Career-best Performances Lift Kansas in Rio Verde Invitational
March 10, 2012
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RIO VERDE, Ariz. – The Kansas women’s golf team came together Saturday at the Rio Verde Invitational to post its best team total since Oct. 24, 2011 when it came in with a 287 at the Edwin Watts/Palmetto Intercollegiate. The Jayhawks carded a 13-over par 297 Saturday and currently sits in a tie for fourth place with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, just six strokes behind tournament leader Akron.
Junior Audrey Yowell finished the second round with a career-best 71 at the Quail Run course to put her in a tie for 10th place overall. Yowell carded three birdies, three bogies and 14 pars to finish even-par for the day. Yowell was pleased about her round on Saturday.
“I feel I played well today,” Yowell said. “My irons were more solid and on target.”
Freshman Nadia Luttner also made a big improvement in the second round, jumping 28 spots to put her in a tie for 20th place. After a first round score of 81, Luttner shaved eight strokes on Saturday to card a career-best 73. Luttner’s previous best performance came at the Dale McNamara Invitational where she finished with a 74 and tied for 19th place.
Senior Katy Nugent stayed consistent in the second round, coming in with a five-over par 76 and dropped to a tie for 13th place while sophomore Thanuttra Boonraksasat improved one stroke to finish the day with a 77. Boonraksasat currently sits in a tie for 23rd. Sophomore Meghan Potee carded an 80 in the second round which puts her in a tie for 37th.
Akron is just one stroke ahead of Penn State, concluding the day with a 298 and two-day total of 603. Kansas is just one stroke behind the third place team, Missouri State and just six strokes behind Akron. Missouri State’s Kelsey Welber leads the tournament individually after carding an even-par 71 on Saturday, making her two-day total 146 and jumping from Friday’s sixth place finishing. Yowell sits five-strokes behind Welber with a two-day total of 151.
“If we can eliminate big numbers tomorrow and play consistently throughout the round, we will be in great position to win,” Nugent said.
The Jayhawks will play the final round on Sunday with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. Live scoring will be available on www.golfstat.com.
