The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge
No. 12/10 Women’s Golf preview: Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge
03.12.2022 | Women's Golf
Ten of the nation’s top-25 set to play in the three-day event at Palos Verdes.
When: Sunday, March 13 – Tuesday, March 15
Schedule of Play: Three rounds of stroke play; 18 holes each day
Where: Palos Verdes Golf Club (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.)
Host: Ohio State University
Course Info: Par-71; 6,017 Yards
Tournament Notes
The Field: In addition to the Longhorns (No. 12 in the first Mizuno WGCA Coaches Poll of the spring season, released on Feb. 25), the 16-team Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge field includes: No. 3 Oregon, No. 4 Wake Forest, No. 6 Virginia, No. 11 Arizona State, No. 14 USC, No. 17 Auburn, No. 20 Baylor, No. 21 Duke, No. 22 Arizona, Cal, Georgetown, Kent State, host Ohio State, Pepperdine and Vanderbilt. Ten of the 16 teams participating are currently ranked among the nation's top-25.
In the opening round, UT will be paired with Arizona, Cal and Kent State, with play beginning at 12 p.m. CT / 10 a.m. PT on hole 10.
The Last Time: Texas last played in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in February of 2020 where the Longhorns finished third in the overall team standings. That year's field included eight of the top-10 teams and 13 of the top-25. Current Longhorn Sophie Guo finished tied for seventh overall with a two-under-par 211 (72-69-70) as a freshman that year. Sara Kouskova (T44th) also competed for the Longhorns at the 2020 event.
Polling: In addition to the first Mizuno WGCA Poll of the spring season (released Feb. 25), where Texas ranked No.12, the Longhorns also stand 11th in the most recent Golfweek Poll (released March 9) and 10th in the latest Golfstat Poll (released March 8).
The Texas Lineup: UT will be represented by the following five players at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge:
- Bohyun Park (Fr., 72.56 avg.)
- Sara Kouskova (Sr., 72.00 avg.)
- Brigitte Thibault (Grad., 75.75 avg.)
- Sophie Guo (Jr., 74.78 avg.)
- Bentley Cotton (So., 74.44 avg.)
Inside the Texas Lineup
Bohyun Park, Freshman, Farmers Branch, Texas (B-OH-yun): No. 24 in the latest Golfstat individual player rankings (March 8) and No. 37 in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings (March 12) … registered a collegiate-best second place finish at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate (Feb. 28-March 2) at two-under-par 211 (70-70-71) … ranked 21st in the first spring 2022 Arnold Palmer Cup rankings … finished tied for 23rd at the Landfall Tradition (Oct. 29-31) at two-over-par (71-76-71) … tied her collegiate-best 18 hole score of 68 during the final round at the Stanford Intercollegiate (Oct. 17) … registered a third-place showing at the Windy City Classic (Oct. 5) at one-under-par 215 (68-74-73) … tied for 10th place in her collegiate debut at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate (Sept. 13-15) at two-under-par 214 (73-73-68), highlighted by a four-under-par 68 in the final round … qualified as a high schooler to compete in the 2021 U.S. Open … won three individual Class 4A state championships for Carrollton Ranchview … became just the eighth female in Texas UIL history to claim three state golf titles … won the 2021 state title with an 11-stroke margin over the second-place finisher … climbed to as high as No. 2 in the AJGA rankings … won the KJ Choi Foundation Texas Junior Championship in July 2020 … placed third at the 2018 AJGA Girls Championship and fourth at the 2019 AJGA Girls Championship … earned a second-place finish at the Rolex Girls Junior Championship in August 2020 and a fourth-place result at the 2019 Rolex Tournament of Champions.
