ROSEMONT, ILL. - Three members of the Illinois Women's Golf team have been named to the 2019-20 Big Ten Women's Golfers to Watch List, as announced by the conference Wednesday. Tristyn Nowlin, Kornkamol Sukaree, and Crystal Wang are the Illini recognized as preseason honorees.
Nowlin, Illinois' lone senior, makes her third consecutive appearance on the Big Ten Golfers to Watch List. The Richmond, Kentucky, native is coming off a junior season in which she earned her third straight All-Big Ten Second Team honors as well as her second straight Academic All-Big Ten recognition. Nowlin recorded personal bests in 2018-19, twice tying her lowest round of 67 and posting a career-low tournament score of 210 at the Cardinal Cup in October.
Sukaree, a sophomore from Bangkok, Thailand, was a First Team All-Big Ten honoree in her first collegiate season, as well as an AJGA Rolex Junior Second Team All-American. Her stroke average of 72.62 in 2018-19 was the third-lowest in program history for a single season and lowest ever by a freshman. Sukaree's -6 (66) at the Westbrook Invitational tied the lowest single-round score relative to par in Illini history. She also recorded the program's lowest-ever 36-hole score with a score of -4 (140) at the Clemson Invitational.
Wang, a sophomore from Diamond Bar, California, also earned First Team All-Big Ten recognition as a freshman. She posted the fifth-best single-season stroke average in program history and the second-best by a freshman at 72.95. Wang also recorded the second-best 54-hole tournament score in the history of the program with a score of -8 (208) at the Illini Women's Invitational at Medinah.
Nowlin, Sukaree, and Wang were part of an Illini squad that reached the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history in 2019. The Illini set a program record for lowest team round with 280, a feat they achieved three times during 2018-19; recorded the two lowest 36-hole tournament scores in program history, bested the previous 54-hole record by seven strokes, and finished ninth in stroke play at the NCAA Championships.
The Illini start the 2019-20 season at the Glass City Invitational in Toledo, Ohio, September 16-17.
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