustangs' score in all but one of her 34 rounds.
Regional Wrap Up…
The Mustangs finished the 2015-16 season 13th at the NCAA Bryan Regional this past May. Brigitte Dunne, Lindsey McCurdy and Katie Page return for 2016-17 after representing the Mustangs in postseason action last year.
Next Up…
Following the Betsy Rawls Invitational, the Mustangs remain in the state of Texas for the Maryb S. Kauth Invitational hosted by UTSA Oct. 23-25.
Welcome To The Hilltop…
LPGA golfer Jamie Hullett has joined the women's golf staff. A member of the professional ranks starting in 1998, Hullett brings a wealth of playing experience to the Mustang staff.
In Hullett's first season with the LPGA, she tied for 15th at the LPGA Corning Classic, carding a career-low 66 in the event's second round. She went on to earn Rookie of the Year honors on the Futures Tour in 2000, posting a total of nine top-10 finishes. Hullett's career-best finish in a major came in 2005 when she tied for 13th at the U.S. Women's Open. The following year, she tied for 16th at the CN Canadian Women's Open. Most recently, Hullett played in a pair of LPGA Tour events in 2012, as well as 12 events on the Symetra Tour.
Under Sutherland's guidance at Texas A&M, Hullett earned Second-Team All-America honors in 1997 and was a 1995 Southwest Conference co-medalist. As an amateur, Hullett also won the Texace American Junior Golf Association Championship, as well as the 1996 Broadmoor Invitational and 1997 Southern Amateur.
Summer Success…
Lindsey McCurdy closed out competition at the 2016 U.S. Women's Amateur with an appearance in the Round of 64, following a successful stroke play portion of the event. McCurdy posted a two-round 2-under 140 in stroke play, including a second-round 65. The 65, which included seven birdies, tied for the lowest round of the day with the tournament's medalist after two rounds.
In other summer action, freshman Kenzie Wright picked up a team victory as part of the group from the west at the AJGA East vs. West Wyndham Cup, July 25-28. The West Team retained the cup earning a 26-24 victory after a combination of foursome, four-ball and singles matches.
Wright and partner defeated their East counterparts 2-and-1 in their mixed four-ball match on day two to help contribute to the team's victory. The freshman also finished tied for 20th at the Junior PGA Championship.
At the WTGA State Amateur Championship, freshman Faith Summers advanced to the Round of 32 before falling 2-and-1 to her opponent. Summers was tied for 18th after the opening round of stroke play, posting a 6-over 77.
Brigitte Dunne had a standout performance at the Women's Southern Amateur Championship, finishing six over and tied for ninth, while Katie Page was tenth at the Trans National Golf Association Amateur Championship. Senior Alex Celli also competed at the Canadian Women's Amateur Championship, but missed the cut following two rounds of play.
Trinity Forest: The New Home Of SMU Golf...
Scheduled to open in the fall of 2016, Trinity Forest Golf Club becomes the new home course for SMU Golf. Trinity Forest will resemble many of the great old courses of the Northeast and Great Britain, featuring a links style course on a rolling meadow with tall native grasses and dramatic bunkering and green complexes. Once complete, Trinity Forest will become the new home of the PGA TOUR's AT&T Byron Nelson Championship as well as an NCAA invitational tournament and additional high-profile professional and amateur events.
The team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw – Coore & Crenshaw, Inc. – is building both the championship golf course as well as the short course. The design of Trinity Forest will honor classic golf courses with traditional, strategic golf and great artistry as the guiding philosophy.
Located in the 6,000 acre Great Trinity Forest near the Trinity River Audubon Center about 10 minutes south of downtown Dallas, the 400 acre site will ultimately consist of an 18-hole championship golf course, a world-class practice facility, a clubhouse, a practice academy for SMU's golf teams, a teaching center for The First Tee of Greater Dallas.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
Monday, October 05
Sunday, October 04
Sunday, October 04
Saturday, October 03
