LAWRENCE, Kan. — Vani Karimanal (73-72 - 145, +3) and Nina Choe (72-74 - 146, +4) are seventh and tied for eighth on the individual leaderboard with their performances helping UC Davis (302-295 - 597, +29) to a fourth-place showing in a field of 14 after the first day of the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational at the Lawrence Country Club. The duo has already combined for three top-10 finishes in two previous tournaments with Choe finishing among the top in both and Karimanal in the Aggies' most recent outing Sept. 21-22 at the Ben Connell Ram Classic.
Karimanal's consistency Monday helped her to the seventh spot in the standings following two rounds. She made par on 27 holes, including 15 in her second round, to go with three birdies and six bogeys. Karimanal had a pair of birdies (6, 17) and four bogeys (2, 8, 12, 13) in her two-over par 74 opening round before posting one birdie (15) and two bogeys (8, 18) in an afternoon round of one-over par 73.
Choe was one stroke better than Karimanal over the first 18 holes with a pair of birdies (3, 6) and three bogeys (11, 15, 18) accounting for a one-over par 71. She started her second round with a birdie on the first hole to get back to even-par for the tournament but finished with a five-over par 41 on the front nine after three bogeys (3, 7, 8) and a triple bogey (9) before rebounding with a two-under par back nine 33 with birdies on 13 and 18 as well as seven pars.
Michelle Ho (77-75 - 152, +10) is the next Aggie on the leaderboard in a tie for 27th followed by Claire Chang (T36th, 80-74 - 154, +12) and Wendi Ma (81-82 - 163, +21).
Host Kansas (276-289 - 565, -3) leads the field by 16 strokes and is the only team under par. California (294-287 - 581, +13) and Delaware (294-289 - 583, +15) are also in front of UC Davis.
The third and final round begins Tuesday at 4 am PT.
MARILYNN SMITH SUNFLOWER INVITATIONAL - MONDAY-TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5-6, 2026
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ABOUT UC DAVIS ATHLETICS
UC Davis, ranked No. 2 among public universities by the Wall Street Journal in the value of a college degree, is home to 40,000 undergraduate students and 12,000 employees. Ranked top in the United States in agriculture and forestry as well as No. 1 in veterinary medicine, UC Davis is located in a true California college town nestled between world-class destinations such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe. Over 650 Aggie student-athletes compete in 25 Division I varsity sports, with 16 sports transitioning to the Mountain West Conference beginning in 2026-27.
For more information, visit ucdavisaggies.com.
