Kawinpakorn Finishes Tied for 10th at the NCAA Regional
SAN ANTONIO – Kansas junior Yupaporn Kawinpakorn finished tied for 10th at the NCAA Regional in San Antonio as she carded a 75 (+3) in Saturday’ final round at the Briggs Ranch Golf Course in San Antonio. Kawinpakorn missed advancing to the NCAA Championship by one stroke.
With Kawinpakorn ending up with a 54-hole score of 213 (-3), she needed to be one of the low three individuals (not on the low six qualifying teams) from the regional tournament to advance to the NCAA Championship. Arizona State’s Monica Vaughn, Oregon State’s Anica Yoo and Texas’ Bertine Strauss each shot 212 (-4) to advance to the NCAA Championship over Kawinpakorn.
“Obviously it’s tough,” Kansas head coach Erin O’Neil said. “To miss going to NCAA’s by one shot, but finishing in the top 10 in a very strong regional is nothing to hang your head about. Mook (Kawinpakorn) puts her heart and soul into her golf game every day and that’s all you can ask for as a coach. She learns from each obstacle she meets and uses it to make her stronger and better. We are very proud of her efforts.”
Kawinpakorn entered the third round tied for fourth in the 96-golfer field but ended up with a double bogey on her first hole to start the day and never was able to regain position. She ended up tying with Morgane Metraux from Florida State and Charlotte Thomas from Washington who carded the same three-round score. In Thursday’s opening round, Kawinpakorn carded a career-low 5-under 67 and posted a 1-under 71 on Friday.
“I have to admit that it was quite disappointing today but I gave myself a chance in this tournament,” Kawinpakorn said. “Round one was the first time I have ever made nine birdies in the same round in my golf career. I think that was pretty cool. Today, I gave everything I had and that’s all I could do. I still like to think that my game has improved a lot since my freshman year. I can handle the pressure a lot better and I’d like to keep doing it. The result of today won’t stop me from getting better and going to nationals next year. Thank you everybody for your support.”
Big 12 conference member Baylor ended up winning the NCAA Regional by three strokes with a team score of 842 (-22). UCLA finished in second with an overall score of 845 (-19) and Tennessee concluded the tournament in third with a 54-hole total of 850 (-14). Washington and Texas Tech also will advance to the NCAA Championship as the two teams tied for fifth with a team scores of 862 (-2).
Since Kawinpakorn didn’t qualify for the NCAA Championship, this now officially puts an end to the 2014-15 KU women’s golf season. The Samutprakan, Thailand native concluded the season with eight top-10 finishes and a stroke average per round score of 73.35, which sets a new KU single-season record previously held by herself at 74.5 in 2013-14.
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