Fresh off Tournament Title, Boilermakers Head to Michigan

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – After starting the season by winning the Boilermaker Classic, Purdue Women's Golf hits the road for the first time by participating in the 37th annual Mary Fossum Invitational. The 54-hole tournament takes place over two days (Sept. 17-18) at Forest Akers Golf Course on the campus of Michigan State University.
 
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Sunday, Sept. 17: Rounds 1 and 2 (8:30 a.m. ET Shotgun Start)
Monday, Sept. 18: Round 3 (8:30 a.m. ET Shotgun Start)
 
THE LINEUP
Kan Bunnabodee – Sr.

• Led Purdue to a team victory at the season-opening Boilermaker Classic, placing a career-best runner-up on the individual leaderboard with a 9-under 207 (75-63-69), tying for the third-lowest 54-hole total in program history
• Became the first Boilermaker in school history to shoot 63 (-9), breaking current LPGA member Paula Reto's 11-year old record of 64
• Big Ten Preseason Watch List
• Is making her 29th appearance as a Boilermaker
• Played in all eight spring tournaments after missing the fall due to injury, recording a 74.57 stroke average
• Cracked the Top 20 in four tournaments last season
• 2021-22 First Team All-Big Ten
• Two-time Academic All-Big Ten

 
Jocelyn Bruch – Sr.

• Making her 22nd appearance as a Boilermaker
• Cracked the Top 10 for the first time in her career, tying for sixth to help Purdue win the Boilermaker Classic
• Her 4-under 212 (69-69-74) bested her previous career low by five strokes and her consecutive 69s were her lowest rounds as a Boilermaker
• Played in 10 tournaments a season ago, producing a 75.69 stroke average
• Recorded the team-low round three times throughout last season
• Placed 18th at last spring's Lady Buckeye Invitational for her first career Top 20 finish, carding two rounds of par-or-better (71-76-72—219)
• Won the Hoosier Amateur over the summer
• Two-time Academic All-Big Ten

Momo Sugiyama – Jr.

• Big Ten Preseason Watch List
• Making her 14th appearance as a Boilermaker after playing in all 12 tournaments a season ago
• Started the season with her fourth Top 10 as a Boilermaker, tying for ninth at the Boilermaker Classic with a 1-under 215 (73-69-73)
• 2022-23 Second Team All-Big Ten
• Tied Purdue's single-season record with six rounds in the 60s last year
• Started the 2022-23 season ranked No. 647 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and ended it at No. 201
• Led the team in stroke average (73.31), team-low round (14), rounds in the 60s (6) and pars (410) last season
• Held a perfect 4.0 GPA throughout the school year, collecting several academic accolades: WGCAA All-American Scholar Team, Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, Academic All-Big Ten

 
Natasha Kiel – Jr.

• Making her second appearance as a Boilermaker, but playing in her 14th collegiate tournament
• In her Purdue debut, tied for 37th (79-74-71—224) to help the team win the Boilermaker Classic
• Transferred to Purdue after two seasons at Vanderbilt
• Last season, played in eight tournaments and produced a 74.4 stroke average
• Fired a career-low 66 in the second round of the Mason Rudolph Championship last fall
• Landed on the SEC Academic Honor Roll at the conclusion of last season
• Named to the 2021-22 SEC All-Freshman Team

 
Ashley Kozlowski – Sr.

• Big Ten Preseason Watch List
• Playing in her 30th tournament as a Boilermaker, more than anyone on the current team
• Tied for 22nd (79-69-73—221) to help Purdue win the Boilermaker Classic
• Appeared in 11 of the 12 tournaments a season ago, ranking second on the team with a 73.75 stroke average
• Made a team-best four eagles throughout last season
• Tied for fourth at the NCAA Raleigh Regional with a season-low 213 (-3), nearly qualifying for the national championships as an individual
• Named B1G Women's Golfer of the Week (Feb. 15), becoming the first Boilermaker to earn the honor since 2019 after leading Purdue to a win at the Tulane Classic and placing runner-up for the best finish of her career
• Starred in the classroom as an aeronautical and astronautical engineering major, earning several academic honors: WGCAA All-American Scholar Team, Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, Academic All-Big Ten

 
THE FIELD
Grand Valley State
Kent State
Maryland
Michigan
Michigan State (host)
Nebraska
North Carolina
Northern Illinois
Oakland
Ohio State
Purdue
Tennessee
Toledo
Virginia Tech
 
THE COURSE

• Forest Akers Golf Course, on Michigan State's campus, has two 18-hole courses. The Mary Fossum Invitational will take place on the West Course, a par 72 measuring 6,370 yards.
• The golf courses were redesigned by Arthur Hills in 1992.
• The West Course hosted an NCAA Regional in 2021 and will be one of six host sites again this season (May 6-8, 2024).

