Kansas Women’s Golf Signs Yi-Tsen Chou

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Yi-Tsen Chou, nicknamed “Tina”, has signed to play golf at Kansas, KU women’s golf coach Erin O’Neil announced Wednesday.
 
From Kaohsiung, Taiwan and Kaohsiung Municipal San-min Senior High School, Chou brings a wealth of international experience to the KU roster entering her freshman season in 2016-17. While competing as an amateur since 2015, Chou has made the cut in four professional tournaments on the Taiwan LPGA tour. This won’t be Chou’s first trip to Lawrence as she participated in an American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) event at Alvamar Golf Club in Lawrence in summer 2015.
 
“There was a group of players from Taiwan that came over last June (2015) to play at some tournaments in the United States and they played in the AJGA at Alvamar, the event Gary Woodland sponsors,” O’Neil said. “We had an opportunity to watch her play then and had her come over to campus. She met our support staff and we spent some time with her. We thought she would be a good fit for the team. Tina has a lot of good international, competitive experience. I think she will come in and have a positive impact right away.”
 
Chou first showcased her talents on U.S. soil by competing in the 2014 FCG International Junior Golf Championship in San Diego, California, where she shot a 76-79-73 (228). Last summer, Chou placed second with a two-round 141 (-3) at the Ping Summer Championship Series at Oak Creek Golf Club in Irvine, California. Also in 2015, she won the Yeangder National Amateur Open shooting a four-round 311 on the Hsin Chu Golf Course in Taiwan. She tied for 15th in a 62-golfer field, at the Yeangder TLPGA Open, carding a 4-over 220 (72-72-76) at Tonghwa Golf Course in Chinese Taipei. Chou finished fourth among the amateurs at the TLPGA Open. She also made the cut shooting at the 2015 CTBC Shanghai Ladies Classic carding a 71-74-77 at the Orient Golf & Country Club in Taipei. In addition to the AJGA at Alvamar, last summer Chou placed fifth at the AJGA Yorba Linda Junior Amateur, shooting a 74-73-78 at the Yorba Linda Country Club in California.
 
In 2016, Chou placed 26th at the TLPGA Future Open and also made the cut at the Yeangder TLPGA Open, both pro events in Taipei. She shot a 76-73-72 in the TLPGA Future Open and a 77-72-79 at the Yeangder TLPGA Open.
 
“Tina will come in and feel good about competing in any situation because it doesn’t get more difficult than a professional tournament with the atmosphere, expectation and golf course setup,” O’Neil said.
 
Kansas is coming off a season in which the Jayhawks finished in the top-10 in seven tournaments in 2015-16, including three in the top five.
 
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