University of Minnesota Athletics
Kuenster Earns B1G Weekly Honor
10/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
ROSEMONT, Ill. - Freshman Celia Kuenster has been named the Big Ten Conference Women's Golfer of the Week, after helping lead the Gophers to a tournament title. It is the first such honor for the Mendota Heights, Minn., native, and Minnesota's first of the season.
Kuenster carded a pair of four-under-par 68s in the final two rounds of the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown this week, helping her to finish third overall at -4 (76-68-68-212). The 54-hole total marks the second-lowest by a Gopher individual in school history. Highlighting her weekend at Boulder Creek Golf Club was her hole-in-one on the par-3 12th hole, the first ace of her career.
Part of a record-breaking effort in Las Vegas, Kuenster helped the Gophers to a combined round of 278, a new program record for lowest 18-hole round, beating the 281 accomplished four years ago at the same tournament. Additionally, the overall score of 863 (295-290-278) bested the previous school record for a 54-hole tournament of 869, last set this past spring at the UCF Challenge. Tuesday's finish marked the first time in school history that the Gophers team finished below par.
She leads the Gophers this season with a 74.00 stroke average, including three top-10 finishes in Minnesota's four fall tournaments.
Minnesota's last B1G weekly award was February 12 last season, when Emie Peronnin earned the honor, one of two Gophers along with Carmen Laguna to do so in the 2013-14 season.
With fall competition wrapped up, the Gophers will not return to the course for tournament play until February 8-10, 2015, when they take part in the UCF Challenge in Orlando.
