A strong performance by Kincardine, Ont.’s Taylor Schmidt helped the University of Oklahoma women’s golf team earn a berth in the NCAA Championship on Saturday, May 12.

Schmidt stood at +17 entering the final round but came up big with a 1-over-par 73 at the Colorado National Golf Course in Erie, Colo.

The team was in 14^th place heading into the final day but with Schmidt’s big turnaround and good rounds from the other four team members the Sooners climbed into eighth place. Only the top 8 teams qualify for the nationals.

The Sooners finished three shots ahead of ninth-place California and Texas Tech.

The NCAA Championship appearance will be the sixth in the history of the OU women's golf program.

OU was led by Chirapat Jao-Javanil, who fired a 2-under 70 on Saturday with the help of four birdies to finish the tournament in fifth place out of 126 competitors. The sophomore, who played her final 11 holes at 3 under par, improved upon her second round score by three strokes. It marked Jao-Javanil's fifth top-five finish of the season and fourth in the last five events.

Sophomore Anne-Catherine Tanguay turned in a consistently strong final round, recording 15 pars, two birdies and only one bogey. Tanguay began the round in a tie for 30th place but climbed up the leaderboard to finish in a tie for 16th thanks to her 1-under 71. It was her seventh top-20 finish of the season.

Junior Jacki Marshall carded three birdies Saturday en route to a final-round 75 (+3) to bring her 54-hole total to 228 (+12). Marshall turned in the Sooners' best score of the second round and finished the tournament in a tie for 61st place.

Sophomore Emily Collins registered a third-round 79 (+7) and finished the tournament tied for 96th place with a 233 (+17).

Schmidt ended the tournament in 98th place with a 54-hole total of 234 (+18).

Top ranked UCLA and LSU tied for first place, finishing two strokes ahead of third-place Pepperdine. Other schools that qualified for the NCAA Championship out of the West Regional were Colorado( fourth place), Baylor (fifth), Stanford (sixth) and North Carolina (seventh).

The NCAA Championship will be held May 22-25 at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn

Kincardine, Ont. native Taylor Schmidt’s University of Oklahoma women’s golf team heads into the final day of the NCAA West Regionals today within striking distance of a top-8 finish, which would qualify them for the NCAA Championship.
The Sooners were in 14th place heading into today’s round but only four strokes behind eighth-place California.
The Sooners were led by sophomore Chirapat Jao-Javanil , who is in a four-way tie for 8th and fellow sophomore Ann-Catherine Tanguay, who is tied for 30th place out of 126 competitors. Junior Jackie Marshall is tied for 46th while sophomore Emily Collins is tied for 71st.
Schmidt has fired rounds of 81 and 80 and is in 111th place.
The tournament is being played at the par-72 Colorado National Golf Course in Erie, Colo.

Kincardine native Taylor Schmidt, whose University of Oklahoma women's golf team recently won the Big 12 Championship, is featured in the latest edition of Grey-Bruce Golf magazine.

The magazine is available at 38 golf clubs in the Grey-Bruce area as well tourist information centres, and selected hotels and restaurants.

You'll also find a feature on fellow Kincardine resident Brianna Cooper, a sophomore at Illinois State University who was named to the All-Conference Team.

Another article to watch for details how a golfer from the Grey-Bruce area ended up playing the ultra-exclusive Augusta National Golf Club.

Brianna Cooper of Kincardine, Ontario shot a final round 74 (+2) to help her Illinois State women’s golf team to a 2^nd place finish at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship on Tuesday, April 24 in Terre Haute, Indiana. The team was in fourth place going into the final round.

Cooper finished in 12^th place overall while her teammate, junior Katie Jean, was first overall with a four-over par total of 220 (74-74-72).

Both Jean and Cooper were named to the Valley’s All-Conference Team.

The Redbirds finished just three shots behind the winning team from Missouri State.

Last year Cooper won the individual title at the MVC championship and her team picked up its fourth consecutive championship.

Kincardine, Ontario’s Brianna Cooper was tied for 15^th and her Illinois State women’s golf team was in fourth place going into the final round of the 2012 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Cooper, a sophomore, shot rounds of 76-80.

Her teammate, Katie Jean, (74-74) was tied for second and only one stroke behind the leader heading into the final day.

The tournament wraps up later today.

Final results will be posted tonight.

Taylor Schmidt of Kincardine, Ont. was part of dramatic finish at the Bedlam Cup exhibition match at the University of Oklahoma on Sunday.

The matches were all square between Schmidt’s OU women’s golf team and Oklahoma State when she teed it up against OSU’s Jayde Panos in the final match.

Panos ended up draining a six-foot putt on the 18th hole for a bogey to preserve a 1-up lead over Schmidt and give OSU the victory. Had Panos missed the putt, all 16 competitors (eight from each team) would have played a tiebreaker hole.

