With the National Letter of Intent signing period for golf beginning next Wednesday (Nov. 11), it’s well worth taking a look at what has happened to the most prominent NCAA Division I signees from Colorado over the last couple of years.
Two players in particular have parlayed very successful starts to their college golf careers into making major advances on the national and international stages.
Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster, a graduate of Jefferson Academy who signed with Wake Forest a year ago, is just a couple of months into her college career, but already has jumped up to 68th in the women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings.
And Hannah Wood (pictured above) of Centennial, a graduate of Arapahoe High School who signed with Oklahoma two years ago, also is ranked among the top 100 women’s amateurs in the world, checking in at No. 90. (Note: She subsequently moved up to No. 75 the week of Nov. 9.)
Suffice it to say that’s pretty tall cotton for a couple of players who cut their teeth in Colorado.
The fall portion of the college golf season just wrapped up for most NCAA Division I teams, and certainly both Kupcho and Wood had outstanding autumns, especially considering how early they are in their college careers.
Kupcho (left), who won the CWGA Stroke Play by 21 shots this past summer, posted a remarkable three top-10 finishes in her first four college tournaments, going 70th, eighth, fifth and fourth for Wake Forest. She leads the Demon Decons in stroke average at 73.25.
Kupcho is ranked 83rd among the nation’s women’s college golfers by Golfweek and 88th by Golfstat.
Wood, the 2014 CWGA Stroke Play champion who’s now a sophomore at Oklahoma, is even higher in the college rankings. Golfstat has her 37th and Golfweek 40th.
Wood placed in the top 20 in all four of her fall college tournaments, going fourth, 11th, 20th and fourth. A season after leading OU in stroke average and earning All-Big 12 honors as a freshman, Wood is setting the pace for the Sooners again this fall, with a 71.82 average.
Kupcho and Wood are among the Colorado high school graduates who have posted top-10 individual finishes for NCAA Division I programs this fall. Also included on that list are Oklahoma State University’s Wyndham Clark (second and sixth place); Colorado State’s Kyler Dunkle (fourth, fifth and seventh), Jimmy Makloski (eighth) and Jake Staiano (eighth); the University of Colorado’s Ethan Freeman (fifth three times) and Ross Macdonald (fifth); the University of Denver’s Chris Korte (fifth); and the University of Northern Colorado’s Kala Keltz (eighth).
With his two top-six finishes in the fall, Clark (left) is ranked 84th among the nation’s men’s college golfers by Golfweek.
Meanwhile, joining Kupcho and Wood in the top 100 in the women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings is University of Colorado junior Esther Lee, a product of Los Alamitos, Calif. Lee recorded four top-12 finishes in four fall events, including a victory. She went fourth, first, ninth and 12th.
Lee is 44th in the women’s WAGR. Strictly among college players, she’s ranked 10th by Golfweek and 23rd by Golfstat following a fall season in which she’s averaged 72.64 in stroke play.
Here’s a look at some of the highlights of the fall season for each of the nine Division I programs based in Colorado:
Air Force Men
Top 5 Fall Team Finishes — Second at Bill Ross Intercollegiate.
Top 10 Fall Individual Finishes — Brenden Bone (second), Sunwoo Choi (eighth).
Best Individual Stroke Average in Fall — Brenden Bone 72.6.
Colorado Men
Top 5 Fall Team Finishes — Won Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, second at Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational.
Top 10 Fall Individual Finishes — Philip Juel-Berg (first, second and eighth), Jeremy Paul (first, third and seventh), Ethan Freeman (fifth three times), Ross Macdonald (fifth).
Best Individual Stroke Average in Fall — Jeremy Paul 70.6.
Next Tournament — Feb. 4-6, Amer Ali Intercollegiate, Big Island, Hawaii.
Colorado Women
Top 5 Fall Team Finishes — Second at East & West Match Play Challenge, fourth at Pac-12 Preview.
Top 10 Individual Finishes — Esther Lee (first, fourth and ninth), Alexis Keating (third), Brittany Fan (ninth).
Best Individual Stroke Average in Fall — Esther Lee 72.6.
Next Tournament — Feb. 13-14, Peg Barnard Stanford Invitational, Stanford, Calif.
Colorado State Men
Top 5 Fall Team Finishes — Won Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational and Ram Masters Invitational, third at Tucker Intercollegiate, fourth at Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate.
Top 10 Individual Finishes — Dominic Kieffer (second, third, sixth), Max Oelfke (second, sixth, seventh), Kyler Dunkle (fourth, fifth, seventh), Jimmy Makloski (eighth), Jake Staiano (eighth).
Best Individual Stroke Average in Fall — Max Oelfke 71.9.
Next Tournament — Feb. 28-March 1, National Invitation, Tucson, Ariz.
Colorado State Women
Top 5 Fall Team Finishes — Fourth at Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate.
Top 10 Individual Finishes — Allie Andersen (fifth), Sarah Archuleta (eighth).
Best Individual Stroke Average in Fall — Elizabeth Rau 74.1.
Also Notable — Head coach Annie Young has been named to the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Committee, with her appointment extending through the 2018-19 academic year.
Next Tournament — Feb. 22-23, Gold Rush, Long Beach, Calif.
Denver Men
Top 5 Fall Team Finishes — Fifth at Pacific Invitational.
Top 10 Individual Finishes — Chris Korte (fifth).
Best Individual Stroke Average in Fall — Chris Korte 73.4.
Next Tournament — Jan. 28-30, Arizona Intercollegiate, Tucson, Ariz.
Denver Women
Top 5 Fall Team Finishes — Won Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate, fourth at Golfweek Conference Challenge.
Top 10 Individual Finishes — Kathi Baratta (fifth, eighth).
Best Individual Stroke Average in Fall — Kathi Baratta 72.5.
Next Tournament — Feb. 13-14, Peg Barnard Stanford Invitational, Stanford, Calif.
Northern Colorado Men
Top 5 Fall Team Finishes — None. Best: Seventh at Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational.
Top 10 Individual Finishes — Joshua Matz (fourth).
Next Tournament — Feb. 8-9, Thunderbird Invitational, St. George, Utah.
Northern Colorado Women
Top 5 Fall Team Finishes — None. Best: Eighth at Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Invitational.
Top 10 Individual Finishes — Amanda Myers (third, eighth), Kala Keltz (eighth).
Next Tournament — Feb. 22-24, Grand Canyon Invitational, Goodyear, Ariz.
