Women’s golf opens at Minnesota Invitational

LAWRENCE, Kan. – A year after posting the ninth-best scoring average in school history, sophomore Ariadna Fonseca Diaz and the Kansas women’s golf team open the season at the Minnesota Invitational in Minneapolis. The Jayhawks will play September 12-13 at the Minikahda Club, a 72-par course that was home to the U.S. Open in 1916.
 
“(Minikahda) is a course very similar to Lawrence Country Club with fast greens and bent roughs and fairways. You have to be smart if you hit it off the fairway to put yourself in a good position on the greens,” said KU head coach Erin O’Neil, who’s entering her 13th season with the Jayhawks.
 
This will be the third-straight year the Jayhawks play in the Minnesota Invitational, after finishing 12th last season. Three of the five Jayhawks in the starting lineup have experience on the course with Diaz and juniors Kallie Gonzales and Pitsinee Winyarat each playing in the event last year.
 
The KU lineup for the event will be Diaz playing in the first position, followed by freshmen Annika Cedo and Yi-Tsen Chou, rounded out with Gonzales and Winyarat.
 
Losing All-America honorable mention selection Yupaporn “Mook” Kawinpakorn to graduation opens the door for some Kansas newcomers. Cedo and Chou are two freshmen who will play big roles for the Jayhawks this year.
 
“I’m really excited to have them,” O’Neil said. “They are very passionate about golf and very competitive and want to improve.”
 
Competing against the Jayhawks will be host Minnesota, last year’s winner Purdue, Furman, which ended last season No. 20, Big 12 opponents Kansas State, Texas and TCU, along with East Carolina, Kentucky and Wisconsin.
 
The first two rounds will tee off Monday, September 12 at 7:45 a.m. and conclude with a 9 a.m., shotgun start to begin the third round on Tuesday, September 13.
 
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