Texas Tech University Athletics
Kim Kaufman to Begin Third LPGA Season Thursday
January 27, 2016 | Women's Golf
Former Lady Raider Kim Kaufman set to start third LPGA season at Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic Thursday.
Jan. 27, 2016
Lubbock, Texas - Texas Tech women's golf product Kim Kaufman will begin her third season on the LPGA tour Thursday at the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic. Entering her third season on tour, Kaufman has already earned a career 648,218 dollars in 28 events. Kaufman made the cut in 21 events in the 2015 season, including two top-10 finishes most notably her tie for second place at the Blue Bay LPGA Tournament on October 29, 2015."I'm so ready to get the LPGA season started this year," said Kaufman. "I've now played almost every course on the schedule and will get a start in both limited field events in February. Playing on the tour has always been my dream and it seems surreal that it happened so quickly and that I'm starting my third year already. It seems like just yesterday I was practicing at the Rawls course with my team. That place undoubtedly made me a better player and taught me so many things about the game. I realize now how lucky I was to have such an incredible facility and course at my disposal and I know it just keeps getting better every year. There is nothing I love more than representing Texas Tech out on tour and hope I can make all of Raiderland proud this year!"
Following the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic, players will turn their attention towards the Coats Golf Championship Presented by R+L Carriers boasting a purse of 1,500,000. The Month of February with the ISPS Honda Women's Australian Open and the Honda LPGA Thailand event.
Kaufman concluded her career at Tech not only as a dominate presence on the course, but also in the classroom. Backed by a 4.0 grade-point average in political science, Kaufman was named a first team Capital One Academic All-American following the 2013 by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). It was the highest academic honor in school history for a Texas Tech women's golfer and continued a trend of firsts for Kaufman as she also became the first Lady Raider to be named an All-American in multiple seasons by both the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) and Golfweek Magazine in that season.
The Clark, S.D. native concluded her record-breaking career as a Red Raider with a 72.3 stroke average in her final season in Lubbock, which was the lowest single-season total in school history. Kaufman broke the previous mark of 72.8 set by teammate Gabby Dominguez just a year earlier. Kaufman also narrowly edged Dominguez for the career record as well after averaging 74.0 strokes per round over the course of four seasons.
"We are so proud of Kim and all that she has accomplished in her short time as a professional," said head women's golf coach JoJo Robertson. "It's fun to watch her compete each week. She's a great example to all of the players on our team of what hard work can do."
Kaufman turned in seven top-five finishes in just 12 events in the 2012-13 season, including one tournament victory at the Landfall Tradition in late October. The tournament crown earned Kaufman the No. 1 individual ranking in Golfweek's national poll which she carried into the spring season where she remained among the top-25 players in the country.
