2009-2010 Season in Review
May 5, 2010
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LAWRENCE, Kan. - Kansas women’s golf capped off its season with a total of seven top-10 performances and 10 top-20 finishes in 10 events.
The Jayhawks opened the fall campaign by traveling to Lincoln, Neb., to compete in the Chip-N Club Invitational Sept. 15-16. Led by senior Emily Powers, the team took third place with a score of 895, the team’s lowest score of the year. Powers chipped in her lowest three-round score of her career with a three-under par 213. Powers’ 213 was the second-lowest 54 hole score in school history. Sophomore Kalynd Carson and senior Meghan Gockel put together their best performances of the season as they both tied for 24th-place with scores of 228.
After opening the season strong, Kansas headed east to Manhattan, Kan., for the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational Sept. 28-29, where Powers competed to defend her title from the 2008 fall season. The Jayhawks finished the tournament in fifth-place with a score of 954. Powers led the team again as she fired a 231 to tie for seventh. Junior Jennifer Clark tied for 29th with a 232, which was her top finish for the season. Freshman Audrey Yowell also marked her debut as a Jayhawk at the tournament and finished tied for 51st with a score of 252.
Next up for the team was a trip to Big 12-rival Missouri to play in the Johnie Imes Invitational Oct. 5-6. The team put together a 10th-place performance as Powers once again led the way, tying for 24th-place.
The following week, Kansas traveled to Las Cruces, N.M., to compete in NMSU Price’s ‘Give ‘Em Five’ Intercollegiate Oct. 12-14. There the Jayhawks tied for seventh with an even 900 as junior Meghna Bal had the best performance of her career. Bal led the team with a sixth-place finish and recorded career-bests in low round and low 54 with a 71 and 219 respectively.
After a week of rest, the team closed out its fall campaign by competing in the Edwin Watts/Palmetto Intercollegiate in Kiawah Island, S.C., Oct. 26-27. The Jayhawks matched their best team score and marked their top-finish of the season by finishing second. Powers led the team as she tied for sixth with a 221, while junior Grace Thiry marked her top-finish of the season and tied for 13th with a 223.
Kansas closed the fall campaign with five top-10 finishes, which had not been accomplished since the 1996 fall campaign. In addition, Kansas had four top-10 individual performances, three of which came from Powers.
To open the spring season, the Jayhawks traveled back to Kiawah Island, S.C., for the Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic Feb. 21-23. Powers led Kansas to a tie for 12th-place as she tied for 11th individually.
Next, the team traveled to Rio Verde, Ariz., for the Duramed/Rio Verde Collegiate Invitational March 5-7. Bal chipped in a 229 to tie for 15th, which led the Jayhawks to a fifth-place finish. Junior Jennifer Clark fired a 70 in the second round to mark the lowest round of her career. While in Arizona, Yowell competed in the White Wing JV Invitational where she placed second with a two-round score of 155.
While the university was on spring break, Kansas traveled back to Arizona, this time to Florence for the Northern Migration Invitational. Bal led the team again as she tied for 29th in the individual race with a 231. Kansas finished the tournament 11th with a 929.
To close out the regular season, the Jayhawks competed in the Ole Miss Rebel Intercollegiate where Thiry led the team to a ninth-place finish with a score of 910, the Jayhawks’ lowest score of the spring. Thiry placed tied for 24th in the individual race. Sophomore Maria Jackson competed in her second event at Kansas and finished 105th at the event.
Following a two-week break, the team traveled to Norman, Okla., for the 14th annual Big 12 Championship. The team finished 12th with Powers leading the way by tying for 28th.
Powers finished the season leading the team in scoring average with a 75.57. Thiry chipped in an even 77.00 strokes per round, while Bal was close behind with a 77.50. Clark and Gockel rounded out the top five with averages of 78.77 and 78.93 respectively.
“We had a good season overall although we did not finish up as well as we would have liked,” said head coach Erin O’Neil. “Our goal is to learn from our experiences and use them to make us a stronger team for the future. We have a solid core group of players returning next fall as well as two incoming players who will give us even more depth.”
Off the course, the Kansas posted a Big 12-best five players on the Academic All-Big 12 Teams. Gockel posted a 4.0 for the second year straight and was one of only three women in the Big 12 to achieve such a mark. Powers, Bal, Thiry and Clark were also named to the team for the second year.
