Sophomore Kayla Burch of the women's golf team is the third Taco Bell Athlete of the Week for the 2011-12 academic year after leading the program to its best tournament performance in school history. She is earning the honor for the first time.
By carding a 76 on the final day of the Lady Bulldog Classic, Burch matched her own school record for lowest single-round score in school history that was initially set at the Southwestern Invitational last year. The 158 she carded over the two days beat her old school record of 163 that she registered at the same invitational by five strokes.
Burch’s individual performance also helped the team rewrite the recordbooks. Utilizing two freshmen and two sophomores that factored into the scoring, the Tornados smashed a school record by totaling a two-round tournament score of 664 and bettered the old mark of 695 which was established at the Schreiner Women's Fall Classic last fall by 31 strokes. In addition, the team posted its lowest single-round scores ever by firing a 333 on the first day and a 331 on the second. The previous mark of 339 was recorded at the Southwestern Invitational on Apr. 5, 2011.
“Kayla put in a lot of hard work last year and over the summer,” fourth-year head coach Greg Sigler stated. “She is building confidence and understanding how good she can be.”
Burch, an accounting major from Magnolia, Texas, who carries a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average, is the daughter of Amy and Dan Burch. She has one sister, Emily.