University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Golf Programs Sign Four to NLI's
11/15/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Director of Golf John Harris and the University of Minnesota Men's and Women's Golf teams announced today that Tyler Lowenstein, Patrick Johnston, Charlie Braniff, and Anna Laorr have signed National Letters of Intent to play for the Gophers. All four players will be eligible to compete during the 2011 fall season.
Lowenstein, a native of Wayzata, Minn., comes to the University of Minnesota with an impressive resume as one of the highest recruited players in the state. He led Wayzata to the 2009 and 2010 Minnesota State High School Championship and finished as the individual runner-up at the 2010 championships.
His hot play continued into the summer season, as he carded the seventh-lowest amateur score in the Minnesota State Open, finishing in a tie for 24th overall. Also, he missed qualifying for the U.S. Open Sectionals at Hazeltine National by two shots and also shot a career-low round of 64 at the Twin Cities Championship. Lowenstein enters his senior season with a career stroke average of 73.1 and is a reigning All-State and All-Section player as well as a member of the All-State Academic team.
Regarded as one of the top high school golfers in Minnesota, Johnston joins the Gophers following an accomplished junior career. A two-year captain, he led Orono High School to three consecutive state championships and was an All-State selection in his sophomore and junior seasons. Johnston earned medalist honors at the 2010 Tri-State Open and finished third at both the 2010 Minnesota 2A High School Championship and the 2010 MacMillan AJGA Classic. The Minnetrista, Minn. native was also a qualifier for the 2010 State Amateur but was unable to play due to his participation in the USGA Jr. Amateur Championship.
Braniff also comes to Minnesota as one of the top high school golfers in the state, having won the 2010 Class 3AAA State High School Individual Championship. While captaining the St. Cloud Tech High School golf team, Braniff was selected All-Conference following his sophomore and junior seasons and won the 2010 Minnesota Junior Publinks State Golf Tournament as well. Additionally, he was a 2010 member of Team Minnesota in the Minnesota-Manitoba Cup Matches. Braniff is also member of the varsity hockey team at Tech.
As the lone member of the women's golf team recruiting class, Anna Laorr and her accomplishments certainly speak for themselves. Laorr's 2010 season was arguably the best of any high school golfer in the state, as the junior took home the Minnesota Junior Girls' State Championship, the Minnesota Junior PGA Match Play Championship, and the Twin Cities' Junior Girls Championship.
Currently a senior at Breck High School, Laorr has already recorded four sectional titles, two conference titles, four individual state tournament appearances (finished third in 2010 and fifth in 2009), and three team MVP awards. She also received All-State honors in two seasons as well as five All-Conference selections. Outside of high school play, she tied for eighth at the 2010 Minnesota Women's State Amateur and eleventh at the 2010 Minnesota Women's State Open.
