Sakdee Signs with Kansas Women's Golf
Nov. 14, 2012
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| Women’s Golf Signees | |
| Name | Hometown |
| Pornvipa Sakdee | Kamphaeng Phet, Thailand |
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women’s golf has added a top-50 player according to the World Junior Golf Rankings as Pornvipa Sakdee signed a National Letter of Intent (NLI) on the first day of the fall signing period Wednesday.
Sakdee, who also goes by Faiiz (sounds like phi), is ranked No. 37 in the world and No. 5 in her class after claiming top-medalist honors at the TOYA Polish Junior Golf Championship in July, a World Junior Golf Series event. The Kamphaeng Phet, Thailand, native will join a roster with just one graduating senior and will join fellow countrymen, junior Thanuttra “Fhong” Boonraksasat (Nonthaburi, Thailand) and freshman Yupaporn “Mook” Kawinpakorn (Samut Prakan, Thailand) for the 2013-14 season.
“I was trying to find a great player to come in and help take us to that next level,” Kansas women’s golf coach Erin O’Neil said. “We have almost all of the pieces together now and Faiiz will be that catalyst to help get us there. She’s got a lot of international tournament experience and she’s a very good player within the country of Thailand – there are a lot of good golfers there and she’s ranked pretty highly among them. We think she’ll fit in great.”
Sakdee placed third at both the Thailand Ladies Amateur and Thailand Ladies Open earlier this year and has previously been medalist of the Thailand Northern Junior Golf Championship and was runner-up at the Hank Haney Junior Golf Championship. As a 16-year-old in 2011, Sakdee bolted to the top of the leaderboard at the Malaysian Ladies Amateur with a one-under 70 before finishing in the top-5. She attends the Watchara Wittaya School.
Kansas has had success recently with players from Thailand, shooting a school-record 871 in New Mexico earlier this fall while notching back to back tournament wins for the first time since 1988 with Boonraksasat (74.4) and Kawinpakorn (74.6) leading the Jayhawks in scoring average. O’Neil hopes for similar results from Sakdee and believes having more players from Thailand on the roster will help in the transition.
“I think it will help her a lot to have Mook and Fhong, especially with academics and the culture adjustment,” O’Neil said. “They’ve gone through some of the ups and downs and can help her adjust faster to the differences.”
The Kansas women’s golf team has finished competition for the fall and will resume their spring slate Feb. 15-17 at the Florida State University Match Up Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla. The Jayhawks are scheduled to play in six regular season events in the spring, culminating with the Big 12 Championship hosted by Iowa State in Rhodes, Iowa.
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