Jayhawks aim to finish regular season strong with Clemson Invitational
SUNSET, S.C. – Kansas women’s golf concludes the 2018-19 regular season when the team travels to South Carolina for the fourth time this season, competing in the Clemson Invitational April 7-9. The event will be held at the par-72, 6,260-yard Reserve at Lake Keowee course.
The Jayhawks will utilize a lineup of Sera Tadokoro, Chomchana “Cake” Phuchanbanchob, Pear Pooratanaopa, Yi-Tsen Chou, Lauren Heinlein and Ariadna Fonseca Diaz rounding out the lineup as an individual.
Kansas will face off against a talented 16-team field including five teams in the Golf Stat top-25 rankings: No. 5 Florida State, No. 9 Vanderbilt, No. 14 Auburn, No. 17 Virginia and No. 18 Michigan State. The rest of the field includes host Clemson, Augusta, LSU, Purdue, Texas A&M, Tulane, Illinois, Kentucky, UNCW, Tennessee and Virginia Tech.
The tournament commences with an 8:30 a.m., start off the No. 1 and 10 holes. Kansas tees off at 10:09 a.m., beginning with freshman Heinlein.
Live stats for the tournament can be found at: https://kuathne.ws/2OU0Ux5.
QUOTES
Head Coach Erin O’Neil
“It’s a really good field at Clemson and probably one of the best we’ve seen all year. There are a handful of teams ranked in the top-25 nationally and almost all of the rest are in the top-50, so if we can go out and finish in the middle of the field it’ll help us. It’s a great golf course that is very mountainous and hilly so we’ll have to be on our game with our ball striking and have our putting be better than last week. Our mental game definitely needs to be stronger and we’ll see how we can do.”
NOTABLES
CHOU’S CONSISTENCY:
Junior Yi-Tsen Chou has recorded 11 rounds of even par or better this season including nine rounds carding under-par scores. Chou holds the lowest round this season with a 68 in the third round of the season-opening Minnesota Invitational. She currently holds the second-best scoring average on the team with a 74.25 mark and also has recorded the most birdies with 66 on the season. Chou has been the team’s top finisher in four of eight events on the season, including four top-10 finishes.
EXCELLING IN THE CLASSROOM
The Big 12 Conference’s highest academic honor, the Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award, recognized 13 Kansas student-athletes. Senior Ariadna Fonseca Diaz became eligible for the accolade with a cumulative GPA of 3.80 after 100 hours of earned credit.
Student Athlete Support Services honored freshman Abby Glynn as its academic champion of the week. She took home the honor with men’s golfer Andy Spencer.
THE PICTURESQUE PALMETTO STATE
This weekend marks the Jayhawks’ fourth time this season traveling to South Carolina for a tournament. They first competed in the Lady Paladin Invitational in Furman, Sept. 21-23, where they tied for fifth. Next, Oct. 21-23, the Jayhawks played in the Palmetto Intercollegiate in Kiawah Island, where they recorded their third-straight top-five finish. Most recently, the Jayhawks played in the Briar’s Creek Invite in John’s Island.
“The weather’s been pretty good and it should be around 60-70 degrees this weekend,” O’Neil said. “It should be a really neat environment with a cool atmosphere as well.”
