LAWRENCE, Kan. (August 25, 2025) – The University of North Alabama women's golf team closed out it's season opening tournament in sixth at the Jayhawk Invitational in Lawerence, Kan.
 
The Lions performed at a tough course with a strong field as they finished 76-over for the three-round tournament. UNA jumped ahead one spot on the final 18 holes, ahead of Creighton – who they beat by 18 strokes on the final day.
 
North Alabama finished with a 940-stroke score to round things out. They bested the Bluejays by 11 strokes who landed in seventh while maintaining those healthy leads over the rest of the field as they did after round two.
 
Louisiana-Monroe finished with the individual crown with an 879-overall score, followed by Kansas who finished 10 strokes back.
 
UT Arlington finished 24 strokes back from second in third as they matched Kasnas for an 11-over final day. Wichita State and Longwood rounded out the top five ahead of North Alabama.
 
Three Lions jumped four spots or more in the third round. Junior Ava Schwartz led the way in round three with a two-over day as she climbed eight spots. She sunk four birdies for the round.
 
Olivia Whittle jumped seven spots with her three-over day and Sirichaya Chanpen finished five-over to jump four spots.
 
All three finished top-35 with Schwartz being the highest in 25^th, Whittle 29^th and Chanpen 34^th.
 
Kerigan Klauber ended the day with a birdie and finished in 38^th.  Lisa Palmgren notched a birdie as well with a six-over finish.
 
The Lions finished in fifth for the tournament for birdies with 25 and fourth in par-5s with a 5.17 average. Only two teams averaged under on par-5s – ULM and Kansas. Whittle tied for eighth for the tournament with a 4.93 average on par-5s.
 
"Really good adjustments today from yesterday," said head coach Neil Self. "Today was a quality round on a difficult golf course. Ava and Olivia led us playing super steady and getting our birdie numbers up. Glad to know this team can bounce back from a tough round and move up the leaderboard."
 
UNA takes a few weeks off before competing at the Johnie Imes Invitational in Columbia, Mo. hosted by the Missouri Tigers on Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 22-23.
 
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