2010-11 Review Kansas came out swinging in the 2010-11 season on and off the course. The Jayhawks won the Marilynn Smith Invitational, placed in the top 10 as a team in all but two tournaments and placed in the top five of the first seven tournaments.
Sophomore Meghan Potee lines up a putt at the 2010 Marilynn Smith Invitational.
Seniors Meghna Bal, Grace Thiry and Jennifer Clark were all named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team for the third -straight season, while redshirt freshmanThanuttra Boonraksasat was named to the second team. Kansas has produced at least three first-team academic selections in each of the last four seasons and two or more for the last nine years. To keep the academic momentum going, the Jayhawks had four women selected to the National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) All-America Scholar list. Bal and Clark were selected for the second time while Thiry and junior Katy Nugent were first time selections. On the greens, Thiry claimed medalist honors and Nugent finished one behind as the duo led Kansas to the team title at the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational. At the beginning of the season the Jayhawks hosted the Marilynn Smith Invitational Sept. 27-28 and came away with a team title, its first since claiming the Duramed Collegiate in 2009. Thiry’s individual championship was the first by a Jayhawk since that same tournament when Emily Powers claimed medalist honors in 2008. The Jayhawks had a consistent fall season, placing in the top-10 as a team in all five tournaments including top-five in the first two. Individually, Katy Nugent posted a career-low 69 in the second round of the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational while Meghan Potee recorded the best round as a freshman with a 69 at Price’s “Give ‘Em Five” Intercollegiate. Kansas continued this streak into the spring season when it placed second at the Texas State University Claud Jacobs Challenge and fifth at the Louisville Cards Challenge. Bal took charge for the Jayhawks at the Claud Jacobs Challenge finishing tied for third with a three-day total 227. With such a strong team going into the Big 12 Championships, Kansas looked to finish in the top-10 yet again but fell just short. The Jayhawks concluded its season with an 11th-place finish after a three-day total of 911. Kansas kept the season consistent with its lineup, taking the same five women to seven of the 11 tournaments. Bal, Boonraksasat, Nugent and Thiry participated in every tournament while freshman Meghan Potee played in 10 of the 11 tournaments, two of them as an individual. Playing as an individual at the Marilynn Smith Invitational, senior Jennifer Clark finished tied for 29th after a final round 77. Clark graduated with a degree in graphic design in May 2011.
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