Shocker Women's Golf 2021-22 Season

[1972Shocker]

Shocker Women’s Golf Adds Texas Tech Grad Transfer Louisa Brunt

https://goshockers.com/news/2021/6/17/womens-golf-shocker-womens-golf-adds-texas-tech-transfer-brunt.aspx

This is probably a much needed move by Coach McCurdy. For some reason the Shocks did not post any statistic for the 2020-21 season which only consisted of 5 tournaments with the Shocks finishing last in the AAC Tournament 78 strokes behind champion Tulsa and 18 strokes behind 9th place Tulsa. The Shocker team was just not very competitive last year.

But as Coach McCurdy points out his team is young. Only one senior on last year's team, Michelle Ledermann, and Michelle only played 6 round averaging 78.7 strokes per round. The rest of the roster was made up of freshman and sophomores who played a total of 72 rounds and finished with a stroke average of 81.1.

Brunt averaged 74.0, 74.9 and 75.4 in her last 3 seasons at Texas Tech.

While the experience and skill are a need addition adding one player will not turn the program around unless some of the returning players step up their level of play.

Hopefully, we will see that. And perhaps coach McCurdy needs to work on balancing his roster among classes a bit better. Perhaps easier said than done in women's golf.

[1972Shocker]

Oklahoman Brooklyn Benn Signs with Wichita State Women's Golf

https://goshockers.com/news/2021/12/16/benn-signs-with-wichita-state-womens-golf.aspx

Wichita State women's golf head coach Tom McCurdy announced the signing of Brooklyn Benn to a National Letter of Intent Thursday morning.

"I am so excited that Brooklyn has signed with Wichita State," McCurdy said. "She has had some great junior golf and high school results, and has the ability to go really low. Brooklyn also has such maturity as a person, is very accomplished academically and has a very positive outlook that will enhance many aspects of our program. She is a great one and I'm thrilled that she's a Shocker."

A native of Edmond, Okla., Benn attends the Oklahoma Christian School where she's had a decorated career. A four-time letter winner and two-time team captain, Benn won seven individual titles as a junior, including the 3A State title. She finished the season with a 72.43 stroke average, and was named to the 2021 Daily Oklahoman All-City First Team. This past summer Benn tied for first at the Oklahoma Junior Masters and finished in the Final Four at the Texas State Match Play Invitational. Throughout her prep career, Benn won 16 tournaments, including the 2019 Oklahoma Junior Stroke Play Tournament and the Oklahoma Junior Match Play Tournament hosted by OGA.

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Sounds like a pretty accomplished player. The 72.43 stroke average as a junior seems pretty good but hard to know what kind of courses/distances she is playing and how that might stack up to the courses/distances she will play in college. Sounds like she had a strong summer this year.

Shocks definitely need to upgrade their talent/depth in order to be more competitive in the AAC. Hopefully, Brooklyn will be able to contribute to that goal.

[1972Shocker]

Lauren Thiele Signs with Wichita State Women’s Golf

https://goshockers.com/news/2022/2/1/womens-golf-lauren-thiele-signs-with-wichita-state-womens-golf.aspx

A Wahoo, Neb. native, Thiele is a four-year letterwinner and two-time captain for the boys' team at Bishop Neumann High School. Bishop Neumann does not sponsor a girls golf team. Thiele is the only girl to win a Nebraska Team State Championship in boys golf. She helped lead Bishop Neumann to the state championship in 2021, while placing seventh individually. Thiele was a two-time individual medalist in 2021 along with three top-five finishes and seven top-10 finishes. She recorded a personal best 18-hole score of 5-under 66 last season and finished with a 72.8 scoring average.

"We are immensely excited to announce Lauren Thiele's signing with our golf program," McCurdy said. "Lauren has a ton of natural talent, controls the ball well and has a lot of tournament experience. She is a standout multi-sport athlete and fierce competitor."

[1972Shocker]

Hopefully, the two signees mentioned in the previous two posts will bring some needed talent to the Shocker golf program.

The Shockers made it clear they need help with their season opening performance at the Tulane Classic this week. Not only did the Shocks finish dead last in the 17 team field but they by a clear margin but the failed to break a 1,000 in doing so as they finished at 139-over par for a total of 1,003. And that is excluding the worst score from each of the 3 rounds. If you include those scores the Shocks were 191 over par over 15 rounds to average 84.7 strokes per round (12.7 over par on average.)

The only Shocker to shoot rounds in the 70's was Texas Tech transfer Louisa Brunt who hails from Manchester, England. I think Lisa has two years of eligibility with the Shocks if she uses her Covid year. Louisa shot 83-79-76 = 238 but that was only good enough for a tie for 47th individually. Around the middle of the pack.

