Sooners Set to Tee Off Fall Season

Sept. 11, 2010

NORMAN, Okla. - The University of Oklahoma women's golf team is set to begin its 2010 fall season Sept. 12-14 at the Cougar Classic, held at the Yeamans Hall Country Club in Charleston, S.C. The Sooners will join 20 other schools in the 54-hole tournament.

Highlighting the field are top-25 squads Florida State (ranked No. 18 by Golfweek), Florida (No. 19) and South Carolina (No. 25). The strong competition gives Sooner head coach Veronique Drouin a great chance to show off her new, younger lineup, which features three freshmen making their OU debut.

“The Cougar Classic is a great tournament filled with a competitive field,” said Drouin. “The course is very straightforward without a lot of surprises. It should be a good tournament for all of our freshmen competing for their first time as Sooners.”

Senior Ellen Mueller, one of the Big 12's best, will be leading the youthful Sooners in their season opener both on and off the course.

“Ellen's been a great leader,” said Drouin. “When the new girls first arrived on campus a few weeks ago she took them under her wing and showed them around and helped them out. It'll be good to have an experienced senior in our very young lineup.”

Mueller, an Evansville, Ind., native, is coming off of one of the strongest seasons in OU golf history as she set the school record for lowest season stroke average (74.4). She posted seven top-10 finishes in her 14 events and was named to the 2009-10 All-Big 12 team. Her seventh-place finish at the NCAA West Regional landed her a spot as an individual competitor in the 2010 NCAA Championships.

Joining Mueller in the Sooners' lineup is returning sophomore Taylor Schmidt and freshmen Emily Collins, Anne-Catherine Tanguay and Chirapat Jao-Javanil.

Schmidt looks to capitalize on a freshman season that featured four top-30 finishes and a 78.0 stroke average, the second lowest on last year's squad. The Kincardine, Ontario, native participated in 11 of OU's 12 2009-10 tournaments.

Jao-Javanil of Hua-Hin, Thailand, will make her collegiate debut in the No. 2 spot of the Sooner lineup. Jao-Javanil boasts multiple tournament wins throughout Asia and collected the overall low gross of the TrueVisions International Junior Golf Championships in 2009 and 2010 in Thailand. She also won the team portion of the Enjoy Jakarta World Junior Golf Championship in 2010 in Indonesia and was named to the Senior National Team of Thailand in 2009.

Quebec City's Tanguay brings more international success to the OU roster, as she was a member of the development squad of Team Canada 2010. Tanguay will compete in the No.4 lineup slot.

Filling out the final spot of the Sooner lineup is Colleyville, Texas, product Collins. Recently named No. 9 in Golfweek's preseason list of the nation's top freshmen, Collins was also honored this summer by being named Golfweek's Junior Golfer of the Week after winning the 2010 Kathy Whitworth Invitational.

The Sooners will tee off Sunday morning at 10:15 CT with live stats available at golfstat.com.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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