Clover Cup Adjusts Schedule Due to Friday's Rain, KU Women's Golf to play 36 Saturday and 18 Sunday

March 6, 2013

MESA, Ariz. – Due to heavy rain Friday in the Phoenix area, the Second Annual Clover Cup women’s golf tournament has adjusted its schedule and will have 36 holes Saturday, March 9, and the final round of 18 holes on Sunday, March 10, tournament officials announced Friday. The original schedule had 18 holes each day, March 8-10.

The Clover Cup will be played at the Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Ariz. Kansas is one of 16 teams that will play on the par-72 course, which will play 6,209 yards for the Clover Cup hosted by the University of Notre Dame.

In its last outing Kansas finished tied for ninth at the Sir Pizza Terrapin Challenge in Miami Lakes, Fla., Feb. 25-26. KU entered the event’s final round in third place.

“We were real close last week and hopefully we learned from that,” Kansas head coach Erin O’Neil said. “We need to put ourselves in the best position possible to come out with a competitive finish. Our short game got us, particularly our putting. We were able to work on it a little bit when we had to stay an extra day due to the snow storms back home and I know they’ve been working on that since they’ve been home.”

O’Neil made only one change from KU’s lineup used at the Sir Pizza Terrapin Challenge. KU’s season-long regulars for the Clover Cup include juniors Meghan Potee and Thanuttra “Fhong” Boonraksasat and freshman Yupaporn “Mook” Kawinpakorn. Sophomore transfer Minami Levonowich will be competing in her second-straight tournament as a Jayhawk, while the fifth spot will be sophomore Gabby DiMarco. Senior Audrey Yowell will play as an individual at the Clover Cup Tournament and her scores will not count in KU’s team totals. At the Sir Pizza Terrapin Challenge DiMarco played as an individual and Yowell’s scores did count in the team competition.

Kawinpakorn leads Kansas with a 74.8 stroke average. She placed tied for 12th at the Sir Pizza Terrapin Challenge, scoring a 9-over 225, and has been either KU’s first or second finisher in six of her seven tournaments in 2012-13. Boonraksasat is next in scoring at 75.7, followed by Potee (75.9), Levonowich (76.7), DiMarco (77.5) and Yowell (77.9).

“Gabby played solid the last tournament and improved every round,” O’Neil said of DiMarco’s performance in Miami. “She shot a 73 in her last round and I felt like she earned this opportunity.”

Other participants at the Clover Cup Tournament include Cincinnati, Colorado, Florida International, Georgetown, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, SMU, Texas Tech, Tulsa. Kansas will be paired with Minnesota and Florida International for Friday’s first round.

“It’s a solid field overall,” O’Neil said. “Oklahoma is ranked No. 2 in the country and there are a handful of teams in the top 30. If we go out and have a good showing, it could really help us. Hopefully our players will see there is not a difference between those teams and us.”

Live scoring for the Clover Cup Tournament can be viewed via Golfstat.com at http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/index.cfm?tournament_id=4109.

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