WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Postseason play is here for Purdue Women's Golf, as the Boilermakers travel to Pittsburgh this week for the 41st Big Ten Conference Women's Golf Championship. The 54-hole stroke play tournament that determines the conference champion takes place at Fox Chapel Golf Club for the second consecutive season.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Ashley Kozlowski – Jr. (10:09 a.m. ET off No. 1)
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Maryland
Michigan
Michigan State
Minnesota
Nebraska
#15 Northwestern
#24 Ohio State
Penn State
Purdue
Rutgers
Wisconsin
THE COURSE
TULANE CLASSIC CHAMPIONS
YEAR OF THE BYRD
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
- Friday, April 21: Round 1 (Tee Times starting at 8:30 a.m. ET)
- Saturday, April 22: Round 2 (Tee Times starting at 8:30 a.m. ET)
- Sunday, April 23: Round 3 (Tee Times starting at 8 a.m. ET)
Ashley Kozlowski – Jr. (10:09 a.m. ET off No. 1)
- Ranked No. 193 in Golfstat's national rankings
- Playing in her 27th tournament as a Boilermaker, including her 10th of the season
- Holds a 74.4 stroke average this season after recording a 75.1 stroke average over 12 tournaments last season
- Has made a team-best four eagles this season
- Last time out, paced Purdue at the Lady Buckeye Invitational, tying for ninth on the individual leaderboard
- Named B1G Women's Golfer of the Week (Feb. 15), becoming the first Boilermaker to earn the honor since 2019
- Led Purdue to a win at the Tulane Classic, placing runner-up for the best finish of her career
- Tied for 43rd at last year's B1G Championship at 13-over (76-76-74—226)
- 2021-22 Academic All-Big Ten
- Appearing in her 26th tournament as a Boilermaker
- Last week, made 14 birdies to lead the 87-player field at the Lady Buckeye Invitational on her way to tying for 14th with a season-best 217 (+1)
- Has cracked the Top 20 in three of six tournaments this spring,
- Missed the entire fall due to injury
- Earned First Team All-Big Ten accolades last season, becoming the first Boilermaker to earn first team honors since 2018
- Tied for 33rd at last year's B1G Championship at 10-over (74-78-71—223)
- Ranked in the Top 100 of Golfstat's national rankings throughout the 2021-22 season
- 2021-22 Academic All-Big Ten
- Making her 19th appearance as a Boilermaker, including the ninth of the season
- Last weekend, tied for 18th at the Lady Buckeye Invitational for her first career Top-20 finish, carding two rounds of par-or-better
- Fired a career-best 70 (-2) in the second round of the Illini Invitational before leading the Boilermakers in the final round with a 1-over 73
- Holds a 75.0 stroke average after recording a 76.52 stroke average last season
- Tied for 43rd at last year's B1G Championship at 13-over (73-79-74—226)
- Tied for ninth at the 2022 Michigan PGA Women's Open over the summer, competing against professionals; her performance featured a hole-in-one during the opening round
- 2021-22 Academic All-Big Ten
- Ranked No. 86 in Golfstat's national rankings
- Leads the team in stroke average (73.1), team-low round (12), rounds in the 60s (5) and pars (342)
- Became one of eight Boilermakers all-time to record five rounds in the 60s in a single season
- Has recorded three Top-5 performances this season, including at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic where she beat 13 golfers ranked in Golfstat's Top 100
- Her 142 (73-69) at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic was the second-best 36-hole total in school history
- Has led Purdue in five tournaments as a Boilermaker, including a fourth-place finish (75-74-69—218) at the Windy City Collegiate Classic
- Making her 11th appearance as a Boilermaker but playing in her 22nd collegiate tournament
- Transferred to Purdue after earning First Team All-Big West accolades as a freshman at Hawaii
- Set new Hawaii single-season records for stroke average (73.40), rounds of par-or-better (13), birdies (85) and 54-hole score (211)
- Ranked No. 199 in Golfstat's national rankings
