University of North Texas Athletics
WGolf Coach Looks Back On Great Season Cut Short
4/27/2020 9:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
DENTON – The UNT women's golf team had one main goal for the 2019-20 season, and like many other teams in several sports around the country, the Mean Green never had a chance to realize it.
When the COVID-19 world pandemic stopped all sports suddenly in March, the Mean Green were just on the brink of where they've wanted to be for years, ranked No. 51 in the country just outside the top-50 threshold that usually guarantees an NCAA tournament at-large bid.
Just a few years after being ranked in the 200s, it was a great sign of things to come for UNT, but now all that can be done is to look back at a great year for the Mean Green and what could have been with the NCAA Regional having been scheduled to begin in just a couple of weeks.
It was fitting in what was shaping up to be a banner year for the program that the team won the last tournament it competed in, rolling to a 19-stroke victory at the BYU Entrada Classic on March 10, just days before its season unexpectedly ended. It was the first team title for North Texas since the 2010-11 season, and when senior Lauren Cox won the individual title on the 18th hole, it marked the first individual title for a UNT player since the 2012-13 season.
"I realize I cannot control what happened to end our season," UNT coach Michael Akers said. "Many, many people are affected and many people have died so missing the postseason pales in comparison, obviously. I am very laser focused on doing even better next year, however."
To show the strides the team made this past season, look no further than the all-time list of single-season scoring average leaders. Cox broke her own record she set last year (73.90) by averaging a 73.30. Teammate Audrey Tan, a sophomore, moved into third place all-time with a 74.22 average in 2019-20. Fellow sophomore Patricia Sinolungan's 74.87 put her fifth all-time behind her two teammates and former record holder Randi Gauthier (2002-03), whose record Cox broke initially last year. Even freshman Emilie Ricaud, who along with Cox, took home Conference USA Golfer of the Week honors this season, entered the fray with a 75.87 average, putting her in 13th all-time in scoring average.
The team also had a second-place finish, a third-place finish and an impressive sixth-place finish at the White Sands Bahamas Invitational in the fall when the Mean Green finished ahead of five top-35 teams thanks to a final-round surge. The team's scoring average of 295.83 easily beat the previous best from 2010-11 by nearly three full strokes. That team finished the season ranked No. 50. The all-time best team scoring average on Par 3s, Par 4s and Par 5s were all shattered in 2019-20. The Round 2 score of 283 at the BYU Entrada Classic tied the all-time single-round team score, previously set in 2016-17, while the final score at the White Sands Bahamas Invitational of 870 set an all-time program mark.
Cox was one round shy of tying the most subpar rounds in a season in program history with 11, even though her season was cut short by three tournaments, not counting a possible NCAA bid. Her Par 4 average of 4.066 set a new program mark that had stood for nine years, while Sinolungan and sophomore Katie Finley tied (4.9263) for second all-time on the single-season Par 5 scoring average, just behind a mark Cox set last year.
Cox, who is set to return for a fifth year of eligibility the NCAA is granting spring sport athletes, would leave as the program's all-time leader in career scoring average (74.70) and total birdies (258), par-or-better rounds (29) if her career was ending, as planned.
With Cox returning for her extra year, along with everyone else who played this past season back, Akers said the program is set up for continued, and unprecedented, success whenever competition returns.
"We are really loaded for next year," he said. "To have Lauren back and bringing in (2020 signee) Shreya Pal will get us the depth we need to compete against the top teams we face. The ladies know they will have to play well to make the starting five. We will be leaving two very good golfers at home each tournament."
Q&A With Coach…
Akers spoke about several topics relating to the 2019-20 season that was unexpected shortened by a world pandemic.
Q: What was the biggest positive you can take from the year?
A: Lauren Cox had another incredible season breaking her own scoring average record. Audrey Tan also had a great year with the third-best scoring average in school history. Audrey's mental game has improved dramatically over the past two years. I am very happy to see her controlling her body language and overall mindset. Emilie Ricaud was coming along nicely in the spring. Emilie is arguably our most talented golfer but really worked on her short game and realized the hours of practice needed to be an elite player.
Q: What went into Lauren Cox's improvement over what was already a great year last year?
A: Lauren's goal is to play on the LPGA Tour. Her work ethic and attention to detail align with that goal. We are thrilled to get her back for another year and she is excited to help get our team to the postseason and go out how she should.
Q: How did you see the freshmen (Ricaud and Marija Jucmane) acclimate and come along this year?
A: The first semester is the most difficult, especially for international student-athletes who have many things to learn. I think both Emilie and Marija learned a lot, and now they need to really get the reps in this summer to get our team to the top-30 range.
