Michelle Thomas

Height:
5-6
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Littleton, Colo.
High School:
Heritage

1996-97 Academic All-Big 12 honorable mention
1997-98 Academic All-Big 12 first team
1998-99 Academic All-Big 12 first team
1998-99 WGCA All-American Scholar
1998-99 team's Most Improved Student-Athlete

1998-99 – Thomas capped her time at CU with a career-best 80.11 stroke average as a senior. Her 69 in the first round of the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic on Sept. 8 was the lowest score in CU history at the time of her graduation, and it vaulted her to a tie for second place in the tournament after a three-round score of 218. She also had a top-five finish at the Heather Farr/CU Memorial, tying for third (77-75-71--223). She was the team’s captain, a role she also filled as a junior. She won the Colorado State Women’s Match Play Tournament over the summer, when she also tied for 9th among amateurs at the Colorado Open.

1997-98 – Was again right at the top of Colorado’s scoring chart, averaging 81.00 strokes in 30 tournament rounds. She finished a Colorado best-ever second at the Cal State-Northridge Invitational. All told, 27 of her 30 rounds on the year counted toward the team total, and 10 of those 30 rounds were in the 70s. She was one of five Buffs to earn first-team academic all-Big 12 honors.

1996-97 – Thomas was Colorado’s second-leading scorer with an 82.63 stroke average in a team-high 32 tournament rounds. Thirty-one of those 32 (.969) rounds counted toward the team total, with her low round a 76 at the New Mexico Spring Intercollegiate. All told, she earned four Top-20 finishes and one Top-10 finish on the year. She was one of four Buffs to earn academic all-Big 12 honors.

1995-96 – If expectations were for Thomas to excel at the Division I-A level, she met those expectations and then some, firing a team-best 83.05 stroke average in 21 rounds of tournament play. Twenty times in those 21 rounds her score counted toward the team total (an impressive .952), and Thomas also led the team with four rounds in the 70s. Her top finish came at the BYU Invitational, where she tied for 19^th place with a three-round total 246 in helping Colorado to its best tournament finish (985) of the season. Thomas also earned first-team academic all-Big Eight honors following the season.

High School – Lettered twice for head coach Bill Ogg and the Heritage girls’ golf squad. Finished second individually at the Colorado State Girls’ High School Championship as a junior and third individually as her team’s senior captain, leading Heritage to the team crown both years. She earned all-state honors for her performance as a senior, and was also named Heritage’s Outstanding Senior Athlete. Thomas also earned two letters as a swimmer for Heritage, a prep career which culminated with an invitation to the state meet her senior year.

Other – Thomas won the consolation championship of the 1996 Colorado Women’s State Match Play, defeating Shannon Ogg on the 19^th home. A standout at American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) events during her precollegiate years. Thomas logged some serious amounts of time atop leaderboards around the state and country in 1994 and ’95, with accolades ranging from fifth (Southwestern Junior), sixth (Aspen Junior Classic) and eighth-place (Lake Tahoe Classic) finishes in American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) events to her qualification for the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 1995. Other top tournament finishes include winning Colorado State Girls’ Stroke and Match Play championships in 1994, another victory that same year at the sectional qualifying for the Independent Youth Insurance Classic, a top-10 finish in the amateur division at the Women’s Colorado Open in 1995. Thomas also led Colorado’s Junior America’s Cup team (1994), named Colorado Section PGA Junior Player of the Year (1995) and was invited to the prestigious AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions (1995). She missed qualifying for the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open by only three shots, firing an impressive 77 at the notoriously difficult Broadmoor Country Club.

Personal – Born Nov. 11, 1976, in Littleton, Thomas is majoring in marketing at Colorado. Thomas was also recruited by Nebraska, Texas, Baylor, Colorado State and Kansas State, among others. She was a state and national qualifier in DECA competition for Heritage.

