Final Stats
CHAMPAIGN, Ill.  –  Illinois women's golf turned in one of the program's most memorable seasons yet as the 2015-16 campaign is in the books. Under the direction of 10th year head coach Renee Slone, the Fighting Illini produced their best Big Ten Championship finish in over 20 years and carded their best-ever score at the event. Â
As a team, the Fighting Illini set the best season stroke average in program history with a reading of 296.79. Three individual Illini registered averages that rank on the all-time top-10 single season stroke average list including Bing Singhsumalee (73.94, school record); Chayanid Prapassarangkul (74.91, fourth) and Grace Park (75.06, seventh).
In her first season, Singhsumalee led the Orange and Blue unit at six of the season's 11 tournaments. Additionally, she broke the individual single season stroke average school record, turning in a mark of 73.94. After earning All-Championship honors, the Naperville, Illinois, native also landed a spot on the All-Big Ten Team.
Four Illini golfers earned Academic All-Big Ten recognition for their dedication both on the course and in the classroom. Honorees included Dana Gattone, Stephanie Miller, Park and Prapassarangkul. Additionally, the program received the NCAA Public Recognition Award based on their multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR). Illinois women's golf has received the award for all 11 years of its existence and is one of just 110 Division I programs to rank among the top 10-percent every year since the APR was invented.
The Orange and Blue kicked off the 2015-16 campaign with a third place finish at the Minnesota Invitational. Several team and individual milestones were achieved as Singhsumalee commenced her career with the Illini with an opening round score at 6-under (66) to equal the Illinois school record. All five Illini shooting for the team score produced top-30 finishes at the event, shooting a collective 887 (+23) tally. Sophomore Pailin Ruttanasupagid made her first appearance for Illinois at the outing, competing as an individual.
A week later, Illinois was headed for the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate event where the crew turned in a sixth place finish in the 14-team field. The Cherokee Country Club was a par-71 venue located in Knoxville, Tennessee, and saw the Orange and Blue card a final reading of 876 (+24). Four UI athletes turned in top-30 individual finishes at the competition.
Next on the schedule for the Illini unit was the Jim West Challenge held in Boerne, Texas. Illinois was led by sophomore Park at the event with a total score of 221 (+5) for a T-23rd finish. As a team, the Orange and Blue finished 12th in one of their two finishes outside of the top-10 on the season.
With a few weeks to regroup, UI hit the road to take on the Cardinal Cup hosted at the University of Louisville Golf Course in Kentucky. Slone's crew turned in a top-10 finish with a final team reading of 903 (+39). Singhsumalee finished T-19th to lead the Illini for the second tournament of the season.
The final fall tournament of 2015 for the Fighting Illini was the Palmetto Intercollegiate, which was hosted at the Turtle Point Golf Course in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. Illinois collected a fifth place finish at the 20-team event. Prapassarangkul tied for third after shooting rounds of 70-75-72 to tally a 1-over par 217.
A winter break that lasted well over three months didn't stop the Illini from continuing their dominance at the annual Illinois Challenge held in Venice, Florida, come mid-February. UI got the best of their Redbird opponents in the biggest margin of victory at the event yet, an 8.5-.5 decision.
Illinois returned to full form a week later at the Wisconsin-hosted Westbrook Spring Invitational in Peoria, Arizona. UI carded team rounds of 294-293-290 at the par-72 event to finish 11th in the team standings despite recording the sixth-best team score in program history. Park led the Orange and Blue efforts with another top-25 performance.
Next up, Illinois was Georgia bound to compete in the 3M Augusta Invitational. UI turned in an eighth place finish after producing team rounds of 304-293-302.
From there, the top-five finishes began rolling in. At the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational hosted in Oahu, Hawaii, UI brought home a fifth place team finish after shooting a combined score of 892 (+28) to open spring break play. Singhsumalee turned in a second-round tally of 68 (-4) for the second-best 18-hole score of her career.
The same Illini unit of Singhsumalee, Park, Miller, Prapassarangkul and Gattone traveled to all 11 events on the season, including making the trip from Hawaii to Georgia during the team's spring break travels. Returning to Georgia for the second time during the month of March, Illinois finished tied for third place at the Henssler Financial Intercollegiate. Singhsumalee tied for seventh place individually, while Park, Miller and Prapassarangkul all finished with a share of 15th place.
In the final regular season competition, the Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational, the Fighting Illini turned in their third-consecutive top-five team finish. A collective score of 904 (+40) earned the team a share of fifth place. This marked the first time the program had closed the regular season with three-straight top-five finishes since the 2002-03 campaign. Ruttanasupagid made the first appearance competing towards the team score of her career and finished T-28th.
Illinois extended its streak of top-five finishes into the Big Ten Championship, earning a share of fourth place at the event for the program's best finish since the 1994-95 season. UI produced its best Big Ten Championship showing (862, -2) in program history at the 2016 event, which also ranks as the second-best team 54-hole tournament score in program history. Singhsumalee collected her second round at 4-under (68) of the season and ultimately registered a 5-under par score of 211 for the third best 54-hole individual tournament score in the team record book and fourth place individually at the event.
Competing for just the second time of her career towards the team score at the Big Ten Championship, Ruttanasupagid recorded both the lowest 18-hole score (70, -2) and 54-hole score (221, +5) of her career. Additionally, Ruttanasupagid was named a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.
Slone's crew from the past season will remain fully intact for the 2016-17 campaign as there were no graduating seniors on the squad. Katherine Hepler, who sat out after coming to UI for graduate school with a year of eligibility remaining, will join the mix as well as Emily Joers who returns for her senior campaign. The Orange and Blue will also be joined by NLI signee Tristyn Nowlin.
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