Jayhawks to spend spring break on the golf course
LAWRENCE, Kan. — While some University of Kansas students will be soaking up the sun on beaches across the South during spring break, the Kansas women’s golf team will be busy on the course.
The Jayhawks kick off the break on March 20-21 in Johns Island, South Carolina, competing in the Briar’s Creek Invitational, hosted by the College of Charleston. KU will also end the week at the three-day LSU Tiger Golf Classic in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Last week’s top finisher, junior Pitsinee Winyarat will be playing in the first position for the Jayhawks at the Briar’s Creek Invitational. Winyarat cracked the top-30 on the leaderboard for the third time this season at the Suntrust Gator Women’s Invitational.
Following Winyarat will be sophomore Ariadna Fonseca Diaz, who earned her second career top-5 finish and first of the 2016-17 season February 27 at the Westbrook Spring Invitational.
Freshman Yi-Tsen Chou will be playing in the third position, followed by sophomore Chomchana Phuchanbanchob.
Freshman Annika Cedo will be making her spring debut, after playing in three of four fall tournaments, shooting career-low 75s in the Minnesota Invitational on September 12-13 and the Schooner Fall Classic on September 24-26.
The Jayhawks will look to bounce back after a 13th-place finish in the Suntrust Gator Women’s Invitational.
“I think by getting back to our process and focusing in on what we can control and keeping it simple, we can get back on track,” head coach Erin O’Neil said.
The Briar’s Creek Invitational features the biggest and most-talented field that the Jayhawks have faced all season. Ten of the 18 teams competing are ranked in the GolfStat.com Top-50 rankings.
They include Florida (6), Miami (Fla.) (14), Ohio State (27), Illinois (29), Texas Tech (32), North Carolina (34), Auburn (41), Louisville (43), Wisconsin (44) and East Carolina (49). The rest of the field includes host College of Charleston, Boston College, Campbell, Charleston Southern, East Carolina, Long Beach State, Michigan State and Penn State.
“We do not need to do anything fancy,” O’Neil said. “If we just play our game and keep it at a bogey or better and eliminate some of those big numbers I think we will be up there with everybody. We just need to be smart and be patient.”
The fifth annual Briar’s Creek Invitational will be held at The Golf Club at Briar’s Creek, a 6,101-yard par-72 course.
The event begins with two rounds on Monday March 20 with an 8:45 a.m. (ET) shotgun start. The tournament concludes on Tuesday March 21 with an 8:45 a.m. (ET) shotgun start.
KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.
