WA’s Maddison Hinson-Tolchard has continued her impressive US college golf career by leading her Oklahoma State University team to victory in the Big 12 Women’s Golf Championship.
Gosnells golfer Hinson-Tolchard, 21, is in her third year of a scholarship at OSU and claimed the individual title at the Big 12 Championship in Dallas with a four-under-par 54-hole total. Her one-stroke victory came by virtue of a steely clutch putt on the 18th green.
As well as topping the individual standings, Hinson-Tolchard’s OSU Cowgirls team clinched the team title, while the WA export also got her name in the university’s record books by becoming their first player to record 50 par-or-better rounds during their collegiate career.
She achieved this milestone after her second round 69 and extended it with a level-par 72 on the final day. It moved Hinson-Tolchard clear of previous record holder Kenzie Neisen, who fired 49 par-or-better rounds during her four-year stint with the Cowgirls between 2014-19.
The pathway to success?
These achievements are the latest in a string of successes for Hinson-Tolchard since she moved to the US in 2021. This was her third individual collegiate title and she was named the Big 12 Player of the Year for the 2021-22 season. She was also a recipient of the coveted Karrie Webb Scholarship in March.
Although no stranger to success prior to moving Stateside (she represented both Australia and WA, and won the Australian Girls’ Amateur in 2018), Hinson-Tolchard’s game has stepped up a gear in the college system and helped her reach new levels of excellence.
“I’m super proud of myself for setting the new school record,” she told GolfWA. “To be seen as one of the best to have ever come through the program is awesome. I want to keep breaking my own record over the next year so that generations to come have something to chase down.”
Maddison Hinson-Tolchard’s game has reached new levels on the US college circuit
Hinson-Tolchard is now a major advocate of the college golf pathway, which she highly recommends up-and-coming amateur stars consider. “College golf for me has been a huge step in the right direction,” she said. “I feel like the opportunities I’ve been given over here have been life-changing and have helped me achieve so many of my goals.
“Being able to get a degree and play against the best amateur golfers in the world is an opportunity you don’t get anywhere else and I would recommend the experience to anyone.”
The Big 12 Women’s Championship also featured another of WA leading amateur golfers, Sheridan Clancy. The Lake Karrinyup member is in her freshman year at Texas Christian University and claimed T16th in the individual event as her team finished in third place overall.
Meanwhile, Hinson-Tolchard’s week got even better when she was announced in the International team that will compete against the USA in the Arnold Palmer Cup in Pennsylvania in June.
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