Women’s Golf Looks to Take Next Step with Opening of Fall Season

Photo by: Ball State University Creative Services

Women’s Golf Looks to Take Next Step with Opening of Fall Season

September 04, 2019 | Women's Golf

Cardinals boast depth and experience but still just one senior on talented roster

MUNCIE, Ind. -- With its entire roster returning and the addition of a veteran transfer, the Ball State women's golf team is primed for another step forward this year.

Manon Tounalom and a host of young Cardinals carried BSU to a trio of top-3 finishes last season and a tie for fourth place at the season-ending MAC Championships, marking the program's best result in five years.

The Cardinals are poised to be among the top contenders trying to hunt down perennial MAC power Kent State at the conference championships in the spring. But first up is the fall schedule with five events over the next six weeks.

Ball State will make its seemingly annual appearances in three events with red-feathered flavor -- Illinois State's Redbird Invitational next week, BSU's own Cardinal Classic at The Players Club the following week, and the always-loaded Cardinal Classic at Louisville in mid-October.

The Cardinals will mix in a new tournament to the schedule, Colorado State's Colonel Wollenberg Ptarmigan Ram Classic, and also get an advance look at the MAC Championships venue with the Silver Lake Shootout at Silver Lake Country Club in Ohio.

Watch as 16th-year head coach Katherine Mowat previews the fall season, and read below for a roster breakdown of her choices in filling out the lineup each week (listed in class order) …

Fall golf season is here!

?? All 8?BSU golfers return from last year??
?? NM State transfer Tiegan Taylor joins the mix??
?? Manon Tounalom a senior already??

All that & more as Coach Mowat previews the fall
?????#ChirpChirp | #WeFly pic.twitter.com/auweRgsINz
— Ball State WGolf (@BallStateWGolf) September 4, 2019

Manon Tounalom, Sr. (Buchelay, France)
The only upper class member of last year's team, Tounalom is now the only senior on this year's squad. She was the Cardinals' top golfer each of the past two seasons, leading the team last year with a 75.85 scoring average and six top-20 finishes in nine tournament starts. Her combined stroke average over the past two seasons (76.28) ranks third among two-year marks in program history behind only Brittany Kelly (75.18, 2009-11) and Jenna Hague (75.77, 2012-14).

Liz Kim, Jr. (Dublin, Ohio)
Kim played all but one event in the Ball State lineup over her first two years, and that lone event was just a one-round match with Dayton to open last season. She has never missed a tournament as part of the lineup. Kim's 77.27 scoring average a year ago was second on the team behind Tounalom. She had three top-12 finishes, highlighted by a tie for sixth place at BSU's Cardinal Classic.

Emily Knouff, Jr. (Fort Loramie, Ohio)
Knouff has played in 17 of the past 18 events as part of the Ball State lineup dating back to the spring season of her freshman year. She was BSU's second-best finisher at the MAC Championships in that rookie campaign and recorded a pair of top-25 results last year.

Tiegan Taylor, Jr. (Kelowna, British Columbia)
Taylor joins the Cardinals from New Mexico State where she competed in 15 career events, including the first seven last year before opting to transfer. She played in the 2016 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship after winning the qualifier in Idaho.

Dylann Armstrong, So. (North Gower, Ontario)
Armstrong played in nine events as a freshman last year, including three as part of the Ball State lineup. She played her best golf down the stretch with a tie for 30th at the Spring Break Shootout and a tie for 15th at the Hoya Invitational, two of her final three appearances.

Morgan Lewis, So. (Fishers, Ind.)
Lewis played in all 12 events as a freshman last year, including 11 of them as part of the Ball State lineup. She logged a pair of top-20 finishes, including a tie for eighth at BSU's Cardinal Classic. Her 74 on the final day of the MAC Championships marked her second-best round of the year.

Hadley Moritz, So. (Wheaton, Ill.)
Moritz blazed her way to the finish line last year, nearly matching Tounalom for the Cardinals' best spring scoring average with her mark of 75.35. She managed top-25 finishes in four of her five stroke play starts in the spring and led Ball State with an 11th-place showing at the MAC Championships. Her 69 on the opening day of the Spring Break Shootout matched Tounalom for the team's low round of the year.

Elizabeth Amendola, So. (Naples, Fla.)
Amendola returns for her sophomore campaign after competing in three events a year ago. She recorded her season-best score of 74 in the middle round of the Spring Break Shootout.

Ja Santadusit, So. (Bangkok, Thailand)
Santadusit competed in five events as a freshman last year and worked her way into the lineup for the EKU Colonel Classic. Her best round of 75 came at the Spring Break Shootout.