2024-25 Shocker Women's Golf

[1972Shocker]

Women’s Golf Inks International Duo

Head Women's Golf Coach Tom McCurdy added a pair of international signees to the 2024 Shocker recruiting class in France native Amelie Paul and England native Amy Knotts on Monday afternoon.

"Amelie brings consistency to the table," said McCurdy. "She's always posting numbers that would be good to have in a team score."

"In our meetings with her, she has always been super positive and smiling," said McCurdy. "I think she's going to bring a good and positive dimension to our team dynamic."

"She brings good experience with her, and I think that she will come in and challenge for spots in the lineup right away."

"Amy has a really good mind for the game of golf," said McCurdy. "Growing up in Britain, she's had to play and adapt to lots of different elements and that will help with her consistency anywhere we play in the country."

Knotts won the England Girls U18 East Regional Championships with a score of two-under across two rounds of play. She also won the England Girls U18 Champion of Champions event with a score of two-over across two rounds player.

"It's her mind that is her biggest asset," said McCurdy. "She's posted some really good scores and tournament results and I think that she'll add depth as well as bring a different type of game to our team next season.

Paul and Knotts join Germany native Lara Stifter as the 2024 Shocker women's golf signees and the team roster for 2024 now sits at eight.

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Looks like Coach McCurdy going international to try to become more competititve in the AAC.

Half of the 2024-25 roster as it currently stands are international players from Australia, Germany, France and England to go along with 2 Kansans, one from Wichita, a Nebraskan and a Oklahoman.

Let's hope it works out well.

[1972Shocker]

[1972Shocker]

Not sure if it is descriptive of her game but pretty solid name for a golfer:

Sammy only played in 9 of 23 tournaments during her 2 years at Troy totaling 30 rounds. As a freshman her stroke average was 76.33 and as a sophomore it was 77.67 for an overall average of 77.00.

That could put her in the hunt for some starting 5 opportunities, especially if she could improve on that just a little it.

[1972Shocker]

Shocker Jr. Brooklyn Benn won the 36-hole Oklahoma Golf Association Stroke Play Championship shooting 69-73 = 142 which I believe is even par on Tulsa's Meadowbrook CC course.

I have no idea about the quality of the field but Brooklyn was 5 shots clear of her closest competitors and the only player not over par for the 2 rounds combined. Seems like a good result.

Scoreboard: https://www.golfleaguegenius.com/pag...und_id=1173567

[1972Shocker]

2024-25 WGLF Schedule

Dates	Tournament Name	Host	Golf Course/ Location
9/9-9/10	The Powercat Invitational	Kansas State	Colbert Hills Golf Course, Manhattan, Kan.
9/23-9/25	Golfweek Red Sky Classic	Golfweek	Red Sky Ranch Golf Club, Eagle, Colo.
10/4-10/6	Ron Moore Intercollegiate	Denver	Highlands Ranch Golf Club, Denver, Colo.
10/20-10/22	Diamante Intercollegiate	Little Rock	Diamante Golf Club, Hot Springs Village, Ark.
2/3-2/4	Texas State Invitational	Texas State	Vaaler Creek Golf Course, San Marcos, Texas
2/21-2/23	Rio Verde Invitational	Western Michigan	Quail Run Golf Course, Rio Verde, Ariz.
3/2-3/4	MountainView Intercollegiate	Missouri	MountainView Golf Course, Tucson, Ariz.
3/14-3/16	Red Rocks Invitational	Northern Arizona	Oak Creek Country Club, Oak Creek, Ariz.
4/7-4/8	The "Mo" Morial Invitational	Texas A&M	Traditions Club, College Station, Texas
4/14-4/16	AAC Championship	The American	Southern Hills Plantation Club, Brooksville, Fla.

"I'm really excited for this year's schedule," said McCurdy. "We're playing in several new to us events and events we haven't played in for a very long time. Our strength of schedule this year compared to previous years is very strong."

"This year, we're going to see quite a few teams that we don't normally get to play against and teams from different regions as well," said McCurdy. "If we go out and perform well, playing against this strong competition will give us great chances to improve our national ranking."

Coach McCurdy's 2024-25 roster consists of eight players, split evenly with four returners and four newcomers. Juniors Mackenzie Wilson and Kate Tilma headline the returning group, joined by graduate student Sarah Lawson and junior Brooklyn Benn , while international freshmen additions Amy Knotts, Amelie Paul, and Lara Stifter, join Troy transfer Samantha Straight to round out the roster.

