Bunch of titles: NCAA D-I women’s golf’s wins leader remains undefeated this spring

Upon watching sophomore Emma Bunch play a practice round before his team’s spring opener, the GCU Invitational, in late February, New Mexico State head coach Danny Bowen made a bold declaration to his assistant, Pun Chunachai, saying of Bunch: “She’s going to nationals.”

Since that moment, Bunch has not lost a tournament.

In five starts this spring, the Lynge, Denmark, native owns five individual titles, including her most recent at last week’s Conference USA Championship at High Meadow Ranch in Magnolia, Texas.

“It feels unreal,” Bunch said. “I think I still haven’t gotten around to believing that I won the first one, and now we’re on No. 5.”

Bunch admits that she “was not really that good” as a junior player, though she capped her last summer before going to college with wins at both the Danish National Match Play and Danish National Stroke Play. It was through a recruiting service that Bunch connected with Bowen and ended up signing with the Aggies, and in her college debut two falls ago, she tied for eighth.

“What we knew we were getting from the start was a competitor but someone who was also comfortable going under par,” Bowen said.

Still, Bunch had to learn consistency that first season. The biochemistry major proved a quick study, though, as she notched five finishes of T-6 or better in six fall starts to set the table for what has been an undefeated spring.

Bunch won the GCU Invitational by three shots and then went straight to the UNF Collegiate, where she shared the individual medal. After that, New Mexico State had 23 days off.

“In my head, I was hoping we could play quicker,” Bowen said, “but obviously it didn’t matter.”

Bunch conceded that she wasn’t overly confident before facing what was by far the toughest field she’d face all regular season, at the Ping/ASU Invitational, which featured five current top-20 players in the country.

“I didn’t really believe that I could beat those girls,” Bunch said.

She topped all but UCLA’s Zoe Campos, whom she tied for the individual victory.

At that point, Bunch had her parents, who flew in from Denmark to watch their daughter compete in Tempe, Arizona, take her three winner’s trophies back home.

“They were starting to pile up, and my room is not that big,” Bunch said.

She has a new problem – two more trophies, one for winning the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic by three and another for her conference triumph, the program’s first since Dominique Galloway won the 2019 WAC individual title. Bunch’s five career wins also put her one shy of Chunachai’s school record of six.

Only two other D-I women’s golfers have more than three wins this season – Furman’s Anna Morgan and Boston’s Christy Chen, who each own four titles.

“Her mental strength is just an A+ when she’s on,” Bowen, now in his seventh year as head coach, said of Bunch. “It’s the best I’ve ever coached. She’s able to forgive her misses and start over after every shot. … She’s not getting too far ahead of herself. That’s been the biggest key for her.”

Added Bunch: “Mentally, now I’m way more aware of what’s going on when I’m playing. I’m really good at registering when I’m thinking too far ahead or if I get mad, I’m really good at looking at the nature and finding my way back to being grateful about playing golf and where I’m at.”

Bunch’s next start will come at NCAA regionals, where she’ll play as an individual. Her site will be determined on Wednesday, though Bunch already knows she has a couple final exams during the May 6-8 competition dates.

“Hopefully, my professors will be flexible and I can take them before or after,” Bunch said.

Showing them her spring playing resumé may help.