Freshman Tadokoro shines on day one of the Minnesota Invitational
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WOODBURY, Minn. – Freshman Sera Tadokoro started her Kansas career by shooting even par in her first collegiate round at the Minnesota Invitational Monday. Tadokoro’s first-round effort highlighted a two-round day that was slowed by big numbers, as the Jayhawks stand in 14th after collectively shooting 20-over par.
In her first round, Tadokoro pared her first two holes before carding a bogey on her third. She quickly recovered with a birdie on No. 14, her fifth hole of the day. Scoring another bogey on No. 17, Tadokoro played eight-straight holes at even par before adding her second birdie of the round on No. 8, her 17th. Tadokoro scored a 4-over during her second round and stands in a tie for 52nd with a 148.
“Sera had a great opening round shooting even par. She played very steady throughout both rounds,” said head coach Erin O Neil. “She gave herself a lot of good looks at birdie (Monday) and she just has to stay patient going into (Tuesday).”
Junior Chomchana Phuchanbanchob, playing as an individual, also finished round one at even par and is tied with Tadokoro after shooting a 76 in the second round.
Round one proved to be tough for junior Ariadna Fonseca Diaz after recording six bogies and finishing at 5-over par. In round two, after carding a birdie on her seventh hole, she managed to shoot at even par for the rest of the round. Fonseca Diazfinished at 1-over and is in a three-way tie for 56th with KU teammates Yi-Tsen Chou and Pitsinee Winyarat.
Chou was consistent for the Jayhawks shooting a 3-over 75 over both rounds and ended the day at 6-over. Winyarat shot a 4-over 76 for round one, and improved in the second round finishing 2-over.
Kallie Gonzales rounded out the KU scoring with a 7-over for the day. Though Gonzales recorded five birdies over two rounds, a triple and double bogie countered her positive scores and hindered her ability to climb up the leaderboard.
“This course is pretty straight forward and we made it way more difficult than it needed to be,” said O’Neil. “We gave too many shots away around the greens in particular and if we did get in trouble off the tee we compounded it with a three-putt or two-chip which you just can’t do.”
The Jayhawks fired a 298 in both rounds and are seven strokes behind Georgia, which holds the No. 13 spot.
“We don’t have to do anything special in the final round other than keep it simple, don’t force shots and make confident decisions,” said O’Neil. “The rest will take care of itself.”
The Jayhawks will now turn their attention to the final round which begins at 9:15 a.m. Tuesday.
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