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The Shocks haven't exactly excelled against their weaker, mostly mid-major schedules in the past. The Shocks were 9th out of 12 teams in the AAC last year.

Kate Tilma and Mackenzie Wilson are by far the most solid returners from last year. Kate lead the Shocks with a stroke average of 74.2 with Mackenzie 2nd at 75.6. Brooklyn Benn had a stroke average of 78.3 over 18 rounds last year but she she averaged 76.3 last spring after averaging 80.3 last fall. Brooklyn also recently won the Oklahoma Golf Association Stroke Play Championship shooting even par 142 over 2 rounds. So perhaps she is ready to step into a more dependable role this year.

Lauren Thiele who averaged 76.8 strokes over 20 rounds last year has transferred to Nebraska.

Sarah Lawson, as a 4th year junior last year, only played 5 events last year and did not play in the AAC Championships and averaged a team worst 79.7 strokes per round. So Coach McCurdy will most likely need to rely on the 3 freshman and the junior transfer from Troy to fill out his starting 5. Sammy only played in 9 of 23 tournaments during her 2 years at Troy totaling 30 rounds. As a freshman her stroke average was 76.33 and as a sophomore it was 77.67 for an overall average of 77.00.

Who knows whether or not the German, French and English imports will be able to contribute as 1st year players.

[1972Shocker]

WGLF Preview: The Powercat Invitational

The Shockers and head coach Tom McCurdy are looking forward to the new season with four new additions to the 2024-25 roster, two of which will be making their Shocker debuts in the lineup.

Dates: Monday, September 9 – Tuesday, September 10
Host: Kansas State
Location: Manhattan, Kan.
Venue: Colbert Hills; Yardage: 6,439 yards; Par: 72
Live Scoring: Clippd

The Field – 16 Teams: Austin Peay, Bethune-Cookman, Bowling Green, Central Arkansas, Cincinnati, Dayton, Houston Christian, Incarnate Word, Jacksonville State, Kansas State, North Dakota, North Texas, Northern Colorado, Southern Mississippi, UTRGV, Wichita State

The first Shocker lineup of the year features the two top Shockers from last year in Kate Tilma and Mackenzie Wilson, as well as additional returner Brooklyn Benn, who turned in a strong summer campaign, headlined by a win in the Oklahoma Golf Association's Women's Stroke Play Championship at Meadowbrook Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma on August 6. True freshmen Amelie Paul and Lara Stifter round out the lineup, carrying strong qualifying rounds into Monday's tournament.

Newcomer and Troy transfer Sammy Straight will make the trip with the team and compete as an individual.

Shocker Five:

Kate Tilma (Jr.) – Second year Shocker…Transferred from Kansas State…Played in all nine tournaments in first season as a Shocker…Lowest stroke average on the team at 74.2 which is second lowest in team history...Led team in birdies with 69...Finished as top Shocker in five tournaments, including four in the fall...Competed in all four fall tournaments in her first fall as a Shocker...Posted the Shocker's only top-5 individual finish of the fall at the Payne Stewart Memorial...One of three Shockers to post multiple top-20 finishes in the fall.

Brooklyn Benn (Jr.) – Third year at Wichita State…Competed in six events last season…Shined at AAC Championship setting career low 18- and 54-hole scores in the tournament...Recorded team's first eagle of the season and first of her career at Payne Stewart Memorial on Sept. 11...

Amelie Paul (Fr.) – Won Grand Prix d'Aix Provence and Grand Prix de Valgarde in 2023...
Ranked as high as 139th in France and 1953rd in the world...Finished as high as eighth in French Girls Championships

Mackenzie Wilson (Jr.) – Third year Shocker…Has competed in all 20 tournaments in previous two years at WSU…Second lowest stroke average among Shockers last season at 75.6…212 54-hole score at Diamante Intercollegiate in October was the second best 54-hole score in team history

Lara Stifter (Fr.) – Named Top 15 Girls Golfer in all of Germany...Competed in the German First National League…

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Interesting mix of players for the Lady Shocks. A hometown girl, an Oklahoman, an Australian, a French Mademoiselle and a German Fräulein. Let's how the team's international flavor gives it a boost on the golf course.

[SubGod22]

I wish I could find the video, not sure if it was maybe on FB or IG as I can't find it on Twitter, but there's a sweet video of Mackenzie Wilson being surprised at practice by her parents who I believe she hadn't seen in three years. I'll continue looking, but if someone finds it please share. It was quite touching.

[WuDrWu]

WGLF Preview: The Powercat Invitational

The Shockers and head coach Tom McCurdy are looking forward to the new season with four new additions to the 2024-25 roster, two of which will be making their Shocker debuts in the lineup.

