Kansas Women's Golf Adds Transfer Levonowich

Nov. 19, 2012

Women’s Golf Signees
Name	Hometown
Minami Levonowich	Hilton Head, S.C.
Pornvipa Sakdee	Kamphaeng Phet, Thailand

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Less than a week after signing a top-50 player in the World Junior Golf Rankings to a National Letter of Intent (NLI) the Kansas women’s golf team has signed another highly rated prospect. Former Golfweek top-100 golfer Minami Levonowich, a transfer from Kennesaw State, signed a Grant in Aid to continue her education and golf career at Kansas.

Levonowich, who was rated as the No. 69 player in the class of 2011 by Golfweek, joins Pornvipa “Faiiz” Sakdee as signees during the fall early signing period. Levonowich was born in London, England, before moving to Hilton Head, S.C. to train at the Hank Haney Academy and spent one season at Kennesaw State in Georgia. Levonowich will be eligible to play in the upcoming spring semester and will be classified athletically as a sophomore.

“We are very excited to be able to have Minami join us in January,” Kansas women’s golf head coach Erin O’neil said. “She brings a lot of competitive experience with her and she has a strong desire to be a part of a championship team. We made a lot of progress this fall and Minami will help make the solid team that we have right now even stronger so that we can continue to make history for our program.”

Levonowich played in five events and posted a 78.5 scoring average for the Owls as a freshman during the 2011-12 school year, after playing an extensive amateur tournament schedule that included a 25^th-place finish at the 2010 Callaway Junior World Championship and a fourth-place finish at the AJGA Rome Classic. Golfweek magazine named her the national player of the week in August 2011 after winning the Golfweek Junior Series Tournament and earning a place in the Golfweek Junior Invitational Championship.

During the past two years, Levonowich also played as an amateur in the LPGA’s Qualifying School (Stage I), and while not making the 36-hole cut, played alongside some of the best golfers while still in college. Levonowich competed in the Colorado Women’s Open in June, making the 36-hole cut while finishing 45th out of 115, and in the top-10 among amateurs. She also participated in the Women’s Western Golf Association Amateur Championship last summer where she shot rounds of 76-74 to qualify for championship flight match play before being eliminated in the round of 32 by the University of Florida’s Mia Piccio, a two-time All-SEC selection.

After a record-breaking fall slate, the Jayhawks open their spring schedule Feb. 15-17 at the Florida State University Match Up Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla. Kansas is 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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