Kuenster Earns First Collegiate Victory as Gopher Women Finish Fourth at Minnesota Invite

View full size image

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  MINNEAPOLIS – University of Minnesota golfer Celia Kuenster has been in big moments and she’s performed when it counted most, collecting seven amateur titles prior to her freshman year of college.

Kuenster opened the 2015-2016 season at the Minnesota Invitational Monday by carding a 4-under par 68 and followed it with a 72 during the afternoon session, entering uncharted territory in her golf career, leading a college tournament after 36 holes.

“Yesterday I played really well and I think a key moment was when I made saves on [Nos. 16 and 17] coming in and then I birdied 18 and I was able to keep the momentum going with another solid round in the afternoon,” Kuenster said. “I hit 15 or 16 greens and didn’t make [any putts] in the second, so it could’ve been pretty low yesterday afternoon.”

Kuenster, Mendota Heights, Minn., fired a 1-over par 73 Tuesday to hold off the defending champion from East Carolina University, Frida Gustafsson-Spang, to win her first college event by one stroke at 3-under par 213.

“It’s pretty surreal—I’ve won tournaments before, but I’m very fortunate that my parents were here and I had a lot of support from home this week, so it was pretty cool,” Kuenster said following her victory Tuesday. “This is going to build confidence even though I didn’t feel like I had my best game today.”

Starting on the fifth hole during Tuesday’s shotgun, Kuenster bogeyed her second hole before sinking her birdie opportunity at the par-3 eighth hole to remain even for the round.

Kuenster got into trouble when she moved to the back nine Tuesday as she recorded back-to-back bogeys at the 10th and 11th holes, dropping to 2-over for the round.

Her troubles were short lived, however, as Kuenster would find a rhythm and play her final 11 holes at 1-under, with two important up-and-downs to remain in contention.

Going right off the tee at No. 15, Kuenster put her third shot 25 feet from the cup but sank her putt to remain at 2-over.

Kuenster hit out of the fescue at the 16th before sticking her third to six feet and would sink another par putt before rolling a huge, 30-foot birdie putt at the 17th to get back to 1-over.

A two-putt for par on the final hole, the par-5 fourth, gave Kuenster her first collegiate victory and second consecutive top-10 finish at the Gophers’ only home tournament of the season.

“This morning I was pretty nervous—I’ve been in situations where I had the lead before, but never in college. With this wind I wanted to get the ball in play, hit the green and two-putt. I was trying to relax out there and having [Coach Redman] alongside me was a huge benefit,” she said. “I had to do a lot more work today.”

“I’ve definitely been struggling with my confidence and believing in myself. Coming in I was trying to build confidence from qualifying and practice rounds and all of the preparation. I worked really hard this summer to get myself back in a good mindset.”

Kuenster was a two-time Class 3A state champion at Cretin-Derham Hall before claiming the 2011 Minnesota Golf Association Four-Ball Championship in 2012.

She won back-to-back Minnesota Junior Girls' Championships and won the Minnesota Women's Amateur Championship in 2011 and 2013.

The Gophers fired a team score of 292 during the opening round Monday before shooting 305 during the second round to finish the first day of competition in fifth place.

Led by Kuenster, as well as junior Emie Peronnin’s 2-under par 70 Tuesday, the Gopher women would card a final-round 298 to finish the championship tied for fourth with Kent State University at 895, improving on a seventh-place finish from a season ago.

“I think everyone stepped up at different times this week and if we can put it all together, it can be pretty cool,” Gopher head coach Michele Redman said Tuesday. “Everybody did something that helped us the whole week. This is the best field we’ve had since we started the tournament, so I’m happy with where we’re at.”

Sophomore Sabrine Garrison, Calgary, Alberta, would finish tied for 34th at 229 Tuesday after shooting three solid rounds to help the Gophers.

Heather Ciskowski, a sophomore from Barrington, Ill., opened the championship with a 1-under par 71 before carding a 10-over par 82 during the second round Monday. She answered with a 77 during Tuesday’s final round to finish tied for 38th at 230.

“I really like how this group plays together,” Redman said Tuesday. “They support each other and that’s what you need—that’s just going to help us keep getting better. We’re young, but I like how they handled themselves on the golf course.

Purdue University entered the final round with a four-stroke lead and would hold on to win by two shots over East Carolina University.

The Gopher women travel to Knoxville, Tenn., Monday to compete in the Mercedes Benz Invitational at Cherokee Country Club.



2015 MINNESOTA INVITATIONAL
THE MINIKAHDA CLUB
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
6,119 YARDS, PAR 72


FINAL TEAM RESULTS
1. Purdue, 287-299-298—884
2. East Carolina, 301-289-296—886
3. Illinois, 289-303-295—887
T4. MINNESOTA, 292-305-298—895
T4. Kent State, 289-309-297—895
6. Houston, 297-299-301—897
T7. GRU-Augusta, 300-301-303—904
T7. Colorado, 300-301-303—904
9. Texas Christian, 295-308-307—910
10. Texas, 308-306-303—917
11. Kentucky, 310-307-310—927
12. Kansas, 314-312-317—943


FINAL INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1. CELIA KUENSTER, MINNESOTA, 68-72-73—213
2. Frida Gustafsson Spang, ECU, 72-69-73—214
3. Linn Anderson, Purdue, 71-70-74—215
4. Esther Lee, Colorado, 71-70-75—216
T5. Megan Thothong, Houston, 73-72-74—219
T5. Lisa Petterson, ECU, 76-70-73—219
7. Wad Phaewchimplee, Kent State, 69-78-74—221
T8. Bing Singhsumalee, Illinois, 66-76—80—222
T8. Josefine Nyqvist, GRU-Augusta, 72-75-75—222
T10. Yupaporn Kawinpakorn, Kansas, 74-75-74—223
T10. Anna Appert Lund, Purdue, 69-79-75—223
T10. Jordan Chael, Kentucky, 73-73-77—223

T34. SABRINE GARRISON, MINNESOTA, 76-75-78—229
T38. HEATHER CISKOWSKI, MINNESOTA, 71-82-77—230
T44. EMIE PERONNIN, MINNESOTA, 77-86-70—233
T44. NIAMH WARD, MINNESOTA, 74-83-76—233** 
T52. MUYU WU, MINNESOTA, 79-76-81—236**
T52. MAGGIE HEGGERSTON, MINNESOTA, 76-81-79—236**
T58. MCKENZIE SEXE, KANSAS, 81-80-77—238**
66. ALEXANDRA BUSKA, MINNESOTA, 99-85-84—268**

** Playing as individual 


For complete tournament results go to: www.golfstatresults.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=8684