The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Women’s Golf comes in No. 7 in Golf Channel preseason rankings, Cotton among list of top players
09.01.2023 | Women's Golf
AUSTIN, TEXAS — The University of Texas Women's Golf team is ranked No. 7 in the Golf Channel preseason rankings, released today.
Bentley Cotton, a 2023 All-Big 12 selection, checked in at No. 35 on their list of top women's collegiate players.
Cotton played in 10 tournaments and had her round counted in 30 of the 31 rounds she played. Her best individual finish of the season was a third place showing at the Windy City Collegiate. Cotton finished T9 at the NCAA Palm Beach Regional to help the Longhorns advance to the NCAA Championship for the seventh straight season.
The following is the report on the Longhorns on NBCSports.Com
Final 2022-23 rank: 7
2023 NCAA Championship finish: Quarterfinalist (second in stroke play)
Top returners: Bentley Cotton (Sr.), Bohyun Park (Jr.), Angela Heo (Soph.), Cindy Hsu (Soph.), Tiffany Cao (Jr.), Emily Odwin (Soph.)
Key departures: Sophie Guo
Arriving: Lauren Kim (Fr.), Farah O'Keefe (Fr.), Selina Liao (Fr.)
Projected starting lineup: Cotton, Park, Heo, Kim, Hsu
Scouting report: Unlike some of the other top-10 teams, Texas doesn't have a clear-cut All-American. But that's no issue at all as the Longhorns didn't a year ago and still made the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship. Cotton played every event as a junior and notched six top-25s, and after a summer where she made match play at the North and South, Western and U.S. Women's Amateur, she's a prime candidate to break out and lead this squad, especially if her putting and wedge play keep getting better. Park has plummeted in WAGR, from No. 20 to No. 94, but there's no denying her talent when she's on. Heo arrived on campus last fall shooting mid-80s in qualifying, but eventually she caught fire and had a couple top-6s, including at regionals. Hsu and Odwin has some experience, but neither have had strong summers, so there's some expectation for the freshmen to make immediate impacts. Liao used to be the top-ranked player in this Longhorns' class, but Kim and O'Keefe have both played much better of late, especially Kim, who is up to No. 61 in WAGR and won the Canadian Women's Amateur this summer while reaching the quarters of the U.S. Girls' Junior and qualifying for the U.S. Women's Open. With so much balance, Texas' top five will be hard to predict a times. "But if we improve putting across the board," head coach Ryan Murphy said, "then we're going to be really competitive every time we play."
Players Mentioned