When the COVID-19 world pandemic stopped all sports suddenly in March, the Mean Green were just on the brink of where they've wanted to be for years, ranked No. 51 in the country just outside the top-50 threshold that usually guarantees an NCAA tournament at-large bid.
Just a few years after being ranked in the 200s, it was a great sign of things to come for UNT, but now all that can be done is to look back at a great year for the Mean Green and what could have been with the NCAA Regional having been scheduled to begin in just a couple of weeks.
It was fitting in what was shaping up to be a banner year for the program that the team won the last tournament it competed in, rolling to a 19-stroke victory at the BYU Entrada Classic on March 10, just days before its season unexpectedly ended. It was the first team title for North Texas since the 2010-11 season, and when senior Lauren Cox won the individual title on the 18th hole, it marked the first individual title for a UNT player since the 2012-13 season.
"I realize I cannot control what happened to end our season," UNT coach Michael Akers said. "Many, many people are affected and many people have died so missing the postseason pales in comparison, obviously. I am very laser focused on doing even better next year, however."
To show the strides the team made this past season, look no further than the all-time list of single-season scoring average leaders. Cox broke her own record she set last year (73.90) by averaging a 73.30. Teammate Audrey Tan, a sophomore, moved into third place all-time with a 74.22 average in 2019-20. Fellow sophomore Patricia Sinolungan's 74.87 put her fifth all-time behind her two teammates and former record holder Randi Gauthier (2002-03), whose record Cox broke initially last year. Even freshman Emilie Ricaud, who along with Cox, took home Conference USA Golfer of the Week honors this season, entered the fray with a 75.87 average, putting her in 13th all-time in scoring average.
The team also had a second-place finish, a third-place finish and an impressive sixth-place finish at the White Sands Bahamas Invitational in the fall when the Mean Green finished ahead of five top-35 teams thanks to a final-round surge. The team's scoring average of 295.83 easily beat the previous best from 2010-11 by nearly three full strokes. That team finished the season ranked No. 50. The all-time best team scoring average on Par 3s, Par 4s and Par 5s were all shattered in 2019-20. The Round 2 score of 283 at the BYU Entrada Classic tied the all-time single-round team score, previously set in 2016-17, while the final score at the White Sands Bahamas Invitational of 870 set an all-time program mark.
Cox was one round shy of tying the most subpar rounds in a season in program history with 11, even though her season was cut short by three tournaments, not counting a possible NCAA bid. Her Par 4 average of 4.066 set a new program mark that had stood for nine years, while Sinolungan and sophomore Katie Finley tied (4.9263) for second all-time on the single-season Par 5 scoring average, just behind a mark Cox set last year.
Cox, who is set to return for a fifth year of eligibility the NCAA is granting spring sport athletes, would leave as the program's all-time leader in career scoring average (74.70) and total birdies (258), par-or-better rounds (29) if her career was ending, as planned.
With Cox returning for her extra year, along with everyone else who played this past season back, Akers said the program is set up for continued, and unprecedented, success whenever competition returns.
"We are really loaded for next year," he said. "To have Lauren back and bringing in (2020 signee) Shreya Pal will get us the depth we need to compete against the top teams we face. The ladies know they will have to play well to make the starting five. We will be leaving two very good golfers at home each tournament."
Q&A With Coach…
Akers spoke about several topics relating to the 2019-20 season that was unexpected shortened by a world pandemic.
Q: What was the biggest positive you can take from the year?
A: Lauren Cox had another incredible season breaking her own scoring average record. Audrey Tan also had a great year with the third-best scoring average in school history. Audrey's mental game has improved dramatically over the past two years. I am very happy to see her controlling her body language and overall mindset. Emilie Ricaud was coming along nicely in the spring. Emilie is arguably our most talented golfer but really worked on her short game and realized the hours of practice needed to be an elite player.
Q: What went into Lauren Cox's improvement over what was already a great year last year?
A: Lauren's goal is to play on the LPGA Tour. Her work ethic and attention to detail align with that goal. We are thrilled to get her back for another year and she is excited to help get our team to the postseason and go out how she should.
Q: How did you see the freshmen (Ricaud and Marija Jucmane) acclimate and come along this year?
A: The first semester is the most difficult, especially for international student-athletes who have many things to learn. I think both Emilie and Marija learned a lot, and now they need to really get the reps in this summer to get our team to the top-30 range.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
Bruzzy's Facility Tour | UNT Golf
Friday, November 04
Beyond the Green: Audrey Tan | UNT Athletics
Friday, July 08