Jayhawks win Chip-N-Club Invitational
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LINCOLN, Neb. – Kansas remained steady in the final round of the Chip-N-Club Invitational and claimed the event title Tuesday after leading all three rounds, thanks to four Jayhawks finishing in the top-10 on the individual leaderboard. This is the first tournament win for Kansas since the Palmetto Intercollegiate in October 2013. KU was led by Victoria Chandra and Yi-Tsen Chou who both posted a career-best fourth-place finish.
“It’s great to finally get a win,” said head coach Erin O’Neil. “Hopefully it will give the team confidence and motivate them even more to keep working hard.”
Chou started the day with a bogie on No.1 and managed to shoot even-par throughout the rest of the front nine until carding a birdie on No. 9. Chou didn’t find her grove on the back nine, shooting 3-over. Chou carded a double bogie on No. 11 but bounced back with a birdie on No. 12. Chou finished the back nine with two bogies on holes No. 14 and 15 leaving her 3-over for the round and 8-over for the tournament.
Chandra did not get the start she was hoping for after shooting a 5-over on the front nine but was able to finish strong on the back nine where she shot 1-under. Chandra finished 4-over for the final round and 8-over for the tournament.
“I’m proud of both Victoria and Yi-Tsen for their top-five finishes,” said O’Neil. “We had to play in tough conditions all three rounds and they managed their games well.”
Freshman Sera Tadokoro had a solid round for the Jayhawks finishing 1-over for the round and 11-over for the event. Tadokoro finished the tournament in eighth, a career-best finish. Followed by Pitsinee Winyarat who finished in a tie for 10th after shooting 8-over for the round and 15-over for the tournament. Kallie Gonzales, playing as an individual also had a career-best finish after shooting 18-over for the event and finishing in a tie for 15th.
“Everyone did a great job this tournament of making good decisions and being mentally stronger,” said O’Neil.
As individuals, Chomchana Phuchanbanchob, also playing as an individual shot 19-over in the tournament and finished in a tie for 17th place, her first top-20 finish this season. Annika Cedo, had a career-best finish finishing in a tie for 19th.
Lastly, Ariadna Fonseca Diaz and Xinyun Yu, playing as an individual, finished the tournament in a tie for 23rd after finishing 22-over.
“Moving forward we still need to work on improving our putting and fine tuning our swings before heading into the next tournament,” said O’Neil.
The Jayhawks have a two week break before returning to play at the Palmetto Intercollegiate on October 22.
The final round will begin Tuesday at 8:45 a.m. Live scoring is available through golfstat.comFOLLOW
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