Among the 17 teams in the field were host Tulane who fielded an A and B team, plus SMU and Memphis from the AAC. In addition, the field included 4 of the 6 CUSA teams that will be joining he AAC. Those inlcuded the tournament winner, North Texas, plus UTSA who finish 3rd, Charlotte and UAB. UAB finished one spot in front of the Shocks in 16th but were 24 strokes better than the Shocks.

North Texas won with 31-over score of 895 which was 8 strokes better then 10th ranked Michigan despite giving up 15 strokes of their 23-stroke lead over Michigan after 2 rounds.

Louisa averaged 74.1 in 15 rounds in the fall so I think she can be a decent player for the Shocks. Jr. Kenni Henson average 74.93 in 15 rounds in the fall but averaged am 86.0 in her 3 rounds at this tournament. Not sure if the difficulty of the course just overwhelmed the Shocks although they by far had the hardest time with this course of the 17 teams participating. The Tulane B team beat the Shocks by 48 strokes.

I suppose being pretty much a zero-revenue sport how the team plays in not all that critical but you would like to see all Shocker programs do well. But at this point the program is not doing much more that fulfilling Title IX requirements. Perhaps that is all that is expected.

Golfstat.com Scoring: https://results.golfstat.com/public/...team&tid=24486

[1972Shocker]

Shockers Ink Australian Standout, Mackenzie Wilson to NLI

https://goshockers.com/news/2022/2/1...ut-to-nli.aspx

Coach McCurdy signs another recruit to next year's incoming class who, like Brooklyn Benn and Lauren Thiele (mentioned above), sounds pretty good on paper. Of course, the game is not played on paper.

A Hobart, Tasmania, Australia native Wilson attended Rosny College in Tasmania, Australia. She is currently ranked No. 5 in the women's amateur ranking, and recently competed in the Victorian Open, a highly-regarded annual tournament in Australia. She recorded seven birdies in the third round of the Vic Open. Wilson was the Tasmanian Amateur Champion in 2020 and Junior Masters Champion in 2019 with a low round of 7-under par. Among other notable accomplishments.

"Mackenzie Wilson is going to be a great addition to our women's golf program," McCurdy said. "I am so excited that she chose Wichita State. Mackenzie is really talented and has a very deep skill-set. Her wealth of big tournament experience will be a huge asset for her as an incoming freshman. Her competitive mindset is elite and she knows how to make birdies. Mackenzie will have an immediate impact on our golf program."

The Shocks women's golf team could certainly use an infusion of talent and hopefully Brooklyn, Lauren and Mackenzie will be able to deliver for the Shocks.

[1972Shocker]

The Shockers played in the Rio Verde Invitational northeast of Phoenix. This is a tournament hosted by Western Michigan. The 18-team field included 7 MAC teams and 4 MVC teams plus 7 other mid-majors. No other AAC teams were in this field. This is a tournament that has become a staple on the Shockers women's schedule.

The Shockers shot 25-over in each of the 1st two rounds and were tied for 14th at the end of those 2 rounds at 50-over par. However, the Shocks shot by far their best round in the final round at 10-over par which was the 5th best score of the day and moved them up to tie for 8th with Bradley at 60-over par making up 12 shots on the Bradley in the final round.

Kennesaw State one the tournament at 1-over par. The Shocks finished 26 strokes behind Ilinois State and 21 strokes behind Missouri State to give you feel for where the Shocks program is at. More often than not they were competing for Valley championships when they were members.

Sophomore Mar Vidal, out of Barcelona, Spain, led the Shockers shooting 74-76-73 for a 7-over score of 223 which tied her for 12th individually.

Senior Louisa Brunt, the Texas Tech transfer from Manchester, England shot 77-75-73 for a 9-over score of 225 which tied her for 15th individually.

The other 3 Shockers were a combined 83-over par. So again the Shocks lack of quality depth is a problem.

Still a better showing tha last weekend although it's hard to compare fields, courses and conditidons form one tournnament to another..

[1972Shocker]

The Lady Shockers had by far their best result this weekend at the Red Rocks Invitational hosed by Northern Arizona. The field included 19 mid-to-low majors. The Shocks tied for 6th place at 26-over par. Grand Canyon won the tournament at 1-over par. No current or future AAC teams in this tournament. The MVC's Illinois State finished 5th, 3 strokes in front of the Shocks.

Senior Louisa Brunt tied for 5th individually with a 1-under 215 (74-74-67). Junior Megan Lucas followed at 5-over 221, and Junior Kennie Hennson at 12-over 228. All 3 of these ladies are transfers. Redshirt Freshman Sarah Lawson came in at 16-over 232 and Sophomore Mar Vidal at 22-over 238.

Kennie had a 10-over 82 in round 2 bugt played rounds 1 and 3 in a combined 2-over. Similarly, Sarah had an 11-over 83 in round 1 and shot 5-over combined in the final 2 rounds.

