CORAL GABLES, Florida – Northwestern shattered every scoring record in program history en route to their third straight Hurricane Invitational championship on Wednesday. Sophomore Hannah Kim won the individual title to lead the way for the Wildcats, the first championship of her college career.
2016 HURRICANE INVITATIONAL – TEAM RESULTS
2016 HURRICANE INVITATIONAL – INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
"We got off to a really solid start in Monday's opening round and never looked back," said head coach Emily Fletcher, the reigning Big Ten Coach of the Year. "I'm extremely proud of how the girls responded each day througout the tournament, never getting ahead of themselves or being satisfied with one good round."
Kim led nearly wire-to-wire in Coral Gables, sitting atop the leaderboard after Monday's opening round and never surrendering the top spot over the final 36 holes of competition. After a bogey on No. 10 in the first round, Kim carded par or better on each of her final 44 holes of the tournament.
She entered Wednesday's final round with a three-stroke lead, and immediately extended that advantage with birdies on No. 3 and No. 4. After seven pars and a birdie ran her to 3-under after 12 holes, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year kicked her performance into overdrive. Kim birdied four of her last six holes of the tournament to end the competition with a blistering 7-under 64.
Kim's 64 on Wednesday shaved two strokes off the program's previous 18-hole record, one shared by three Wildcats, including Kim, herself, this fall at the Mason Rudolph Championship. Her 199 total is the first sub-200 tournament in Wildcats history, besting the previous 54-hole Northwestern record by seven strokes, a 206 by freshman Stephanie Lau in September.
"Hannah was absolutely dominant," said Fletcher. "She was in complete control of every aspect of her game, every step of the way. She works tirelessly and has been poised for a breakthrough win like this, I am not surprised in the least. To do it in record-breaking fashion, I'm just so happy for her."
Northwestern's team score of 828 was 21 shots ahead of second-place Iowa State this week, and 21 strokes better than the previous Wildcats 54-hole record, an 849 at the 2015 Mason Rudolph Championship. During three rounds of competition, Northwestern carded the program's three-lowest single-round scores ever.
The three lowest 54-hole team scores in Northwestern history have now been recorded in the team's last five events (2016 Hurricane, 2015 Mason Rudolph, 2015 Windy City).
Though Kim took individual honors, the team victory was made possible thanks to outstanding efforts from several other Wildcats, four of whom joined the medalist in the Top-20. Kacie Komoto birdied two of her final three holes to finish in a tie for fourth with a 4-under 209, the fourth-best tournament score in Northwestern history.
Sophomore Sarah Cho finished 1-under on Wednesday to cap off a 1-under 212 for the tournament and earn a share of eighth-place. Freshman Stephanie Lau carded her second straight even-par round on Wednesday to finish in 14th-place, and senior Suchaya Tangkamolprasert earned a Top-20 result in her spring competition debut. Freshman Janet Mao, competing as an individual wrapped up her tournament with a 4-over 75 in the final round of play.
"This was a total team effort," said Fletcher. "Kacie showed such maturity and got a lot out of her game this week when she wasn't at her best striking the ball. Sarah's game was steady and so was Stephanie's. [Suchaya] was just determined to score and for us to defend our title, you can't coach that type of attitude."
Northwestern – 1/16 • 277-275-276=828 (-24)
1 -- Hannah Kim • 67-68-64=199 (-14)
T4 -- Kacie Komoto • 69-69-71=209 (-4)
T8 – Sarah Cho • 69-73-70=212 (-1)
T14 – Stephanie Lau • 72-71-71=214 (+1)
T20 – Suchaya Tangkamolprasert • 75-67-74=216 (+3)
T66 – Janet Mao* • 75-77-75=227 (+14)
* - Competing as an individual
The Wildcats will return to competition on April 1 when they take part in the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic in Athens, Georgia. Northwestern won the stroke play portion of the event, which also features match play, in 2014.
