IOWA CITY, Iowa -- University of Iowa seniors Jessica Ip and Morgan Kukla, and sophomore Sophie Liu were named 2017 Women’s Golf Big Ten Preseason Honorees, the conference office announced Wednesday.
Ip competed in all 10 tournaments in 2016-17. The senior from Ontario, Canada, carded a three-round score of 221 (+5) to finish in a tie for fifth at the Big Ten Championships last season. Ip led the team with a 74.2 scoring average last spring. She shot the lowest round of the year for the team, carding a 68 (-4) at the BYU Entrada Classic.
As a freshman, Liu appeared in all 10 of the team’s tournaments last season. The Vancouver, British Columbia, native finished the fall with a team-best scoring average of 74.8. She registered her first collegiate career top-10 finish at the Westbrook Spring Invitational, tying for 10th overall (215, -1).
Kukla, a native of Winthrop Harbor, Illinois, competed in seven of Iowa’s 10 tournaments last season. The senior carded a career-best 18-hole score of 71 (-1) at the Hawkeye-El Tigre Invitational. She registered a career-low, 36-hole score at the Red Raider Invitational with a 150 (+6), while her 54-hole 224 (+8) at the Landfall Tradition also marked a career best.
The Hawkeyes open the 2017 season at the Branch Law Firm Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sept. 11-12.