Kansas' struggles continue during final round of Briar’s Creek Invitational

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. – The Kansas women’s golf team could not gain any ground on the field on Tuesday during the third round of the Briar’s Creek Invitational, starting the day in 18th place finishing the event in the same position.

Sophomore Ariadna Fonseca Diaz was the top finisher for the Jayhawks, who finished in 56th place after shooting a 10-over par over the course of the two-day tournament. Fonseca Diaz was in a tie for 41st to begin the day, but fell in the leaderboard due to double bogies in two of her first four holes.

Yi-Tsen Chou had the best round of the day for the Jayhawks, carding a two-over 74, earning her a tie for 64th place.

Junior Pitsinee Winyarat finished in 76th place, but improved three strokes from round one to round three, shooting a 79 over the first 18 holes before shooting a 76 in the tournament’s final round.

In her first spring tournament of the season, freshman Annika Cedo could not follow her second round 73 with similar success. In Cedo’s final hole of the day, she recorded a costly quadruple bogey which ended her round with an 11-over par 83.

Sophomore Chomchana Phuchanbanchob had her best finish of the tournament, shooting a 78. Unfortunately for the Chiang Rai, Thailand native, it was not enough to elevate herself on the leaderboard, where she finished tied for 91st.

As a team, Kansas shot a 919 (+55) over the course of the three round event.

“We saw improvement in our short games and mental game, but need to improve on our long game,” head coach Erin O’Neil said. “We missed too many fairways and put ourselves in positions where we had to fight to make bogey at best.”

Florida won the Briar’s Creek Invitational by an impressive 18 strokes, finishing 15-under collectively. Florida was followed by Campbell (+3), Illinois (+4), Miami (+6) and Auburn (+7).
It will be a quick turnaround for KU, as the team will travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, March 24-26 to compete in the LSU Tiger Golf Classic.

“Our plan is to spend the next two days checking in with everyone’s swings to get some confidence back by Friday,” O’Neil said.

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