KU Women's Golf Finishes Seventh at Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational

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MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Kansas women’s golf team placed seventh at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational at Colbert Hills Golf Club in its first event of the 2015-16 season Tuesday. Due to weather delays on Monday, KU concluded its second round early Tuesday and posted a three-round 922 (+58) on the par-72 course. KU was 26 strokes behind sixth-place Missouri and 49 strokes behind first-place SMU in the event.
 
“We are young and have plenty of ability but we need to add a few more shots to our bag especially around the greens, and we need to toughen up mentally–we played scared at times and that’s unacceptable,” commented KU head coach Erin O’Neil.
 
Jayhawk senior Yupaporn “Mook” Kawinpakorn shot a +2 (72-73-73–218) on her way to finishing tied for seventh in the 69-golfer field. It was Kawinpakorn’s 19^th career top-10 finish as a Jayhawk. The lone upperclassman for Kansas, Kawinpakorn recorded her best score at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational, beating her previous career high by four strokes.
 
“Mook continues to be an excellent leader for us both on and off the golf course. She is in a great space mentally and her overall game is sharp,” said O’Neil. “There’s no doubt she will have continued success.”
 
KU freshman Laine Evans finished tied for 20^th while competing as an individual. She shot +10 (78-73-75) overall, highlighted by her showing in the second round where she tied Kawinpakorn for the lowest amongst the Jayhawks with a 73.    
 
“It was great to see Laine have a strong showing in her first collegiate event. She’s played Colbert Hills a few times which gave her some added confidence going into the tournament. We weren’t surprised at all to see the success she had this week,” O’Neil said. “Laine has been working hard on her game, is extremely coachable and very competitive which are all important factors in succeeding on the golf course.”
 
In fact, the second round proved to be a good one for Kansas, carding a 300. For the first time since the second round of the Lady Paladin Invitational in September of 2014, all of the golfers competing on the Kansas team shot below 80. Freshman Ariadna Fonseca, sophomores Pitsinee Winyarat, Mackenzie Sexe and Kallie Gonzales all posted event-lows en route to the team recording a 12 stroke improvement over its first round.
 
Kansas briefly overtook Missouri for the sixth spot early in the third round, but lost its one stroke lead a few holes later as the Jayhawks could not sustain their momentum from the second round.
Fonseca finished tied for 24^th with a +14 (77-76-77), Winyarat shot +18 (82-75-77) to tie for 36^th, Sexe tied for 50^th with a +26 (81-78-83), Gonzales carded a +31 (86-76-85) to place 58^th and freshman Victoria Chandra ended with a +28 (77-84-83) while competing as an individual to tie for 55^th.

The Jayhawks will next travel to Minikahda Golf Course in Minneapolis, Minnesota to compete in the Minnesota Invitational, September 14-15.
 
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