Clear skies. Low 71F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph..

Clear skies. Low 71F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.

Following the first tournament of the Fall season for Cowgirl golf, coach Greg Robertson held his first availability.

Robertson discussed the performance of the freshmen so far and the benefits of having returning players. He also gave his account of Han-Hsuan Yu’s hole-in-one in their first tournament.

Freshmen Cecilie Leth-Nissen and Thitaporn Saithip both made their first appearance at a college tournament in last week’s Carmel Cup.

Leth-Nissen was unable to record a high finish in her debut. Pebble Beach played tough, with only eight of the 48 competitors finishing under par.

“Freshmen react differently, but she’s [Leth-Nissen] a good player,” Robertson said. “I think once she starts to get comfortable with the college golf system and with what we’re doing she’s gonna be a really good player for us.”

Saithip had a stronger start to her career, finishing with sole possession of 10th place. She was 1-under total for the tournament.

“She [Saithip] showed a lot of promise with what she did in that tournament and we’re looking for a lot of good things with her,”

The Cowgirls return four of the girls who started for them throughout the postseason last year, all juniors or above.

Madison Hinson-Tolchard, Yu, Rina Tatematsu and Hailey Jones all played in the Big 12 Championship and the NCAA Championship last year. Robertson expects these older players to provide leadership for the younger players on and off the field.

“We’re looking forward to seeing what they can do this year,” Robertson said. “Another year older usually means they’re a little bit more mature, little bit better, and hopefully that translates to what they do on the golf course,”

During the final round of the Carmel Cup, Yu came to the par-3 seventh hole of Pebble Beach Golf Links, a course that has hosted multiple majors for the PGA Tour.

On a difficult hole where most, including Yu herself, just want to put the ball on the green, she did that and more.

Robertson gave his account of her shot into the green.

“I saw her swing, saw the ball…it landed about 15 feet short of the pin, took one big hop and went in,” Robertson said.

Yu’s playing partners realized she’d made a hole-in-one before Yu herself did, and quickly started celebrating with her. It was her third hole-in-one ever.

Yu finished the tournament in sixth place. It was a great finish, but the part she’ll likely remember most is her shot into the seventh hole that hopped then disappeared.

“It’s a pretty cool moment to have it happen, especially on that hole,” Robertson said.

 sports.ed@ocolly.com