OKLAHOMA TAKES SECOND AT SCHOONER FALL CLASSIC

NORMAN – The Oklahoma women’s golf team battled high winds on the final day at the 2020 Schooner Fall Classic to finish in a tie for second place at the end of the 54-hole event. Monday’s round concluded the seventh Schooner Fall Classic, hosted annually at Belmar Golf Club. 

Oklahoma fired a 5-over, 285 on Monday, the second-lowest final-round score in the field to move up four spots on the leaderboard. It’s the Sooners’ best finish since the event’s inception in 2013, when head coach Veronique Drouin-Luttrell‘s team also finished in second.

“We had a really good final day and posted our score early, which helped us because the conditions got tougher later on,” Drouin-Luttrell said. “This weekend was a great example that every shot counts. Hannah Screen had a really solid week; she played consistently and it was a great start to her Sooner career.”

Screen led the Sooners in her OU debut, finishing T6 after carding a pair of 69s (-1) to bookend the tournament. The junior played exceptional on par-fives, scoring an average of 4.56, the third best mark among all players. Her nine birdies were the most among the Oklahoma golfers.

“I just focused on one hole at a time today,” Screen said after the round. “I stayed committed in the wind because the conditions were so tough. I also just tried to really enjoy it and have fun out there with my team.”

Joining Screen inside the top 20 were Libby Winans and Maria Fernanda Martinez, who finished in 15^th and 19^th respectively. For Martinez, it’s the sophomore’s first top-20 finish as a Sooner as she was a model of clean golf, collecting a team-high 38 pars across the 54-holes. Winans sunk eight birdies, including four in Monday’s final round to sprint up the leaderboard and notch her ninth top-20 finish in 18 events.

“This week, I just felt that my game was really consistent,” Martinez said. “I tried to stay concentrated and focused on my game despite the tough weather that we had.”

Rounding out the OU lineup was Kaitlin Milligan (220, +10), who shot a 73 on Monday, nearly two strokes below the field’s average, to move into a tie for 27^th. Ellen Secor carded a 227, +17 over 54 holes and sunk a birdie on the ninth hole to start turning the Sooners’ momentum.

Representing Oklahoma as individuals were Hannah Lee (+13, 36^th) and freshman Kaylee Vesely (+23, 52^nd).

Baylor (833, -7) won the event after being led by co-medalist Gurleen Kaur, whose score of 67 on Monday moved her into a tie for first. Kaur was joined in the winner’s circle by K-State’s Reid Isaac.

The Sooners now turn their focus to the Betsy Rawls Invitational, slated to play on Oct. 10-11 at the UT Golf Club in Austin, Texas.