Women's Golf Looks for More Success at Susie Maxwell Berning Classic
Oct. 12, 2012
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women’s golf, winner of back-to-back tournament titles for the first time in more than 20 years, will look to keep its momentum rolling at the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic hosted by the University Oklahoma, Oct. 15-17.
Kansas will be one of the 18 teams that will play in another 18-hole format each day (54-hole total) at the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club Course (par 72, yardage 7,387) in Norman, Okla.
Kansas won its second event this season at the Price’s High Five New Mexico State University Invitational, Oct. 8-10, at NMSU Golf Course in Las Cruces, N.M. It marked the first time KU has won back-to-back tournament titles – also claiming the top honor at the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational – since 1988. Behind freshman Yapaporn Kawinpakorn’s first place individual finish, the Jayhawks won the 13-team event by shooting a three-round school-record score of 871 (+7) – 10 strokes better than runner-up Washington State. Kawinpakorn shot a three-round 213 (-3) on the par-72 course, while KU’s Thanuttra Boonraksasat tied for 10th with a 220 and Gabby DiMarco tied for 15th after shooting a 222.
“The girls have worked so hard,” KU head coach Erin O’Neil said. “We have good chemistry going and a good feel going–it’s really great to see. I’m very proud of them and for Mook (Kawinpakorn) for her great performance and winning the individual title – it just made the week that much more special.”
For the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic Kansas will use the same lineup as its first three events with Boonraksat, Kawinpakorn, and DiMarco, joined by junior Meghan Potee and senior Audrey Yowell. At the Price’s-New Mexico State University Invitational, Potee finished tied for 24th with a 225, while Yowell shot a 226 to tie for 31st. Freshman Ann Kathrin Wuensch will also make the trip and play as an individual.
Kawinpakorn’s individual title is the first for a KU golfer since 2010 and the Jayhawks’ two consecutive wins predate most of the golf team’s birthdays.
“It was an overall group effort to win–every person counted throughout the tournament,” O’Neil said. “We’ve just been working hard on team chemistry and creating a champion attitude–they’ve worked real hard on doing that. All the credit goes to the team. They have made that their priority to create that.”
Teams in the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic include: Coastal Carolina, Denver, Kansas State, Kennesaw State, Kent State, Middle Tennessee, New Mexico, Notre Dame, Ohio State, University of Oklahoma, Redlands Community College, SMU, South Florida, TCU, Texas State, Texas Tech and Tulsa. Live tournament coverage will be available on Golfstat at www.golfstat.com
“This is a great tournament; we played there last year and had a pretty good finish,” O’Neil said. “It’s a good course for us and we’ll be competing against some other Big 12 teams; obviously OU, TCU and Kansas State. This will be a good opportunity to see how we measure up against them and some other top schools in the country.”
