Michigan State women's golfer Sarah Burnham earns honorable mention All-America honors

Michigan State junior golfer Sarah Burnham was named to the Women’s Golf Coaches Association honorable mention All-America team Tuesday. It marks the second straight year Burnham has garnered the honor.

“I’m so happy for Sarah because she’s very deserving of this honor,” MSU head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said. “To be an All-American two years in a row is a wonderful accomplishment and we’re all so glad that she’s a Spartan.”

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Burnham had another stellar season for the Green and White in 2016-17 as she became the fourth player in program history to be voted the Big Ten Player of the Year. She finished the year with a 72.57 scoring average, second best in school history only to her 72.42 recorded last year.

Burnham finished the season by placing 24th at the NCAA Championships earlier this week, which was 21 spots ahead of where she placed as a sophomore.

Burnham had three runner-up finishes, including the Mary Fossum Invitational (3-under-par 213), Lady Buckeye Invitational (2-over-par 218) and the Big Ten Championships (5-under-par 211). Her best round of the year came at the conference tournament where she recorded a school and Big Ten Championships record 9-under-par 63 in the second round. The score tied for the second-lowest round in NCAA women’s golf this season and included 11 birdies, with six in a row at one point on the front nine, and one double bogey.

The native of Maple Grove, Minnesota, did her part in to help the Spartans advance to the NCAA Championships as she placed 15th in the NCAA Athens Regional, helping MSU to a third-place showing.

She was named Big Ten Golfer of the Week twice, garnering the honor after her second-place finishes at the Mary Fossum Invitational (Sept. 29) and Lady Buckeye Invitational (April 19).

Burnham led MSU in even or under-par rounds (13), total birdies (112) and birdies per round (3.2). One of her best stretches of the season was from March 20 – May 9 where she shot 73 or better in 11 of 12 consecutive rounds.

Burnham is the third player under Slobodnik-Stoll to become a two-time All-American and just the fourth in program history.

- MSU Athletic Communications