Kansas women in last place at NCAA golf tournament

As many teams tried to move up the standings, the Kansas Jayhawks took a step back.

KU completed the third round of the women’s golf NCAA championships at Tulsa Country on Thursday, and fell to last place after being in 23rd on Wednesday.

The front nine was particularly challenging for the Jayhawks. Three players had double-bogeys. Three of those occurred on the sixth hole alone.

“It was really No. 6 that got us,” Kansas coach Erin O’Neil said. “The rest of the holes we did fine. We just gave about 10 shots away on No. 6, par-3. It’s a tough par-3. There is water, and it’s a tough green to hit.”

The Jayhawks shot a 23-over 303 as a team on Thursday, and were at 909 after three rounds.

Despite falling a spot in the team rankings, the Jayhawks got a much-improved round from Pornvipa Sakdee, the team’s lone freshman. Sakdee shot a 4-over-par 74, a 15 stroke improvement from round one.

“(Sakdee) definitely improved each round, especially her first round,” O’Neil said. “She played real steady for us today, the entire round to finish strong.”

Yupaporn Kawinpakorn shot a 75, and Thanuttra Boonraksasat and Meghan Potee each hit 7-over-par 77. Minami Levonowich shot an 80.

Potee, a senior, said she has struggled with confidence in her swing during the tournament, but worked most the afternoon trying to regain her confidence.

“I know how to hit greens, I know how to make birdies and birdies aren’t happening for me so far,” Potee said.” I just need to trust it and play confident. Hopefully that works out.”

This story was originally published May 22, 2014 at 11:32 PM with the headline "Kansas women in last place at NCAA golf tournament."