Career Tournaments

Date	Event (Par)	Score	Finish
Sept. 11-12, 1995	Nebraska Chip-N Club Invite (72)	79-83-84—246	t-23rd
Sept. 18-19, 1995	BYU Invite (72)	82-80-79—241	t-19th
Oct. 6-7, 1995	Ohio State Buckeye Invite (72)	84-79-86—249	t-24th
Oct. 16-17, 1995	Marilyn Smith Sunflower Invite (72)	85-84-82—251	t-38th
Feb. 26-27, 1996	Monica Welsh Memorial (72)	87-82-84—253	t-41st
Apr. 8-9, 1996	Maxwell Berning Invite (72)	84-85-85—254	t-48th
Apr. 22-23, 1996	Big Eight Championships (71)	86-88-76—250	t-20th

Date	Event (Par)	Score	Finish
Sept. 9-10, 1996	Nebraska Chip-N Club Invite (72)	81-83-79—243	t-17th
Sept. 15-16, 1996	BYU Invite (72)	85-83—168	t-38th
Sept. 22-24, 1996	Nike Invitational (72)	78-79-80—237	t-10th
Oct. 7-8, 1996	Big 12 Fall Preview (72)	78-83-80—241	t-38th
Oct. 14-15, 1996	Marilyn Smith Sunflower Classic (72)	81-85-78—244	17th
Oct. 28-30, 1996	New Mexico State Invite (74)	85-81-83-249	t-43rd
Mar. 17-18, 1997	New Mexico Spring Intercollegiate (73)	76-78-81—235	t-17th
Mar. 25-27, 1997	Hawaii Wahine Invite (72)	92-87-88—267	t-115th
Apr. 7-8, 1997	Utah Dixie Classic (72)	82-87-80—249	55th
Apr. 14-15, 1997	Susie Maxwell Berning Invite (72)	88-83-83—254	t-53rd
Apr. 21-23, 1997	Big 12 Championships (72)	91-81-85—257	54th

Date	Event (Par)	Score	Finish
Sept. 9-10, 1997	Colorado State Invite (71)	84-80-79—243	t-46th
Sept. 15-16, 1997	BYU Invite (72)	86-84-85—255	61st
Sept. 29-30, 1997	COLORADO INVITATIONAL (72)	84-77-75—236	22nd
Oct. 6-7, 1997	Big 12 Fall Preview (72)	80-79-82—241	t-28th
Nov. 2-4, 1997	New Mexico State Invite (72)	79-81-78—238	t-51st
Feb. 23-24, 1998	Texas A&M Memorial (72)	82-81-80—243	t-37th
Mar. 2-3, 1998	Bay Area Classic (71)	84-82—166	48th
Mar. 14-16, 1998	Cal State Northridge Invite (72)	79-76—155	2nd
Mar. 24-26, 1998	Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Invite (72)	80-85-77—242	t-56th
Apr. 6-7, 1998	Utah Dixie Classic (72)	80-78—158	t-36th
Apr. 24-26, 1998	Big 12 Championships (72)	84-87-82—253	t-54th

Date	Event (Par)	Score	Finish
Sept. 8-9, 1998	Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic (72)	69-77-72—218	t-2nd
Sept. 14-15, 1998	BYU Invite (72)	74-82-75—231	t-12th
Sept. 21-22, 1998	HEATHER FARR MEMORIAL (72)	77-75-71—223	t-3rd
Oct. 3-4, 1998	Big 12 Fall Preview (72)	81-77-81—239	t-35th
Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 1998	Diet Coke/Roadrunner Invite (72)	92-81-79—252	t-80th
Feb. 22-23, 1999	GTE “Mo”morial (72)	87-83-81—251	t-56th
Mar. 26-29, 1999	Bryan National Collegiate (72)	89-80-86—255	t-55th
Apr. 5-6, 1999	Utah Dixie Classic (72)	81-78-88—247	t-72nd
Apr. 19-21, 1999	Big 12 Championships (72)	84-77-86—247	t-56th

Career Statistics

Overall						Spring				Fall
Season	Rd	Strk	Avg	Lo	Rd		Strk	Avg	Rd		Strk	Avg
1995-96	24	2,000	83.33	76	12		1,013	84.42	12		987	82.25
1996-97	29	2,390	82.41	76	12		1,008	84.00	17		1,382	81.29
1997-98	30	2,430	81.00	75	15		1,217	81.13	15		1,213	80.87
1998-99	27	2,163	80.11	69	12		1,000	83.33	15		1,163	77.53
Totals	110	8,983	81.66	69	51		4,238	83.10	59		4,745	80.42