KU Women's Golf Signs Two for 2016, One for Spring
Lawrence, Kan. – KU head women’s golf coach Erin O’Neil was pleased to add two commits to the 2016 recruiting class as well as a ninth member to her current roster for the spring semester. Annika Cedo and Pauline Del Rosario, both hailing from the Philippines, will join KU in the fall of 2016. Xinyun “Melody” Yu, from China, will arrive in Lawrence a bit earlier and will compete for the Jayhawks during the 2016 spring season.
“With our 2016 class our goal was to find the best players we could. We had some big shoes to fill with Mook (senior Yupaporn “Mook” Kawinpakorn) graduating, so we needed to find some players that could step into her shoes and keep the ball rolling in the right direction,” O’Neil said. “We are ecstatic to have Melody, Annika, and Pauline joining us. All three possess the characteristics we believe are needed for our team to reach its goals. They are passionate about golf, have strong work ethics, are great students and will be first class representatives for our team and KU.”
Joining KU from her hometown of Paranaque, Cedo is ranked 21st in the Class of 2016, 55th in Golf Week’s Ranking and 66th in AJGA polo ranking. This past summer she played several tournaments in the U.S., finishing tied for seventh at the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship in July. She also recorded two top-10 finishes at tournaments held in Kansas, the Under Armour/Gary Woodland Championship and the AJGA Kansas Junior at Buffalo Dunes.
“Annika has a fundamentally sound swing and game. She has had great success competitively both at home and in the US and enjoys the challenges golf presents,” O’Neil said. “She has a strong desire to be a major contributor to Kansas Golf and we look forward to seeing what the future holds for her.”
Del Rosario has heated up in 2015. The native of the City of Las Piñas has won three events this past year, helping her achieve a ranking of No. 262 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking system. In May she won the Malaysian Ladies Amateur Open with a score of 73-70-73. She shot 70-69-71 to win the 25th Thailand Ladies Amateur Open Golf Championship at the end of October. Her most recent win came at the Thailand Junior World Championship on November 8 after carding 78-67-72-68. In August she placed second at the TRANS Amateur Championship after shooting 68-68-73-73.
Over the summer Del Rosario also competed in the U.S. Girls’ Junior, WWGA 115th National Amateur Championship and FCG International Junior Championship. She made it to match play in both the U.S. Girls’ Junior and WWGA National Amateur Championship, making it to the quarterfinals of the latter. At the FCG International Junior Championship she earned another top-five finish after shooting 73-74-74.
“Pauline has a commanding presence on the golf course and is fierce competitor who is always a threat to shoot under par. She has high goals within the game and we look forward to helping her achieve those goals,” O’Neil said. “A beautiful golf swing and a champion’s mindset are qualities Pauline will bring to Kansas Golf.”
Yu will join the Kansas team in the spring of 2015 and be eligible to compete immediately. The Shanghai native is ranked eighth in the China Amateur Women’s Golf Standings. She has recorded three top-10 finishes on the China CITIC Bank Amateur Golf Tour. This included a second-place finish at the tournament in FuZhou, Fujian where she shot 79-75-76.
“We are very excited to add Melody to our family in January,” said O’Neil. “She is a competitive player who will give us even more depth than we already have. She is a great student and is an even better person.”
Kansas will start its spring season at the Arizona Wildcat Invitational on March 14-15.
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