Kawinpakorn Finishes in Top 10 as Jayhawks Tie for Fifth in South Carolina
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GREENVILLE, S.C. – Behind a 2-under 70 by junior Yupaporn Kawinpakorn Tuesday, the Kansas women’s golf team tied Yale for fifth at the Lady Paladin Invitational at Furman University Golf Course.
Kawinpakorn lead the way for the Jayhawks in the three-round tourney, finishing tied for 10th with a three-round 218 (+2). Her 2-under Tuesday tied for the low round of the day in the 96-golfer field and marked the second time this season she had an under-par round, which leads the KU team.
“Mook (Kawinpakorn) played very well today to shoot under par with a tough wind,” KU head coach Erin O’Neil said. “She had a very good tournament overall.”
Kansas senior Minami Levonowich and sophomore Pornvipa Sakdee both carded an 80 (+8) Tuesday to finish with a same 54-hole score of 227 (+11) which tied for 27th. Senior Gabriella DiMarco shot an 81 (+9) to conclude her tournament with a 231 (+15). She tied for 54th. Senior Michelle Woods had KU’s second-lowest score Tuesday with a 75 (+3). Woods finished tied for 59th with three round score of 233 (+17). Junior Mackenzie Thayer, who played as an individual, carded an 84 (+12) to end her tournament with an overall score of 242 (+26), which tied for 82nd.
“Michelle (Woods) bounced back after a tough first round and gave us two very solid rounds yesterday and today,” O’Neil said.
Host Furman won the Lady Paladin by 22-strokes with a score of 860 (-4). Wake Forest finished in second with a team score of 882 (+18), while Texas Tech placed third with an 883 (+19) and Florida State fourth with an 889 (+25). Kansas and Yale were three shots behind FSU with an 892 (+28) to tie for fifth in the 18-team field.
“Conditions were more difficult today and for the most part we didn’t handle its as well as we could have,” O’Neil said of the KU team which entered the final round tied for fourth. “We mainly pushed too hard to make birdies on a day when pars were great.”
Kansas’ fifth-place finish was its third top-five placing this season and its 13th in its last 16 events dating to the start of last season where the Jayhawks advanced to the 2014 NCAA Regional and NCAA Championship.
The Jayhawks will take a week off to prepare for the Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate at Highlands Ranch Golf Club in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, Oct. 10-12. The event is hosted by the University of Denver.
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