2016 HURRICANE INVITATIONAL – TEAM RESULTS
2016 HURRICANE INVITATIONAL – INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
"We got off to a really solid start in Monday's opening round and never looked back," said head coach Emily Fletcher, the reigning Big Ten Coach of the Year. "I'm extremely proud of how the girls responded each day througout the tournament, never getting ahead of themselves or being satisfied with one good round."
Kim led nearly wire-to-wire in Coral Gables, sitting atop the leaderboard after Monday's opening round and never surrendering the top spot over the final 36 holes of competition. After a bogey on No. 10 in the first round, Kim carded par or better on each of her final 44 holes of the tournament.
She entered Wednesday's final round with a three-stroke lead, and immediately extended that advantage with birdies on No. 3 and No. 4. After seven pars and a birdie ran her to 3-under after 12 holes, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year kicked her performance into overdrive. Kim birdied four of her last six holes of the tournament to end the competition with a blistering 7-under 64.
Kim's 64 on Wednesday shaved two strokes off the program's previous 18-hole record, one shared by three Wildcats, including Kim, herself, this fall at the Mason Rudolph Championship. Her 199 total is the first sub-200 tournament in Wildcats history, besting the previous 54-hole Northwestern record by seven strokes, a 206 by freshman Stephanie Lau in September.
"Hannah was absolutely dominant," said Fletcher. "She was in complete control of every aspect of her game, every step of the way. She works tirelessly and has been poised for a breakthrough win like this, I am not surprised in the least. To do it in record-breaking fashion, I'm just so happy for her."
Northwestern's team score of 828 was 21 shots ahead of second-place Iowa State this week, and 21 strokes better than the previous Wildcats 54-hole record, an 849 at the 2015 Mason Rudolph Championship. During three rounds of competition, Northwestern carded the program's three-lowest single-round scores ever.
The three lowest 54-hole team scores in Northwestern history have now been recorded in the team's last five events (2016 Hurricane, 2015 Mason Rudolph, 2015 Windy City).
Though Kim took individual honors, the team victory was made possible thanks to outstanding efforts from several other Wildcats, four of whom joined the medalist in the Top-20. Kacie Komoto birdied two of her final three holes to finish in a tie for fourth with a 4-under 209, the fourth-best tournament score in Northwestern history.
Sophomore Sarah Cho finished 1-under on Wednesday to cap off a 1-under 212 for the tournament and earn a share of eighth-place. Freshman Stephanie Lau carded her second straight even-par round on Wednesday to finish in 14th-place, and senior Suchaya Tangkamolprasert earned a Top-20 result in her spring competition debut. Freshman Janet Mao, competing as an individual wrapped up her tournament with a 4-over 75 in the final round of play.
"This was a total team effort," said Fletcher. "Kacie showed such maturity and got a lot out of her game this week when she wasn't at her best striking the ball. Sarah's game was steady and so was Stephanie's. [Suchaya] was just determined to score and for us to defend our title, you can't coach that type of attitude."
Championship selfie? Championship selfie.
— #B1GCats (@NU_Sports) March 2, 2016
Congratulations, #B1GCats womens' golf!https://t.co/ewO2xlbpxw pic.twitter.com/2NYQJe9fZo
Northwestern – 1/16 • 277-275-276=828 (-24)
1 -- Hannah Kim • 67-68-64=199 (-14)
T4 -- Kacie Komoto • 69-69-71=209 (-4)
T8 – Sarah Cho • 69-73-70=212 (-1)
T14 – Stephanie Lau • 72-71-71=214 (+1)
T20 – Suchaya Tangkamolprasert • 75-67-74=216 (+3)
T66 – Janet Mao* • 75-77-75=227 (+14)
* - Competing as an individual
The Wildcats will return to competition on April 1 when they take part in the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic in Athens, Georgia. Northwestern won the stroke play portion of the event, which also features match play, in 2014.