- Has played in 44 tournaments as a Boilermaker, the most on the team, totaling 121 rounds
- Leads the team in birdies (80) and ranks second on the team in stroke average (73.8)
- Paced the Boilermakers to a third-place finish at The Bruzzy, tying for seventh on the individual leaderboard for the sixth Top-10 performance of her career
- Has carded four rounds in the 60s this season
- Placed a career-best third to help Purdue win the Tulane Classic to start the spring
- Her 67 (-5) in the second round of the Illini Invitational matched a career low and was the best round of the season by a Boilermaker; it was also her 100th round at Purdue
- Tied for 30th at last year's B1G Championship at 9-over (69-72-81—222)
- Won a men's tournament over the summer, capturing the IGA Challenge Tour's Road to #5 at Akasia Golf Club in her home country of South Africa
- Playing in her eighth tournament of the season, which also matches her career appearances as a Boilermaker
- Holds a 76.3 stroke average over 21 rounds
- Tied for 26th in her Purdue debut, second best on the team, at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship with a 3-over 216 (73-71-72)
- Finished runner-up at the 2022 Pennsylvania Women's Am
- Tied for 16th at the 2022 Canadian Women's Am
- Redshirted a season ago
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Maryland
Michigan
Michigan State
Minnesota
Nebraska
#15 Northwestern
#24 Ohio State
Penn State
Purdue
Rutgers
Wisconsin
THE COURSE
- Hosting the Big Ten Championship for the second straight year, Fox Chapel Golf Club is a premier club in Pittsburgh and one of the finest in the nation.
- The par-71 course will play at 6,045 yards when the conference championship is up for grabs.
- Designed by Seth Raynor, the course opened in 1923. Nearly a century later, Fox Chapel spent 2020 under restoration. The restoration included building 97 new bunkers to shapes as seen on the original 1923 course; sand lines, mowing lines, green shapes, fairway widths were restored to Raynor's original design.
- The golf course is consistently ranked among the Top 100 Best Classic Courses in America by Golfweek Magazine, Top 10 Courses in Pennsylvania by LINKSmagazine, Golfweek's Best 2020 Private Courses State by State, The Best Golf Courses in Pennsylvania by Golf Digest, The Top 10 Seth Raynor Courses by LINKSmagazine.com, and in The 100 Most Prestigious Golf Clubs in the World by Links Magazine.
- The championship layout served as host of the 2002 Curtis Cup and the 2012, 2013, and 2014 Senior Players Championships
- Four of the six Boilermakers in the lineup competed in the 2022 Big Ten Championship at Fox Chapel Golf Club.
- Jocelyn Bruch, Kan Bunnabodee, Danielle du Toit and Ashley Kozlowski all played in last year's championship.
- Du Toit fired a 2-under 69 in the opening round to sit near the top of the individual leaderboard.
- The Boilermakers enter the tournament ranked No. 45 in Golfstat's national rankings.
- Purdue is the sixth-highest ranked team in this week's field behind Northwestern (15th), Ohio State (24th), Michigan State (32nd), Maryland (33rd) and Michigan (43rd).
- Purdue has been one of the most successful programs in Big Ten history. The Boilermakers have won six conference championships to go along with nine medalists.
- Purdue captured its six titles in a 14-year span (2000-13), which includes a three-peat from 2008 to 2010.
- The lowest individual scores in conference championship history have been by Boilermakers. Laura Gonzalez-Escallon holds the 72-hole low with a 280 (71-70-70-69) in 2010. Also that year, Purdue broke the 72-hole team record to capture its third straight Big Ten title (289-292-294-294—1,158)
- In 2016, August Kim set the 54-hole mark at 207 (69-71-67), which now ranks second all-time. The Big Ten Championship has been decided by a 54-hole stroke play format since 2012.
- Purdue proved it can compete with anyone in the Big Ten. Facing 12 conference foes, the Boilermakers carded the lowest final round at the Lady Buckeye Invitational to finish strong and carry some momentum into the Big Ten Championship.
