Bauer Marketing Senior Earns Top Collegiate Golf Honor
Megan Thothong Named Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar
Published on August 7, 2017
Marketing senior Megan Thothong has been named the Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar for the 2016-2017 season, recognizing her for maintaining a GPA of 3.5 or higher, and her athletic excellence.
A student from the C. T. Bauer College of Business was recently honored as one of the top collegiate female golf players in the nation for her academic and athletic achievements.
The Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) named marketing senior Megan Thothong an All-American Scholar for the 2016-2017 season. The organization awards the distinction to students who excel on the field while maintaining a GPA of 3.50 or higher.
This is Thothong’s third consecutive year receiving the award. She was part of the WGCA All-American Scholar team for the past two seasons, averaging a 3.96 GPA during her first three years at the University of Houston.
“I started playing golf when I was 8 years old,” she said. “My dad took me onto the course and would let me drive the golf cart around. Later when I was 9, I started playing competitively and have played ever since.”
When Thothong was researching potential universities, she initially didn’t consider UH because there was no women’s golf program at the time. But, she had the opportunity to make history as one of the university’s first female golf players.
“One day when I was hitting on the driving range, a man named Clark Mitzner saw me and came up and asked if I knew which college I would play for yet. After answering no, he informed me about UH and the start of their women’s program,” she said. “I became one of the first players in the school’s history to commit to playing women’s golf, which is such an amazing honor. Not many college athletes are able to say that they were one of the trailblazers for their respective college sport.”
Since arriving at UH, Thothong has made a name for herself in the women’s collegiate golf program, becoming the top player on her team in tournament victories, strokes and rounds played. She received the Individual Champion award at the UNF Collegiate in 2015 and 2016, and earned a sixth overall finish at the American Athletic Conference Championships this April. She is also the first female golf player in the university’s history to compete in three NCAA regionals and win multiple individual tournament titles.
Thothong has balanced her athletic success with achievement in the classroom as she pursues her undergraduate degree at Bauer. She said she chose to study marketing because of its versatility and relevance to her future goal of launching her own business.
“Balancing golf and academics has been tough, but having good time management as well as a supportive group around me has helped so much. Coaches and academic advisors in our athletic department help set me up for success, but I have also had to use a lot of time management skills. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made in order to do well in the parts of my life that I prioritize such as academics, golf and quality time with friends and family.”
As she prepares to start her final year at Bauer, Thothong said she looks forward to continue playing golf after graduation or becoming a professional instructor in the industry. She is also considering returning to school to obtain an additional degree.
She added: “Being a student-athlete as UH has been such an amazing experience thus far, and I cannot wait for the memories I make in my last year as a senior.”