BATON ROUGE — LSU women’s golf coach Karen Bahnsen announced that she has received the national letters of intent papers from nationally-ranked golfer Mary Michael Maggio Wednesday on the first day of the week-long early signing period for the sport.
Maggio, of Conway, Ark., and Conway High School is currently ranked 23rd in the nation in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Rankings and is ninth in the Class of 2009 in the American Junior Golf Association Polo Rankings. She was a second team American Junior Golf Association All-American in 2007 and an honorable mention selection in 2008.
Maggio captured medalist honors 34 times in Class 7A high school conference matches and captured the state championship in 2006 and 2007, while finishing second in 2005 and 2008. In her high school career, she has never finished lower than second place and in 42 tournaments has 37 victories.
Maggio was the 2004 and 2005 Arkansas State Golf Association Player of the Year, the 2004, 2005, 2006 Arkansas Women’s Golf Association Player of the Year, a four-time All-State selection in high school and the four-time Conway Log Cabin Democrat Golfer of the Year.
In Arkansas State Golf Association tournaments from 2004 through 2006, she had wins in 15 tournaments including the 2005 and 2006 ASGA Match Play Championships and the 2005 Stroke Play title.
She is currently ranked 23rd in the nation in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Rankings and is ninth in the Class of 2009 in the American Junior Golf Association Polo Rankings. She was a second team All-American in 2007 and an honorable mention selection in 2008.
“I am very excited about Mary Michael joining our team,” said Bahnsen, whose 2008-09 team is presently ranked 14th in the country after the fall season. “She is one of the best players in junior golf and she will bring talent and enthusiasm to our team. Our goal is to complete at the highest level and I believe Mary Michael can help us get there. She comes from a great family that share the same ideals we have here at LSU.”
She has had multiple top 10 finishes in AJGA events, including a third at two-over par in the Thunderbird International Junior event and a tie for second in the Valero Texas Open Junior Shootout again with a 218. That was following a win in the same tournament in 2007 when she shot a one-under 215 for the 54-hole event.
That was part of a 2007 season in which she had no finish out of the top 10 in six events, including a ninth-place finish in the Rolex Girls Junior Championship.
This past summer, she advanced to the round of 16 in the 2008 USGA Girls Junior Championship, advancing to match play and winning two matches.
Maggio will join the Tigers for the 2009-10 season.