The Bedlam Cup, which pitted OU versus OSU in dual competition for the first time since 1977, featured morning and afternoon sets of matches. In the morning, three duos from each school participated in an alternate-shot competition, with the Sooners taking two of the three matches. The afternoon competition was comprised of eight one-on-one matches. OSU won four to OU's two, while the other two matches finished all square.

In a morning match, Schmidt and teammate Emily Collins scored a one-up victory over Panos and Lauren Falley.

The matches were played at Jimme Austin OU Golf Club in Norman, Okla

The Sooners are currently ranked 31^st while OSU is ranked No. 16.

The Sooners are back in action this Friday (April 27) at the Big 12 Championship in

Lawrence, Kan.

Kincardine, Ontario’s Taylor Schmidt is among three University of Oklahoma student-athletes selected to participate in the 2012 NCAA Career in Sports Forum scheduled for June 7-10 in Indianapolis, Ind.

Schmidt, a junior on the women’s golf team, will be joined by Junior Michelle Gascoigne (softball) and senior Annie Martin (women’s track and field). They were among 300 selected from an applicant pool of more than 650 by the NCAA Student-Athlete Affairs Committee (SACC). Student-athletes are selected from across the country and from all three NCAA divisions.

“All three have served as SAAC officers this past year and will undoubtedly represent the University of Oklahoma very well,” Dr. Nicki Moore, OU’s Senior Associate Athletics Director for Academics and Student Life and Senior Woman Administrator, states on the school’s website.

“They have brilliant futures ahead of them as administrators and coaches and will have a great opportunity to learn from the finest leaders in the college athletics.”

The NCAA Career in Sports Forum is a four-day event through which selected student-athletes explore and are educated on careers in sports, with a primary focus on intercollegiate athletics.

The Forum provides an extension of that educational goal by coaching student-athletes on how to become the industry’s next generation of leaders.

The participants are given an educational opportunity to learn and gain valuable exposure to careers in sports, specifically in the areas of coaching, administration and sports entertainment. A range of seminars discuss key issues coaches and administrators face, examine the participants’ personality traits and how they can help or hinder their paths to success, and introduce them to networking and communication skills that are essential to breaking into and navigating the athletics world.

Additionally, the Forum dispels myths about careers in athletics, as well as facilitates the opportunity to obtain information from current and future athletics professionals.

Kincardine’s Brianna Cooper shot 81 (+9) and her Illinois State women’s golf team finished 6^th in the 15-team Indiana Invitational on Sunday, April 15.

Cooper finished in a tie for 51^st , fourth on her five-member team.

Host school Indiana won the event.

Rain on Saturday shortened the event to 18 holes, which was a disappointment for Redbirds head coach Darby Sligh.

“It's a shame the weather cut the invitational short, as we couldn't get in as much competitive work as I would have liked leading up to the Missouri Valley Conference Championships (starting April 22),” Sligh states in a story posted on the school‘s website. “This is a huge week of preparation for us to try and defend our Missouri Valley Conference title and I'm looking forward to seeing how this team responds.”

At last year’s MVC Championships Cooper won the individual title with rounds of 74 and 70.

This year’s championships will be held in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Saugeen Golf Club has joined the list of Grey-Bruce golf courses open for play.

The club, located between Port Elgin and Southampton, opened the Sunrise 9 holes for public play on Monday.

General manager Jeff Myatt says that with the recent warm weather the remaining 18 holes could open soon.

Kincardine, Ontario’s Brianna Cooper had a strong finish at the Monterey Bay Invitational, shooting an even-par 72 on Tuesday and climbing from 41st place to finish tied for 20th.
Her Illinois State women’s golf team finished 8th in the 14-team event in California with a team score of 948. Wichita State was first with a score of 927 at the Del Monte Golf Course.
Katie Jean led the way for the Redbirds with rounds of 80-75-75, good enough for 6th place.
Cooper struggled on the first two days, shooting 82-83, but found her game during the final round.
Redbirds head golf coach Darby Sligh was encouraged by some of her team’s individual efforts.
“Congratulations to both Brianna Cooper and Katie Jean on solid rounds today,” Sligh said on the school‘s website. “Today also featured breakthrough performances by Carlee Cossell (87-82-77) and Hayley Guyton (88-82-76). Those are the types of scores we are going to need from here on out. We have an incredible amount of work to put in to get to the level of Missouri State and others, and these next three weeks will be helpful in putting the necessary time and work to achieve that.”
Senior Hannah Bachman (79-81-82) ended in a tie for 29th, after posting a score of 242. Sophomores Jordyn Wyzgowski and Rachel Powers both finished in a tie for 41st, after both contributed a score of 246.
Illinois State will not compete again until April 14, when it will travel to Bloomington, Ind., to play in the Indiana Invitational.