Jayhawks head to Colorado for the Ron Moore Intercollegiate
DENVER, Colo. – For the first time since the 2014-15 season, the Kansas women’s golf team will travel to Denver, Colorado for the Ron Moore Intercollegiate on Oct. 5-7. The 54-hole tournament will be played at host University of Denver’s home course, the par-72 Highlands Ranch Golf Club.
Kansas is coming off of a fifth-place finish at the Lady Paladin Invitational Sep. 21-23 and used its time inbetween tournaments to regroup and work on each other’s strengths heading into the third tournament of the fall campaign.
“We tried to look at everybody’s stats individually and work towards that,” head coach Erin O’Neil said. “But there were a lot of short putts and short game areas that needed to improve. We played this weekend and qualified for the individual spot.”
Sophomore Sera Tadokoro will represent the leadoff spot for the Jayhawks, and is coming off the best tournament of her career with an even par performance at the three-day Lady Paladin Invitational. She also shot the second best round of her career with a 71 in round two of the event.
“She’s a great ball striker and that’s an advantage,” O’Neil said of Tadokoro. “She should keep using her experiences she got this summer and fall so we see her learning and getting better as she goes.”
Following Tadokoro is freshman Pear Pooratanaopa who recorded a 12th-place finish in the squad’s last tournament. Seniors Ariadna Fonseca Diaz and Chomchana Phuchanbanchob represent the middle of the lineup, while junior Yi-Tsen Chou rounds out the rotation. Closing out the lineup is Aristelle Acuff who is seeing her first collegiate action after taking a redshirt during her freshman season in 2017-18.
As for the Highlands Ranch Golf Club, O’Neil shared her thoughts on the adjustments the team needs to make as they head to the 6,513 yard course.
“It’s a pretty straight forward golf course,” O’Neil said. “I don’t think you have to be super accurate off the tee and you can probably get away with some misses a little bit more. The greens will probably be fast, but the biggest thing will be adjusting to the elevation change. We won’t hit it the same distances so we’ll have to figure that out relatively quickly.”
The Jayhawks will face a talented field of 15 teams which includes familiar competition including Minnesota and Tulsa, who they’ve faced already this season. In addition to the host school, Denver, KU will also face Washington State, Ole Miss, UC Davis, Idaho, Nebraska, Northern Colorado, Cal Poly, Central Arkansas, Nevada, UTSA, Wyoming and Colorado State.
Tee times for Friday and Saturday have not been announced while Sunday’s play commences with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. Live results will be available here.
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