Fonseca Diaz to represent Venezuela
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Even though the Kansas women’s golf team will not compete together until February, sophomore Ariadna Fonseca Diaz will continue playing, but she will be suiting up for another team. Fonseca Diaz, a Caracas, Venezuela native, has been selected for the second year in a row to compete in the Copa Los Andes Tournament for Team Venezuela November 21-27 at the Lima Golf Club in Lima, Peru.
The Copa Los Andes is an annual tournament bringing together teams that represent countries across South America. They include Fonseca Diaz’s Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay.
“It is always an honor to represent my country and this is a really fun tournament,” Fonseca Diaz said. “I’m excited about the (national) team this year and I’m excited to go to a course that I have played before. I just hope to play my best and continue to grow as a person and a golfer.”
Even though she will be playing for the Venezuelan team, the Jayhawks look for Fonseca Diaz to represent them well abroad.
“I think she is a great representative for us,” head coach Erin O’Neil said. “(Fonseca Diaz playing) gets our name out there in another part of the world. She is a great representative for our team and the university, both as a golfer and as a person.”
Fonseca Diaz will be playing for Team Venezuela after the 2016 fall season, in which she ranked third in scoring average for the Jayhawks with 77.60. She also posted the second-best low-54 score after shooting a 225 at the Schooner Classic in Norman, Oklahoma.
O’Neil thinks the Copa Los Andes will be good for Fonseca Diaz as a player and a person.
“It is a wonderful opportunity for her to get some great competitive experience. It’s a different format (match play) than we play in college,” O’Neil said. “She also gets to go back to South America, which I know makes her happy, to be closer to home.”
Paraguay won the tournament in 2015, while Fonseca Diaz and her Venezuela team finished in sixth place. Fonseca Diaz went 4-4 in eight match-play matches in the tournament.
The first annual Copa Los Andes was held in 1944, and has been hosted by a different participating country ever since.
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