- Purdue fired a 293 (+5) to conclude the tournament, moving two spots up the leaderboard to secure their fourth Top-5 performance in six spring tournaments. The Boilermakers finished fifth, ahead of Michigan and Kent State, two teams ranked higher than them in Golfstat's national rankings.
- Three Boilermakers played some of their best golf at last weekend Lady Buckeye Invitational, the final tune-up ahead of the conference championship.
- Placing ninth on the individual leaderboard, Ashley Kozlowski recorded her second Top-10 performance of the season. Kozlowski's 215 (69-72-74) bested her previous 54-hole season low by six strokes.
- Kan Bunnabodee shot a season-low 217 (72-69-76) to finish tied for 14th at 1-over, another season best. The 2021 First Team All-Big Ten golfer made 14 birdies through 54 holes, leading the 87-player field.
- Keeping with the trend of Purdue golfers having their A-game, Jocelyn Bruch had her best tournament as a Boilermaker. The redshirt-sophomore tied for 18th for her first career Top-20 finish, carding two rounds of par-or-better.
- Sitting at No. 45 in Golfstat's national rankings, the Boilermakers plan to see their name on next week's NCAA Selection Show (April 26, 1 p.m. ET on GOLF Channel).
- NCAA Regional play will take place at six sites (May 8-10).
- Athens, Georgia - University of Georgia Golf Course
- Westfield, Indiana - The Club at Chatham Hills
- Pullman, Washington - Palouse Ridge Golf Club
- Raleigh, North Carolina - Lonnie Poole Golf Course
- San Antonio, Texas - TPC San Antonio
- Palm Beach Gardens, Florida - PGA National Resort Champions Course
- The top five teams and the low individual not on an advancing team from each regional site will advance to play in the championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona (May 19-24).
- The Boilermakers added a pair of Top-5 performances to their record book while competing at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic (March 24-25).
- Momo Sugiyama's 142 (73-69) was the second-best 36-hole total in Purdue Women's Golf history.
- As a team, Purdue's two-day total of 583 (298-285) marked the fourth-lowest 36-hole performance by a Boilermaker squad.
- With five rounds in the 60s, Sugiyama is one away from tying Purdue's single-season record held by five Boilermakers: Maria Hernandez (2007-08), Maude-Aimee Leblanc (2009-10), Paula Reto (2012-13), Ida Ayu Indira Melati Putri (2018-19) and Micaela Farah (2018-19).
TULANE CLASSIC CHAMPIONS
- Purdue began the spring season on the right note, defeating 17 teams to win the Tulane Classic at English Turn Golf & Country Club in New Orleans (Feb. 12-14).
- In just the fifth tournament under first-year head coach Zack Byrd, the Boilermakers captured their first team title since winning the 2018 Illini Women's Invitational.
- The Boilermakers (+33) used Top 5 individual performances from Ashley Kozlowski (second), Danielle du Toit (third) and Momo Sugiyama (fifth) to secure a four-shot victory.
- The Boilermakers recorded 37 birdies throughout the 54-hole tournament, the most by any team. Purdue also paced the field in par-3 scoring (E) and par-5 scoring (+1) on the difficult par 72 course.
- For leading Purdue to victory, Kozlowski was named B1G Golfer of the Week following the tournament.
YEAR OF THE BYRD
- Following the retirement of legendary coach Devon Brouse, Zack Byrd was named the new head coach of Purdue Women's Golf prior to the start of the 2022-23 campaign.
- One of the top recruiters in the country, Byrd made the move to West Lafayette after spending four seasons at Ole Miss.
- Byrd helped the Rebels capture the 2021 NCAA National Championship, the first women's team national championship in Ole Miss history.
- Prior to beginning his coaching career, Byrd spent 10 years as a professional golfer; his career featured an appearance in the 2011 U.S. Open and qualifying for the final stage of PGA Tour Q School.
- Byrd hired Lauren Guiao as assistant coach; Guiao made the move to coaching and returned to the program after playing in 20 tournaments over her Purdue career (2017-21).