Around the Green

UH Cougars on the Prowl at Women's Stroke Play

KINGWOOD – The University of Houston Women’s Golf Team once again will have a strong presence at the third annual Women’s Stroke Play Championship. To be played just a few miles up Highway 59 from the UH campus at the Clubs of Kingwood, the state’s best amateurs are set to compete June 22-24 on the venerable Island Course for the third event on the 2017 TGA Women’s schedule.
 
Leading the Houston Cougars contingent is senior Megan Thothong, the defending Women’s Stroke Play Champion. If any player has dominated the event since its start in 2015, it’s Thothong. In addition to her victory last year, she also finished second at the inaugural championship. She said she feels no extra pressure teeing it up as the defending champion.
 
“I enter every tournament feeling that I have the chance to win,” said Thothong, a two-time collegiate winner and All-American Athletic Conference selection in 2015-16. “My goal is to try to beat the course, not the field.”
 
Thothong followed her runner-up finish in 2015 with a victory at Pine Forest Country Club in Houston last year. She carded rounds of 70-67-71 to post 8-under par and defeated Sugar Land’s Amber Wang by two strokes.
 
“It was awesome to be able to win some summer tournaments,” Thothong said. “A tournament is a tournament, and you are there to win.”
 
Thothong will be joined by a host of UH teammates at the Island Course. Also scheduled to be in the starting field are seniors Allie Anderson, who finished tied fourth in 2016 and fifth in 2015, and Yuka Kajiki. Additionally, Houston’s assistant Women’s Golf coach, Lucy Nunn, is set to compete in the event. Nunn finished eighth in the 2015 Women’s Stroke Play Championship. Last year, four Cougars finished in the top-15 at the championship. Nunn said she hopes for similar, if not greater, success this year.
 
“Our program has had great success playing in all of the TGA Women’s events,” Nunn said. “I think it is great that our kids can stay relatively close to their second home at the University of Houston and still be able to compete.”
 
Other notable players in the field include Brooke McDougald, a TCU junior who finished 18th last year, and high school sisters Chandler and Calynne Rosholt. Chandler tied for fifth place in 2015 and has three top-5 finishes on the Legends Junior Tour dating back to 2016. Calynne took runner-up honors at the LJT’s 2017 Spring Preview and 2016 Flodder Financial Shootout.
 
The 54-hole stroke play tournament is one of two major championships on the TGA Women’s schedule. The WTGA State Amateur in July and the Women’s Stroke Play Championship receive the most Player of the Year points of all the events on the Women’s schedule.
 
Also at stake are double points for spots on the 2017 USGA Women’s State Team Championship. This is the final year for the national team event.
 
The Island Course is one of five courses associated with The Clubs of Kingwood, located just northeast of Houston. The par-72 track features one of the toughest closing holes in the state. The par-5 18th hole features a split fairway with trees down the right side. Water skirts the left and leads to a daunting island green.
 
“We are certain the Island Course will provide a great venue for the championship and a challenging test of golf for all competitors,” said Scott Rosnagle, Clubs of Kingwood tournament director. “Our members and staff are excited and proud to showcase our wonderful club and to host the 2017 Women’s Stroke Play Championship.”
 
For more information on the Women’s Stroke Play Championship, click here.