Jayhawks in sixth place after day one of the Lady Paladin Invitational
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GREENVILLE, S.C.– Coming off her strong performance at the Minnesota Invitational, junior Yi-Tsen Chou paced the Kansas Jayhawks once again in their second tournament of the fall campaign, the Lady Paladin Invitational. Chou continued her consistent play by using two birdies on the front nine to stay even at the turn. She recorded another one on No. 13 and capped off her day with a final birdie on No. 18 to finish at even par on the day and with four birdies, shooting a 72. She currently sits in a tie for 12th place after day one to help the Jayhawks sit in a tie for sixth place on the leaderboard.
“We were definitely consistent today which is encouraging to see,” head coach Erin O’Neil said. “This is the first time for this line up to play here and it can be a tricky course if you get on the wrong parts of the green. We did a good job of leaving ourselves in a playable positions throughout the day but also let some big numbers happen.”
Freshman Phisitkhwan “Pear” Pooratanaopa stayed course with Chou on the front nine by staying even through 7 and carding a birdie on No. 9 to tie with Chou heading into the back nine. She struggled to gain momentum as she recorded three bogeys on the back nine to finish 3-over on the day.
Sophomore Sera Tadokoro is tied for 34th along with Pear and they both recorded similar scores. Tadokoro was even through five, but bogeyed No. 6 and 9 to put her at 2-over going into the back nine. She remained even despite one bogey on No. 13, but finished 3-over on the day. Seeing her first action of the season, senior Ariadna Fonseca Diaz played a consistent front nine before recording a bogey on the last hole to put her at 1-over-par through nine holes. She picked up the pace on the back nine by recording birdies on holes 11 and 13 and stayed even to finish 3-over. She is also tied with Tadokoro and Pear for 34th place after day one of competition.
Freshman Lauren Heinlein struggled to find her footing after carding a handful of bogeys and two double bogeys. She finished 11-over on the day, shooting an 83.
Fellow freshman Abby Glynn saw her first collegiate action playing as an individual. She carded an initial birdie on the third hole, but after three bogeys in a row, she couldn’t find her stride as she finished 12-over through 18. Along with Glynn, senior Chomchana Phuchanbanchob also played as an individual and saw her first action of the season. She carded three birdies on the day, including two on the back nine, but her four bogeys brought her score to a 4-over on the day.
“Our main struggle was with putting, specifically with our speed on long putts,” O’Neil said. “We are only a few shots from being in the top 5 going into the next two rounds which is very doable if we keep believing in ourselves. The goal for the remaining rounds is to stay committed to the shot we have chosen and to keep our energy mentally and physically in a positive space.”
The Jayhawks continue Round 2 and will 18 more holes Saturday morning beginning at 9 a.m, off the No. 1 and No. 10 tees. Lauren Heinlein will be the first on to tee off for the Jayhawks tomorrow with a 9:30 a.m., start. Live results will be available at: https://www.birdiefire.com/tournament/52394/.
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