Smiley Honored as Golfer of the Week
Women's Golfer of the Week
Nicole Smiley, Ohio
Senior, Dublin, Ohio (Dublin Coffman)
Senior Nicole Smiley (Dublin, Ohio) led the Bobcats after day one. Smiley opened the day with a 72, before wrapping up with a personal best second-round score of 69, giving her a day one total of 141 (-3), placing her tied for 2nd entering Saturday's final round. Smiley finished Saturday with a 75, giving her a two-day total of 216 (E), tying her for 2nd place.
Other Nominees
Pinyada Kuvanun, Toledo
Senior, Khonkean, Thailand (Demonstration School of Khon Kaen University)
Senior Pinyada Kuvanun led Toledo to a fifth-place showing at the Memphis Women's Intercollegiate by tying for 11th place with a six-over par 219 (71-72-76). Kuvanun led the Rockets in birdies (6), pars (36), par-three scoring (E) and par-four scoring (+5).
Kelly Anderson & Lauren Ingle, NIU
Senior/Sophomore Wheaton, Ill.(Wheaton-Warrenville South HS)/Rochester Hills, Mich.(Rochester Hills-Stoney Creek HS)
NIU head coach Kim Kester was unable to differentiate between the tournaments put together by Anderson and Ingle on Friday and Saturday at the EKU Colonel Classic as they finished tied for sixth at three-over par 219. Both contributed to the lowest 18-hole score in school history on Friday as the Huskies shot a one-under par 287 as a team in the opening round. Anderson's 54-hole total was her lowest of the season and she had a pair of even-par rounds, while Ingle had one of NIU's two lowest scores in all three rounds of the tournament. The top 10 finish was the first of the year for Anderson and the fourth for Ingle.
Liz Kim, Ball State
Sophomore, Dublin, Ohio (Coffman)
Liz Kim fired a career-best, 1-under par 71 in the final round to match her career-best 54-hole total of 222 (+6). She tied individual medalist Elsa Moberly of EKU for the low round of the final day. Kim made 11 total birdies and played the par-5’s in 3 under for the week. Both of those figures were just one off the tournament best. Kim led Ball State to the second-lowest final round of any team in the 13-team field, behind only champion EKU, as the Cardinals climbed to sixth on the final leaderboard at the University Club at Arlington.
Julia Stevenson, Eastern Michigan
Junior, Milford, Mich.-Milford
Behind the solid play of junior Julia Stevenson (Milford, Mich.-Milford), the Eastern Michigan University women's golf team finished in third-place at the Perry Park Spring Fling with a 36-hole mark of 620 (308-312) on the the par 72 Buckskin-Whitetail Course at Perry Park Golf Resort, March 31. Stevenson posted the lowest two round tally of her career with a 152 (73-79) to claim a tie for fifth. The top-five showing was the first of her career in 17 events. Her previous-best finish came at the 2017 Kzoo Classic when she took 11th with a 236 (79-74-83).