 
TOURNAMENT HISTORY

• The 37th Mary Fossum Invitational returns for the first time since 2019.
• The Boilermakers are no stranger to the event, having captured the 2012 Mary Fossum Invite with an 875 (+11) that tied the tournament record at the time.
• Purdue posted a seven-stroke victory over hosts Michigan State with all five Boilermakers cracking the Top 25 of the individual leaderboard.
• Paula Reto and Margaux Vanmol paced the Boilermakers by tying for fourth (+3).

 
HOME COURSE PROTECTED

• Purdue protected its home course, starting the 2023-24 season by beating 14 other teams to win the Boilermaker Classic (Sept. 4-5).
• The Boilermakers finished the 54-hole event 12-under par (296-270-286—852) on the Kampen-Cosler Course at the Birck Boilermaker Complex, six shots ahead of runner-up Alabama.
• The 54-hole team total matched the fourth-lowest score in school history alongside the Boilermakers' performance at the 2008 Indiana Invitational.
• Kan Bunnabodee paced Purdue with a final round 69 (-3) to finish runner-up on the individual leaderboard at 9-under. Her 207 (75-63-69) matched her career low and tied for the third-best 54-hole total in program history with the help of a school-record 63 in the second round.
• Jocelyn Bruch cracked the Top 10 for the first time in her career. She placed sixth with a career-low 212 (69-69-74), breaking her previous best by five strokes.
• Momo Sugiyama finished another tournament in red figures, firing a 215 (-1) with a 69 sandwiched in between rounds of 73. Starting her second season as a Boilermaker, she recorded her fourth Top 10, tying for ninth on the individual leaderboard.

 
SCHOOL RECORDS BROKEN

• On the first day of the 2023-24 season, a pair of school records were broken in the second round of the Boilermaker Classic.
• The Boilermakers fired a 270 (-18) in the second round to break the program record for team-low round by five strokes, besting the previous record of 275 shot by the 2011 Boilermakers at the Administaff Lady Jaguar Intercollegiate.
• Kan Bunnabodee's 63 along with 69s (-3) from Jocelyn Bruch, Ashley Kozlowski and Momo Sugiyama produced the school-record round of 18-under par.
• Bunnabodee became the first Boilermaker in history to shoot 63, recording nine birdies and nine pars to break current LPGA member Paula Reto's record 64 that stood for 11 years.

 
PRESEASON B1G HONOREES

• A trio of Boilermakers were named Big Ten Preseason Women's Golf Watch List, the conference office announced ahead of the season. Kan Bunnabodee, Ashley Kozlowski and Momo Sugiyama received the recognition.
• Bunnabodee, a 2022 First Team All-Big Ten honoree, played in all eight spring tournaments last season after missing the fall due to injury.
• Last season, Kozlowski posted a 73.75 stroke average over 32 rounds (11 tournaments) to rank second on the team. Thirteen of those rounds were par-or-better, a team best, which included a season-low 68.
• Sugiyama earned Second Team All-Big Ten accolades after leading Purdue in stroke average (73.31), team-low rounds (14), rounds in the 60 (6) and Top 5 finishes (3) throughout the 2022-23 campaign. Her six rounds in the 60s matched a single-season school record, and she fired a 2-under 142 (73-69) at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic for the second-best 36-hole total in program history.

 
2022-23 RECAP

• In the first season under head coach Zack Byrd, the Boilermakers earned their eighth straight NCAA Regional berth and nearly qualified for the NCAA Championships for the second year in-a-row.
• Byrd's first spring in charge was highlighted by leading Purdue to the team title at the Tulane Classic, the first tournament victory since 2018.
• Purdue produced four Top 5 finishes throughout the season.
• Momo Sugiyama provided an immediate impact in her first season as a Boilermaker. The Hawaii transfer recorded six rounds in the 60s to tie a single-season school record, while earning Second Team All-Big Ten honors at the end of the season.
• Four Boilermakers appeared in at least 10 of the 12 tournaments on the schedule: Sugiyama (12), Danielle du Toit (12), Ashley Kozlowski (11) and Jocelyn Bruch (10). Du Toit graduated, but Purdue returns the other three starters.
• After missing the fall due to injury, Kan Bunnabodee bounced back by playing in all eight spring tournaments and cracked the Top 20 in four of them.

 
NEXT ON THE TEE

• Purdue wastes no time returning to tournament action, heading to Norman, Oklahoma next weekend for the Schooner Fall Classic (Sept. 23-25).