Phuntumabamrung finishes second, Cyclones lock down third at Big 12s

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Photo: William Deaton/Iowa State

Punpaka Phuntumabamrung gets a hug and congratulations from head coach Christie Martens at the end of the second round of the 2013 Big 12 Women’s Golf Championship at the Harvester on April 20, 2013, in Rhodes, Iowa.

Lauren Hedrick

RHODES, Iowa — Although the typical Iowa weather conditions were nothing short of merciless, the ISU women’s golf team was still able to lock down a successful finish at the Big 12 Championship on Sunday.

The No. 28 Cyclones battled through wind and rain to finish in third place at the conference meet. Scores were high across the board in both the first and third rounds, but ISU coach Christie Martens said she is pleased with how her team played.

“We wanted to be in contention the last day, which we were,” Martens said. “They showed a lot of heart today even though conditions were really tough.”

Iowa State tallied a 912, posting its highest placing finish in a Big 12 Championship in school history.

Senior Punpaka Phuntumabamrung paced the Cyclones throughout the entire meet en route to earning Big 12 All-Tournament honors for the third time in her career. She finished the meet with 221 (77-68-76), placing her second overall to record the highest finish of a Cyclone in school history. She has placed in the top 10 in all four of her Big 12 Championship tournaments for Iowa State.

“Big 12 is the tournament that everyone is looking for,” Phuntumabamrung said. “I’m glad that I did a pretty good job this year since this is my last year, too.”

Martens acclaimed Phuntumabamrung’s performance, saying that her play was impressive.

“[Phuntumabamrung] is such a great pressure player, and she showed that today,” Martens said. “She feels comfortable that she can play with anyone in the country, and she is what you need as a senior leader.”

Like all scores, Phuntumabamrung’s first round was 11 strokes higher than her second and as consistent as the Thailand native is, the extremes of the weather conditions is adamant. She said it is important to keep mentally focused and confident when facing these threats.

“The most important thing is you just go shot by shot and really focus at all times,” Phuntumabamrung said. “You have to have a plan at all times and be focused.”

True freshman Casja Persson carded a three-round score of 226, firing a 72 in the final round of play en route to All-Tournament honors and a tie for fifth. Persson said she is very pleased with her performance.

“It’s so fun to be out here on our home course,” Persson said. “I feel like I played solid the whole weekend.”

Persson’s cumulative performance featured nine birdies and 31 pars. Persson said her confidence really helped in her success.

“I think that I played solid with confidence, and you always hit bad shots. You just have to take it in a good way and keep going,” Persson said.

No. 17 Oklahoma State took home first only two strokes ahead of No. 23 Baylor. Baylor’s Lauren Taylor, the 2012 British Amateur champion, was the individual medalist with 213.

The Cyclones will be back in action at the NCAA Regional on May 9-11.