Chou starts strong in rain-shortened Trinity Forest Invitational

DALLAS, Texas — Freshman Yi-Tsen Chou continued her first-round success for the second tournament in a row finishing tied for sixth after shooting two-over and matching her career-best 75 at the Trinity Forest Invitational on Monday. In her last tournament, the Cardinal Cup, Chou finished her first round tied for seventh after shooting a 75.

“I am very pleased with the progress (Chou) is making,” head coach Erin O’Neil said. “This course suits her game very well and she just needs to keep it simple (Tuesday) in her strategy.”

Due to a rainy day in Dallas, the Trinity Forest Invitational will now be played as a 36-hole tournament instead of the 54 holes that were planned. The first and second rounds were both supposed to be played Monday, but only 18 holes were played. The final round will be played Tuesday.

As for the rest of the Jayhawks, the team is tied for eighth with Kansas State and Texas Tech. Junior Pitsinee Winyarat finished Monday with a six-over, 78 and is tied for 30^th. Sophomores Victoria Chandra and Ariadna Fonseca Diaz shot an 80 and 82 and are tied for 38^th and 52^nd, respectively. Redshirt freshman Xinyun “Melody” Yu finished in a tie for 71^st after shooting an 85 in her first round as a Jayhawk.

“Overall we hit the ball well, but gave away too many shots on the green,” O’Neil said. “We did a good job of rolling with what the course gave us.”

The Jayhawks look to make adjustments to their game to improve their standing.

“(Tuesday) we need to make more short putts to move up the leaderboard,” O’Neil said.

The field is tight at the top of the leaderboard with only three strokes separating the top-five teams. Michigan leads the pack after shooting a 16-over, 304.

The tournament will conclude tomorrow with an 8 a.m., shotgun start.

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