Dates: Monday, September 9 – Tuesday, September 10
Host: Kansas State
Location: Manhattan, Kan.
Venue: Colbert Hills; Yardage: 6,439 yards; Par: 72
Live Scoring: Clippd

The Field – 16 Teams: Austin Peay, Bethune-Cookman, Bowling Green, Central Arkansas, Cincinnati, Dayton, Houston Christian, Incarnate Word, Jacksonville State, Kansas State, North Dakota, North Texas, Northern Colorado, Southern Mississippi, UTRGV, Wichita State

The first Shocker lineup of the year features the two top Shockers from last year in Kate Tilma and Mackenzie Wilson, as well as additional returner Brooklyn Benn, who turned in a strong summer campaign, headlined by a win in the Oklahoma Golf Association's Women's Stroke Play Championship at Meadowbrook Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma on August 6. True freshmen Amelie Paul and Lara Stifter round out the lineup, carrying strong qualifying rounds into Monday's tournament.

Newcomer and Troy transfer Sammy Straight will make the trip with the team and compete as an individual.

Shocker Five:

Kate Tilma (Jr.) – Second year Shocker…Transferred from Kansas State…Played in all nine tournaments in first season as a Shocker…Lowest stroke average on the team at 74.2 which is second lowest in team history...Led team in birdies with 69...Finished as top Shocker in five tournaments, including four in the fall...Competed in all four fall tournaments in her first fall as a Shocker...Posted the Shocker's only top-5 individual finish of the fall at the Payne Stewart Memorial...One of three Shockers to post multiple top-20 finishes in the fall.

Brooklyn Benn (Jr.) – Third year at Wichita State…Competed in six events last season…Shined at AAC Championship setting career low 18- and 54-hole scores in the tournament...Recorded team's first eagle of the season and first of her career at Payne Stewart Memorial on Sept. 11...

Amelie Paul (Fr.) – Won Grand Prix d'Aix Provence and Grand Prix de Valgarde in 2023...
Ranked as high as 139th in France and 1953rd in the world...Finished as high as eighth in French Girls Championships

Mackenzie Wilson (Jr.) – Third year Shocker…Has competed in all 20 tournaments in previous two years at WSU…Second lowest stroke average among Shockers last season at 75.6…212 54-hole score at Diamante Intercollegiate in October was the second best 54-hole score in team history

Lara Stifter (Fr.) – Named Top 15 Girls Golfer in all of Germany...Competed in the German First National League…

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Interesting mix of players for the Lady Shocks. A hometown girl, an Oklahoman, an Australian, a French Mademoiselle and a German Fräulein. Let's how the team's international flavor gives it a boost on the golf course.

I wonder why the other 2 young ladies (Amy Knotts and Sarah Lawson) aren't competing as individuals like Sammy. Other teams have more than 1 individual listing. Be that as it may, the lady Shockers are off to a nice start, bolstered by Kate Tilma playing well on a course she is no doubt familiar with, having transferred from Kansas State.

Kate is tied for 1st at the turn at -2. After a slow start, Amelie Paul has fought back to even while Brooklyn is +2 and MacKenzie is +3. There's no room for error though with Lara at +7 already. Sammy is playing well at +2 but her score can't count. +3 puts the Shocks solidly in 3rd behind KState (+1) and North Texas (+2). Long way to go, and plenty of 8s out there to be had, but a pleasantly nice start!

[1972Shocker]

I much prefer the golfstat scoreboards over the clippd scoreboards.

The Shocks finish round 1 at 9-over par. 9 strokes behind K-State, 3 behind North Texas and 1 behind of Austin Peay and 6 strokes ahead of Dayton and Central Arkansas.

Kate Tilma shot a 2-under 70 putting her in a 3-way tie for 2nd on the player leaderboard. Amelie Paul 73 (+1), Brooklyn Benn 76 (+4), Mackenzie Wilson 78 (+6 ) rounded out the scoring for the Shocks. Lara Stifter had the throw away score of 81 (+9) as she struggled in her Shocker debut. I believe Lara started the round on the 3rd hole. Over her first 9 holes she was 7-over, but only 2-over on her final 9 holes. So perhaps just some nerves at play for her.

Mackenzie has odd round. She had 14 pars but only 1 birdie. What did her in was 2 double bogeys and a triple bogey.

Kansas State and North Texas are separating themselves from the field early on in the 2nd Round.