The Shocks need to continue to improve their consistency among their top 4 golfers but this weekend appears to be a step in the right direction.

[1972Shocker]

The Shocker women's golf team will heading to Florida for the 2022 AAC Championship Tournament beginning on Easter Sunday, April 17th, and concluding on Tuesday April 19th.

Since there is very little, if any, head-to-head results vs other AAC teams during the regular season it's hard to have good handle on how the Shocks might fare. However, here are the results form last year's AAC Championship:

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
1. Tulsa - 888 (293-301-294, +24)
2. Houston - 891 (296-303-292, +27)
3. East Carolina - 894 (298-296-300, +30)
4. UCF - 897 (293-302-302, +33)
5. SMU - 898 (302-303-293, +34)
6. USF - 905 (301-303-301, +41)
7. Memphis - 910 (303-307-300, +46)
8. Tulane - 912 (306-304-302, +48)
9. Cincinnati - 948 (326-312-310, +84)
10. Wichita State - 966 (323-324-319, +102)

I have not seen anything to indicate that the Shocks have made much, if any, progress since last year. So my expectations for this year are pretty low. The Shocks did finish ahead of Cincinnati in a tournament this past fall so perhaps they can move up past Cincy this year.

[SubGod22]

Ouch

[WuDrWu]

Weather forced a schedule change. They played 27 (roughly) yesterday and will try and resume when weather allows.....which is very dicey right now (shooting for 12:30 our time as of now).

Shocks were in last, 1 stroke behind Cincinnati after 18 but played much better on the front 9 of round 2, shooting only +4 so far (good for 5th on the day and 2 shots better than #28 UCF) but that has only moved them ahead of Cincy overall into 9th. They could possibly pass ECU for 8th but anything better than that would require something very unusual.

That's IF the tourney continues.

[1972Shocker]

So the Shocks did manage to move past Cincinnati into 9th place this year in the AAC Championship.

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
1. Tulane - 892 (308-289-295, +28)
2. Houston - 897 (292-295-310, +33)
3. UCF - 899 (297-296-306, +35)
4. SMU - 904 (297-298-309, +40)
5. South Florida - 905 (299-305-301, +41)
6. Memphis - 913 (302-300-311, +49)
7. Tulsa - 914 (307-295-312, +50)
8. East Carolina - 922 (304-311-307, +58)
9. Wichita State - 935 (318-305-312, +71)
10. Cincinnati - 943 (317-304-322, +79)

So a small step forward. But hey, Tulane finished 8th last year and won the AAC Championship this year. Perhaps the big jump for the Shocks this year was they finished 43 strokes out of 1st but last year they were finished 78 strokes back.

Hopefully, one or two of the incoming recruits will be able to provide some help. I think the Shocker's best golfer Louisa Brunt, the Manchester England native by way of transfer from Texas Tech, has one more year of eligibility (if she wants it) and hopefully other returning players will step up their games a bit.

[SubGod22]

Go Shockers - Five Shockers Named WGCA All-American Scholars

Juniors Kenni Henson and Megan Lucas, sophomores Madison Slayton and Mar Vidal and redshirt freshman Sarah Lawson were all recognized for their work in the classroom this past season. The criteria for selection to the All-American Scholar Team are some of the most stringent in all of college athletics. The minimum cumulative GPA is 3.50.

This marks the second straight season that Henson, Lucas, Slayton and Vidal have earned All-American Scholar honors.

Obviously much better in the classroom.

[1972Shocker]

Go Shockers - Five Shockers Named WGCA All-American Scholars

Obviously much better in the classroom.

Overall, WSU student-athletes do quite well on the student side of the equation and that is certainly worthy of recognition and congratulations.

And apparently collegiate women golfers are particularly good students:

The 2021-22 WGCA All-American Scholar Team was announced today with a total of 1,485 women’s collegiate golfers recognized with this prestigious honor.

[SubGod22]

Go Shockers - Lucas Nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year

Wichita State women's golf student-athlete Megan Lucas is one of 248 Division I student-athletes nominated for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award.

Established in 1991, the award recognizes female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in their community, in athletics and in academics throughout their college careers.

Lucas, from Topeka, Kan., earned her accounting degree in May 2022 with a Spanish minor and graduated with a 3.99 cumulative grade-point average. Lucas earned American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team honors and WGCA All-American Scholar honors in 2021 and 2022. She was also the 2021-22 Wichita State Female Scholar Athlete of the Year.

[1972Shocker]

Go Shockers - Lucas Nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year

Megan is Wichita State's nominee and is 1 of 577 nominees as it includes all NCAA divisions. Last year's winner was a softball player from D-II Augustana (SD).

Nice recognition for Megan but she has no chance of winning the award as Penn has picked swimmer Lia Thomas as their nominee.

https://redstate.com/beccalower/2022...e-year-n595875