Chou paces Jayhawks after day one of the Minnesota Invitational

WOODBURY, Minn. – The Kansas women’s golf team kicked off its 2018-19 season at the Minnesota Invitational against a talented field of 14 teams where they played 36 holes of continuous play on Monday at the Prestwick Golf Course.

Junior Yi-Tsen Chou paced the Jayhawks as she was consistent in both rounds and shot a 4-over-76 in the first round. She improved steadily in the second round and her four birdies helped lead the Jayhawks on the first day of play. Chou finished the second round 2-under-par and improved from her first roundn score of 76 with a second round score of 70 and an overall score of 146 on the day. 

“It was good to see Yi-Tsen come back with an under-par score in the second round,” head coach Erin O’Neil said. “She got a little aggressive starting out but made the needed adjustments quickly and got back on track.”

Freshman Phisitkhwan “Pear” Pooratanaopa showed up strong in her first collegiate action by ending the first round with two birdies leaving her tied for 23^rd. She remained even to leave her +1 with a score of 73 after the opening round. She improved in the second round by remaining even throughout the first five holes and recording a timely birdie to bring her to a collective score of 148 on the day. 

Another freshman seeing her first action was Lauren Heinlein who struggled to find her footing in the tournament’s opening action. She recorded five bogeys in the first round but improved greatly in the second round with four birdies.

The second round proved to be beneficial for Annika Cedo as she parred eleven straight holes to finish with a score of 149 on the day. Tied for 45^th place with Cedo was sophomore Sera Tadokoro who paced the Jayhawks by hitting for par ten times and recording three birdies in the opening round. 

The Jayhawks fired a score of 297 in the opening round and a 295 in the second round for a collective score of 592 on the day. They are currently in 11^thplace, sitting behind North Texas Dame and Missouri who are tied for ninth. 

“Tomorrow will be a great opportunity for us to move up the leader board,” O’Neil said. “As a group, we need to do better on our wedges which should give us more looks at birdie and make better decisions when it comes to course management if we get in trouble off the tee.” 

The action continues tomorrow in the final round which begins at 9:15 a.m., with a shotgun start. 

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