The Shocks have pretty much imploded as they are 19-over roughly half way through round 2, putting them at 28-over for the tournament.

The Shocks have made a comeback from the bad start in round 2. They are now 12-over for the round picking up 7 shots to par through the middle holes of their rounds.

The Shockers could not sustain the better play and fell back to a team score of 23-over par for the 2nd round putting them at 32-over par for the tournament which has them in 5th place. K-State leads at 5-over par and North Texas is 15-over par.

After shooting 2-under in the morning round Kate Tilma struggle to an 8-over par 80 in round 2. Amelie Paul came in at 5-over par 77 and she and Kate are tied for 12th with 5 others at 6-over par on the player leaderboard. Brooklyn Benn had the Shocks best 2nd round of the Shocks at 3-over 75. She shot a 42 on the front nine and a 33 on the back 9. Brooklyn is 7-over for the tournament. Mackenzie Wilson's 7-over 79 rounded out the afternoon scoring for the Shocks with Lara Stifter finding the going tough today as she added a 12-over 84 to her 9-over first round score for her 2nd throw away score of the day.

Sammy Straight, playing individually, had her second consecutive 5-over 77.

[WuDrWu]

I much prefer the golfstat scoreboards over the clippd scoreboards.

Man, you ain't lyin.

The Shocks finish round 1 at 9-over par. 9 strokes behind K-State, 3 behind North Texas and 1 behind of Austin Peay and 6 strokes ahead of Dayton and Central Arkansas.

Kate Tilma shot a 2-under 70 putting her in a 3-way tie for 2nd on the player leaderboard. Amelie Paul 73 (+1), Brooklyn Benn 76 (+4), Mackenzie Wilson 78 (+6 ) rounded out the scoring for the Shocks. Lara Stifter had the throw away score of 81 (+9) as she struggled in her Shocker debut. I believe Lara started he round on the 3rd hole. Over her first 9 holes she was 7-over, but only 2-over on her final 9 holes. So perhaps just some nerves at play for her.

Mackenzie has odd round. She had 14 pars but only 1 birdie. What did her in was 2 double bogeys and a triple bogey.

Mackenzie just didn't play well today. She's capable of much better. 43-36 in round 2, perhaps will give her some confidence heading into the last round.

Kansas State and North Texas are separating themselves from the field early on in the 2nd Round.

The Shocks have pretty much imploded as they are 19-over roughly half way through round 2, putting them at 28-over for the tournament.

The Shocks have made a comeback from the bad start in round 2. They are now 12-over for the round picking up 7 shots to par through the middle holes of their rounds.

The course is playing much easier on the back 9, but hopefully some good play coming home will elevate the Shocks tomorrow.


Round 2

Kate 43-37 (and that's with a bogey-triple finish on 17 & 18) puts her in a tie for 12th at +6
Amelie 40-37 also in a tie for 12th at +6
Brooklyn 42-33! in a tie for 16th at +7
Mackenzie 43-36 +13
Lara 46-38 +21 Lara's Triple, bogey, double, double start put her in a deep hole from which she could couldn't recover, but the back nine was solid.

Sammy 40-37 +10 has her in a tie for 30th. Had she been part of the top 5, her score would have counted in both rounds. The Shocks would still be in 5th, just closer to 4th than they are.

[1972Shocker]

In today's 3rd and final round the Lady Shocks matched the 23-over par they shot in yesterday's 2nd round to finish at 55-over par and tied for 8th place in the 16 team field. Coming in I wanted to see how the compared to North Texas, the one other AAC school in the field. Not too bad after Round 1 but then not good over the final 2 rounds. North Texas finished 2nd at 16-over par.

Brooklyn Benn led the Shocks at 9-over shooting 76-75-74 = 225 finishing in a tie for 20th on the player leader board.
Kate Tilma finished at 11-over after a good start shooting 70-80-77 = 227.
Newcomer Amelie Paul was pretty good yesterday in the first 2 rounds but struggled today. She finished at 16-over with scores of 73-77-82 = 232.
Mackenzie Wilson was consistent but not at the level she needs to be and, I think, is capable of. She finished at 19-over with score of 78-79-78 = 235.
Newcomer Laura Stifter struggle big time in her Shocker debut finishing at 35-over with scores of 81-84-86 = 251 as none of her scores were counted in the Shocker team scores.

Troy transfer Sammy Straight, playing individually, finished at 17 over par with scores of 77+77+79 + 233.

I suppose the bright side is that how well the women's golf program performs on the course is not especially critical to the Shocker athletic department. The ladies are generally good student-athletes who represent Wichita State well.