Sara Kouskova, Senior, Prague, Czech Republic (KOOS-co-VUH): No. 4 in the latest Golfstat individual player rankings and No. 26 in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings … currently 35-6 versus the top-50 ranked players (16-6 vs. top-25; 19-0 vs. top 50) … finished in fifth at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate (Feb. 28-March 2) at even-par 213 (72-69-72) … ranked eighth in the first spring 2022 Arnold Palmer Cup rankings … finished tied for 26th at the Lamkin Invitational (Feb. 15) at 10-over-par 226 (80-71-75) … received an invitation, and has accepted, to compete in the prestigious Augusta National Women's Amateur March 30-April 2 in Augusta, Ga … tied for 12th at the Landfall Tradition (Oct. 29-31) at one-under-par 215 (72-73-70) … second at the Stanford Intercollegiate (Oct. 15-17) at 12-under-par 201 (68-67-66) … tied her collegiate-best 18-hole score of 66 during the final round at Stanford (Oct. 17) … her three-round 201 marked the second-lowest 54-hole score in school history … tied for 15th at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate (Sept. 13-15) at even-par 216 (70-73-73) … tied for 19th at the Windy City Classic (Oct. 5) at nine-over-par 225 (77-70-78) … 2021 honorable mention All-American (WGCA and Golfweek) … six top-20 individual finishes in eight tournament appearances in the 2020-21 season … won the 2021 Arizona Wildcat Invitational … No. 27 in the final 2021 Golfstat individual national rankings … posted a 72.16 scoring average and shot par or better in 14 of her 25 rounds in 2020-21 … 2020-21 Edith Cummings Munson Award recipient (success on the course and in the classroom) … 2021 All-Big 12 Team.
Brigitte Thibault Graduate Student, Rosemere, Quebec, Canada (BRIDGE-it, TEE-bow): No. 204 in the latest World Amateur Golf Rankings … shot a one-under-par 70 (her lowest round as a Longhorn) during the first round of the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate (Feb. 28-March 2) … graduate transfer from Fresno State … first player in Fresno State program history to advance to the NCAA Championship … earned her individual spot at the 2021 nationals with a tie for sixth place at the NCAA Stanford Regional, recording a 2-under 211 (70-73-68) … holds the Fresno State record for career scoring average (73.17) … three-time first-team All-Mountain West selection (2019, 2020, 2021) … posted four top-10 and seven top-15 individual finishes in the 2020-21 season … won the 2021 Rebel Beach Intercollegiate (Feb. 15-16) with a 4-under 212 (72-70-70) … competed at the 2021 Augusta National Women's Amateur … 2019 Mountain West Conference individual champion.
Sophie Guo, Junior, Orlando, Florida (GWOH): No. 188 in the latest Golfstat individual player rankings and No. 150 in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings … tied her season-best 18-hole score of three-under-par 69 in the first round of the Lamkin Invitational (Feb. 14) … tied for 18th at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate (Sept. 13-15) at one-over-par 217 (74-73-70) … fired a season-best 18-hole score of two-under-par 69 in the second round of the Stanford Intercollegiate (Oct. 16) … seven top-20 individual finishes in eight tournament appearances in the 2020-21 season … placed third at the East Lake Cup and seventh at the Mountain View Collegiate last year … tied for 20th place at the NCAA Championship … posted a 72.70 scoring average in 2020-21 … No. 66 in the final 2021 Golfstat individual national rankings … 2021 All-Big 12 Team.
Bentley Cotton, Sophomore, Austin, Texas: No. 155 in the latest Golfstat individual rankings and No. 340 in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings … registered a collegiate-best tied for sixth-place finish at the Lamkin Invitational (Feb. 15) at three-over-par 219 (72-70-77) … finished in 14th-place finish in the Windy City Classic (Oct. 5) … set her collegiate-best 18-hole score of 3-under-par 68 in the second round of the Stanford Intercollegiate (Oct. 16) … four top-25 individual finishes in seven tournament appearances in the 2020-21 season … placed 17th at the East Lake Cup and tied for 18th at the Trinity Forest Invitational.
Players Mentioned
