Submitted photo / YSU Athletic Communications. YSU sophomore Neeranuch Prajunpanich watches her shot during the Horizon League Women’s Golf Championship last week at the El Campeon Course at Mission Inn Resort and Club in Howey-In-The-Hills, Fla.

YOUNGSTOWN — As Neeranuch Prajunpanich walked off the 18th green on Monday at the El Campeon Course at Mission Inn Resort and Club in Howey-In-The-Hills, Fla., there was no suspense or drama about how the leaderboard would unfold.

After sinking her par putt, the Youngstown State sophomore was instead dowsed with water bottles in celebration by her teammates as she capped off a seven-shot victory to win individual medalist honors at the Horizon League championship.

“I felt pretty good. After everything, I was really happy with myself that I could do it, compared to last year when I finished second,” Prajunpanich said. “I expect to be winning this tournament, so I have to think about ways to make me relax before the round, especially the last day, because I put a lot of pressure on myself to do good. But I still encouraged myself to do my best and just focus on each shot that I’m doing.”

Prajunpanich finished as runner-up during last year’s Horizon League championship, but this year she took the next step to capture the title. She’s YSU’s first Horizon League individual medalist since Katlyn Shutt won in 2021.

Her championship win earned her Horizon League Women’s Golfer of the Year honors on Thursday, along with being named to the Horizon League All-Tournament team for the second straight season after she finished with a three-round score of 3-over 222.

Prajunpanich opened the tournament two shots off the lead after an up-and-down first round that included two birdies, but also three bogeys and two double-dogeys. Her teammate, freshman Sofia Perez Escarcena, sat tied atop the leaderboard with Purdue Fort Wayne’s Lillian Gottman after shooting a 3-over 76.

“I know the first day she really struggled with her ball striking — the conditions were definitely tougher with the wind,” YSU head coach Nate Miklos said. “But to her credit, she found a way to still post a pretty solid score.”

“During the first round, I tried to think about what I was doing last year and how to save my score the most because it was a challenging course,” Prajunpanich added. “I was challenging myself to be even-par on the first day, but I still had a couple (bad) shots and was not hitting the ball good with my iron.”

But Prajunpanich bounced back over the next two days by posting the two lowest rounds of the tournament.

She had an almost unblemished 2-under 71 on Sunday with three birdies and just one bogey that catapulted her up the leaderboard to a three-shot lead heading into Monday’s final round.

Prajunpanich then capped off the tournament with an even-par 73 to put the finishing touches on her seven-shot victory.

“On the second day and third day, I just tried to remind myself that you have to enjoy the golf course and the weather and everything,” Prajunpanich said. “I know I hope to win, but you have to have fun first before you have success.

“So on the second day, I played so well. But on the last day, I put a lot of pressure on myself, which is why on my first hole I got a bogey. But then after that, I reminded myself again to have fun and that I don’t have to compare myself to the other competitors, so I finished strong on that day.”

On Wednesday, Prajunpanich and the rest of the Penguins learned that she is headed to the NCAA’s Columbus Regional on May 5-7 at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course.

The Penguins finished ninth in the 13-team field at Ohio State’s Therese Hession Buckeye Invitational on April 12-13, as Prajunpanich was YSU’s top individual placer, finishing tied for 21st with a 13-over 948.

The regional field in Columbus consists of 12 teams, including No. 1 seed Arkansas, No. 3 seed Ohio State and No. 12 seed and Horizon League champion Oakland, in addition to the other six qualifying individuals that aren’t on one of the selected teams. The top individual golfer that’s not on one of the five advancing teams from the regional site will move on to the national championship tournament at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., from May 16-21.

“We’re just excited to go back to Columbus,” Miklos said. “We just played there a couple weeks ago, so she knows the golf course well. It sets up well for a shorter trip for us, which give an opportunity for a lot of her teammates and some fans to come and watch.”

Prajunpanich’s win on Monday added to what’s already been a historic season for the Thailand native. She’s won five tournaments during the 2024-25 season, which matches the school record for wins in a campaign.

She joins former Penguin Jessica Lundblad as the only two players to win five events in a season in program history, after Lundblad accomplished the feat during the 1997-98 season.

“She’s had a phenomenal year. She had a great year last year, but I think the big difference this year was just mentally having the confidence to go out there and put together those lower rounds — that’s really helped her,” Miklos said. “She’s taken a big step this year, so we’re excited to see what she can do in Columbus.”

BACK-TO-BACK

Despite Prajunpanich’s individual success, the Horizon League championship was bittersweet for the Penguins as a team, as they finished as runner-up for the second straight season.

“Last year was a little different situation because our best player was hurt and wasn’t playing there for us at the conference championships,” Miklos said. “So it was almost like last year was like, ‘wow, second was an incredible performance for us.'”

YSU was tied for the lead with Purdue Fort Wayne at 21-over after the end of the first round, but then Oakland got hot over the final two rounds to edge out the Penguins by two strokes.

Senior Elizabeth Saur and junior Maddi Shoults each shot 18-over overall after three days to finish tied for seventh, while Escarcena shot 20-over to tie for 11th and freshman Valentina Pena Anaya shot 24-over to finish tied for 18th.

“On one hand, I’m really proud of the way we competed and the way we played, it’s just unfortunate that we got beat by somebody that just caught fire those last two days. It was probably one of our better tournaments of the year, and unfortunately Oakland just caught fire and we were on the unlucky end there. It’s tough because we did have a phenomenal year to get down, get so close and come up a little bit short.”