News

SUU Women’s Golf prepares for UT Arlington Invitational to wrap up fall season

By Bryson Lester, DIrector of Strategic Communication at Southern Utah University

CEDAR CITY, Utah — The Thunderbird women’s golf team will play their first event of the Fall Season this week as they’ll compete in the UT Arlington Invitational in Mansfield, Texas.

Last Time Out

The Thunderbirds had an incredibly strong finish to the New Mexico State Aggie Invitational, as the team moved from tied for 11th to sixth place, Chanikan (Pluem) Yongyuan secured her third-straight top-five finish and the freshman was named Big Sky Women's Golfer of the Week following the third and final round at New Mexico State Golf Course.

Yongyuan finished in a tie for third, carding a 216 (71, 72, 73) over the three days of action in New Mexico. She secured a victory in her first collegiate tournament and finished in fourth place in her second.

Junior Kamonwan (Poy) Prasurtwong had a strong performance on the last day, carding a two-under 70 to shoot up the leaderboard and finish in a tie for 23rd. After shooting a 78 on the first and a 77 on the second day, Prasurtwong was able to finish strong and was second in the field for Southern Utah.

Kyla Smith finished play in a tie for 27th, just one shot behind Prasurtwong. She shot a 75 on the final day to end play at 226 (71, 80, 75).

Launa Wilson finished fourth for the T-Birds and in a tie for 59th in the field, with a three-round score of 235 (78, 83, 74). Lindsay Aleman finished fifth for SUU with a 239 (78, 83, 78).

As a team the Thunderbirds shot a 292, which was the lowest round they shot all week. That score brought their total to 902 (298, 312, 292) which jumped them from a tie for 11th at the end of 36 holes to sixth place at the end of play.

Tournament Preview – UT Arlington Invitational

The first ever UT Arlington Invitational will be a two-day, three-round event played on the Pecan Course at Walnut Creek Country Club, with 36 holes set for Monday and the final 18 set for Tuesday. The course plays par-72 and measures in at 6,095 yards.

Participating Teams: UT Arlington, Incarnate Word, Arkansas State, Little Rock, South Alabama, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, Southern Utah and Kansas State (Individuals)

Projected Lineup

Team: Chanikan (Pluem) Yongyuan, Kamonwan (Poy) Prasurtwong, Kyla Smith, Lindsay Aleman and Launa Wilson

Individuals: Lexi Hamel, Averi Stover and Tori Thomas

Words From Coach Church

“We did some really good things in our last tournament and we’re hoping to capitalize on the momentum we build on the final day we had in New Mexico,” SUU head coach Richard Church said. “This will be our last tournament for a while so we’re hoping to have a good showing.”

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Read all about the Thunderbirds on www.suutbirds.com.